Engage with your seminar professor and colleagues on the topic of kinds of research using the following prompt to begin the discussion:
My Sources
The writers of The Craft of Research identify three kinds of sources in chapter 5, “From Problems to Sources” (TCR, 65-68).
- Primary Sources – “Primary sources are ‘original’ materials that provide you with the ‘raw data’ or evidence you will use to develop, test, and ultimately justify your hypothesis or claim” (TCR, 66). For researchers studying theology, the best example of a primary source is the Bible as it appears in the best scholarly version of the original languages. A good English translation can also serve as a primary source for those unable to use the original languages. However, secondary sources will be needed to supplement the researcher’s understanding of the meaning found in the original languages of the Bible. Other examples of primary sources include sermons, journals/diaries, letters, or eye-witness accounts from the past that a researcher analyzes for historical purposes or other insights.
- Secondary Sources – “Secondary sources are books, articles, or reports that are based on primary sources and are intended for scholarly or professional audiences” (TCR, 66). For those studying theology, commentaries and monographs written to analyze scripture are important secondary sources. There are at least three levels of Bible commentaries. Critical commentaries (e.g., Hermeneia) explore at a deep level the words, grammar, and syntax of the original language of every verse of the text in order to unpack the detailed meaning of the text. Intermediate commentaries (e.g., NICOT, NICNT, NAC) also explore the original language to some extent but are focused more on the meaning and application of the text usually in a verse-by-verse analysis. Devotional commentaries (e.g., Lamplighter Series, Layman’s Bible Commentary, any one volume commentary) do not address issues in the original language except in limited contexts and generally summarize groups of verses in a search for main ideas and applications. Work at the doctoral level should focus on intermediate and critical level commentaries as secondary sources. Other types of secondary sources might include biographies of persons being studied or anthologies of original documents that have been collected, organized, and analyzed by another researcher.
- Tertiary Sources – “These are books and articles that synthesize and report on secondary sources for general readers, such as textbooks, articles in encyclopedias (including Wikipedia) and articles in mass-circulation publications like Psychology Today” (TCR 65-66). Examples of tertiary resources for theological research would be Bible encyclopedias such as ISBE and Bible dictionaries such as IDB, and survey level textbooks. Tertiary sources should not usually be cited in scholarly research, but they can be valuable research aids that “. . . can inform you about topics that are new to you, and if they have bibliographies, they can sometimes lead you to valuable secondary sources” (TCR, 66). In fact, the bibliographies and footnotes of a secondary or tertiary source are often their most helpful features. Even when the material in the source itself is not useful, the researcher’s trail to other sources may be followed to more meaningful works.
Please share an annotated bibliographic entry for at least one primary source, two secondary sources, and one tertiary source that you have found to support the research of your approved writing topic. Share these sources in this forum using Turabian bibliographic format. Note that the hanging indent feature does not work in the forum editor. So, don’t sweat that point.
An annotated bibliographic entry includes both a properly formatted Turabian bibliographic entry and a short summary in one to three sentences of the contents and primary purpose of the source. Below are examples of annotated bibliographic entries for a book and a website. Please consult your copy of Turabian 9th edition for proper bibliographic formats for other types of sources.
Brueggemann, Walter. Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997.
While basing his Old Testament theology upon the earlier work of Eichrodt and von Rad, Brueggemann gives a fresh perspective in the post-modern era. He builds his theology upon processes, procedures, and community interaction. His process of interaction is testimony-dispute-advocacy.
Cayley, Rachael. “Writing Advice.” University of Toronto, accessed August 26, 2020, https://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/.
This website provides a seven-part introduction to planning, researching, writing, and revising research assignments at the graduate level.
Remember that you have an annotated bibliography assignment due at the end of class week 5 (i.e., next week). According to the seminar syllabus, the annotated bibliography must include “at least five website articles, five electronic books, five electronic journal articles, five hard copy books, and five hard copy journal articles for use in writing a research paper, twelve to fifteen pages in length….” So, what you share in this forum should be part of what you will submit next week. By the way, the number five on each of those types of sources is a minimum number for the annotated bibliography assignment. You may have more than five of some or all of these types of sources in your final research paper. This week’s forum is your nudge to get started on this assignment if you have not already done so. It will also allow your professor to see the types of sources that you are using in your research. There is no busy work in this course. Everything we do has a purpose and is designed to help you move forward in your seminar research and writing.
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The primary source is =
Amplified Holy Bible. Large Print ed. La Habra, CA: Zondervan, 2015.
The bible is a holy book that bears witness to God and His right ways of living in both testaments. Using Brevard Childs’ biblical theological approach for breaking down scripture, we will see how the rest of bible reflects the meaning of Ephesians 4:1-6. We will cross reference other similar scriptures and find biblical stories that show unity or disunity.
Secondary sources are =
Usou, Akuo. Undivided Understanding and Preventing Church Splitting. Chennai, India: Notion Press, 2023.
“Undivided: Understanding and Preventing Church Splitting is a timely and essential book that explores the causes, impacts, and prevention of church splits. In this book, the author examines the various factors that contribute to church conflicts, including doctrinal differences, leadership conflicts, personality clashes, cultural differences, and mismanagement of resources.” According to Flipkart, Akuo Usou is a respected Christian minister, leader, and author based in the Kohima District, the capital of Nagaland state in northeastern India. He is widely recognized for his extensive background in pastoral ministry, house fellowships, and individual evangelism.
Buchan, Jim. The Church Split Cure: How to Prevent, Survive, or Recover from Congregational Conflict. Rapid City, South Dakota: Crosslink Press, 2018.
“Jim Buchan is a seasoned Christian writer and Bible teacher with more than 40 years of experience helping believers grow in faith and purpose. . . . Jim has written multiple books and contributed to numerous Christian publications, offering clear, Scripture-centered insight for everyday life. In addition to his writing ministry, Jim serves as Care & Teaching Pastor at Mission Community Church, where he provides pastoral care, teaching, and spiritual oversight. His diverse background as an attorney, pastor, and magazine editor brings depth, clarity, and wisdom to both his writing and ministry.” Jim Buchan will provide personal examples of church splits. Through these examples we will see a few reasons why churches split so that we can create preventive principles for church splits.
Tertiary source =
Knowles, Andrew. The Bible Guide: An All-in-One Introduction to the book of Books. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Books, 2001.
This source will be used as a cross reference to the issue of unity and disunity. The specific section speaks about a division that is taking place in Corinth. “Paul has heard from some of Chloe’s people that there are quarrels and splits in the church at Corinth (1:10–4:21). The believers are naming themselves after their favourite leader—Paul, Apollos, Cephas (Peter) or even Christ. The Corinthians want their church leaders to be impressive. Peter has a big personality and Apollos is a brilliant speaker. But Paul disappoints them. He is a small man with poor health and a stammer. Paul tells the Corinthians that they are looking for the wrong things in their leaders—and in themselves. The message of Jesus is that God takes foolish, humble and weak people and gives them the wisdom and power of Christ. . . . But, says Paul, the death of Jesus was the wisest and most powerful thing that God has ever done. And if we’re looking for something to boast about, then let’s boast that Jesus died for us.”
Johnny,
You have made a good start on resources. You have identified two secondary resources directly related to your topic of causes and healing of church splits. You can compare and contrast them for both common themes and unique insights.
English translations of the Bible are considered to be secondary and not primary resources. The Bible is only considered to be a primary resource in an original language version such as UBS 3.0 or Nestle-Aland 28 or 29 for the Greek New Testament and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia for the Hebrew Bible. Also, the Amplified Bible is debated among scholars as to whether it is a paraphrase or a true translation. If it is a paraphrase, then it would be a tertiary resource. It would be a weak version to use for your primary biblical analysis in your research paper. I would suggest that for the primary Bible analysis in your paper that you reference a standard English translation (e.g., NASB, NIV, KJV) as a secondary resource. If you have facility with NT Greek, then list one of the standard Greek texts of the Bible as a primary resource.
You list The Bible Guide, which is a one-volume commentary of the whole Bible, as a tertiary resource. While it may contain some helpful information, I would suggest that you also look for some good Intermediate to Advanced single-volume commentaries on 1 Corinthians such as those in the NAS, Hermeneia, and NINCT series. They will provide a level of depth, especially with respect to linguistic insights, that cannot be found in a one-volume commentary.
Blessings,
Dr. Bryan
Thank you Dr. Bryan
With the approval of the secondary sources, here is the edited primary source and the edited tertiary source:
The primary source is =
Novum Testamentum Graece. Nestle-Aland 28th Ed. Stuttgart, Germany: German Bible Society, 2012.
The bible is a holy book that bears witness to God and His right ways of living in both testaments. Using the New Testaments original language and Brevard Childs’ biblical theological approach for breaking down scripture, we will see how the rest of bible reflects the meaning of Ephesians 4:1-6. We will cross reference other similar scriptures and find biblical stories that show unity or disunity.
Tertiary source =
Fee, Gordon D. New International Commentary on the New Testament, Revised Edition of The First Epistle to the Corinthians. Grand Rapids, MI: 2014.
This source will be used as a cross reference to the issue of unity and disunity found in Ephesians 4:1-6. The specific section speaks about a division that is taking place in Corinth. Paul is confronting quarrels that are causing factions and he confronts the disunity in 1 Corinthians 1:10-4:21. The Corinthians are seeking strong leaders and Paul notifies them they have the wrong focus. First off, Jesus chooses the weak things, and secondly, Jesus the only one we are to boast about.
Excellent sources. Keep working along these lines. You have made good adjustments on these initial sources.
Dr. Bryan
Johnny,
I noticed one other issue with your last response. You listed Fee’s commentary as a tertiary resource. Critical commentaries based on analysis of the original biblical text (i.e., Hebrew and Greek) are generally considered to be secondary resources. Fee’s commentary, as part of the NICNT series, is an intermediate critical commentary based on analysis of the Greek text. So, it is a secondary resource. A devotional commentary is not based on analysis of the original languages but on an English translation. It is a tertiary resource since it is based on a secondary resource, an English translation.
You WILL NOT list resources by type in your Annotated Bibliography. I’m simply pointing this matter out to help you better understand distinctions between the three levels of resources.
Dr. Bryan
Dr. Bryan, Are minutes from a church business meeting from a church I will eventually investigate a valid source for this paper, or is this source beyond the scope of this paper? The church has experienced the church split because of a church plant and a Spanish ministry. I wanted to investigate if the church could have remained together.
Johnny,
You should rely on formally published and curated materials (e.g., books, journals, websites). Unpublished church minutes and analysis thereof goes beyond the scope of your research and the available space in this paper.
Dr. Bryan
Johnny,
I saw that you commented on someone else’s post asking about how to find sources. I found a pretty good way to do it through ETBU’s Jarrett Library.
Go to https://www.etbu.edu/academics/academic-resources/library
Click on Tiger Prowl > Advanced Search > Insert key terms or phrases in your thesis with the correct symbols to help the search engine.
Here’s legend by EBSCO on what different symbols do to help the search engine:
OR – broadens by allowing alternatives – ex: pastor OR clergy
AND – Narrows by requiring both concepts – ex: clergy AND isolation
( ) – Keeps related alternatives together – ex: (pastor OR clergy) AND isolation
” ” – searches a phrase – ex: “peer support”
* – includes different word endings – ex: pastor* … finds pastor, pastors, or pastoral
I used key terms from my thesis as examples, but you’d change them to fit what you’re trying to find for yours.
Also, if you’re looking for peer-reviewed journal articles, check the boxes FULL TEXT and PEER-REVIEWED below the search bars. That will narrow down your search.
I hope that helps. If not, maybe we can Zoom sometime on a weekday, and I’ll show you how.
Thank you so much Skylar!
Skylar,
That is excellent help. Thanks for sharing with your peers.
Dr. Bryan
Primary Source:
Green, Jay P. The Interlinear Bible: Hebrew-Greek-English Bible. Volume 4: Greek-English New Testament. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Academic, 2005.
This source will provide understanding of the original language found in 1 Peter 5:2-3. Secondary scriptures will be examined from the same volume to reinforce the concept of Shepherd/Overseer/Elder.
Secondary Sources:
Davids, Peter H. The First Epistle of Peter. 2nd ed. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990.
Peter David provides important historical and theological insight to 1 Peter. This source will put context to what was being communicated concerning the role of a Shepherd. There is special attention given to the intentions and attitude of a Shepherd.
Hallock, Mark. The Priorities of a Shepherd Pastor: Shepherding God’s People with Deep Love, Biblical Wisdom, and Strategic Care. Leading Church Revitalization. Littleton, CO: Acoma Press, 2020.
Hallock dives into the characteristics of a Pastor/Shepherd and examines them from a practical perspective. The resource will be valuable in not only establishing identity, but in creating a healthy and sustainable rhythm of leadership responsibility.
Tertiary Source:
“Elder in the New Testament.” In The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, edited by Merrill C. Tenney, 2:266–68. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1975–76.
This article provides historical insight to the role of Elder in the New Testament church. I will use the information to assist in connecting secondary scriptures to the role that Elders/Pastors/Shepherds played in the New Testament. This information will help give a broader understanding to the identity of those who serve in those roles.
Rob,
You have identified some good sources. One correction is that the interlinear Bible that you cite is not a primary source. It is a secondary source. Only the original Hebrew and Greek scriptures are considered primary. Most likely the interlinear Bible uses either Nestle-Aland or UBS as the Greek text. You can cite that text alone as a primary source. The interlinear can remain as a secondary resource. See my comments to Johnny earlier in this forum on this same issue.
Blessings,
Dr. Bryan
Primary Source Revision:
Baxter, Richard. The Reformed Pastor: Updated and Abridged. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021.
The Reformed Pastor focuses on the spiritual obligations of a pastor. It will be relevant to my thesis as emphasizes practical ministry and setting priorities in one’s personal life.
Hi Rob, This weeks forum is a little more difficult to respond to. Would you give some recommendations on where you are finding your articles? Currently I am using Google scholar and I have tried some of the other sights that our book recommended. I’m at the beginning stages of research, and your suggestions would help the search.
Johnny,
Luckily I have a fairly large personal library and already have a lot of resources. I am struggling a bit with the different types required for the research paper so the information that Skyler provided is going to be beneficial. I have also reached out to some friends for suggestions of resources. For example, a friend of mine runs a Christian based counseling center and I reached out to her for recommendations on articles dealing with areas of interest for my thesis topic.
My biggest struggle has been identifying primary resources. I have had to re-read much of the material and have also utilized search engines to double check my opinion of what type of source it may be.
Hi Rob,
I like Johnny’s question. Where are you finding your sources? Any tips? I am excited about your paper. We have a personnel committee for ministry staff and then our senior pastor also reports to the Deacon Executive Board. I am interested in learning more about an elder-led church. I appreciate the accountability and guidance of an elder-led church. A hopefully wise sounding board for the pastor and ministry staff. I don’t know much about it, but I also know it has cons too. I have only been on staff at my home church, and it has always been personnel and deacon led.
Lezah,
In my research I am utilizing the term pastor/elder/overseer/shepherd universally since they are interchangeable. As I mentioned to Johnny, I already own a lot of resources dealing with the role the pastor of office. Mainly because a lot of research went into leading our church through the process of becoming elder led. It was an educational journey for myself and the church. I’d love to talk to you about it sometime if you want more information or are curious about the process.
I was inspired by your utilization of a YouTube video as a source! I never would have thought about that.
1. Primary Sources-
Daly, Jim. “Seeing Suffering Through God’s Eyes Part 1: Pastor Levi and Jennie Lusko.” produced by Focus on the Family March, 2022 in Colorado Springs, CO. Podcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgSNKqLa9F0.
Pastor Levi Lusko and his wife, Jennie, share their story of grief and healing after the loss of their five-year-old daughter. They also share how God helped their family after Lenya’s death and the spiritual lessons they learned. Levi wrote a book about their tragedy and journey called “Through the Eyes of a Lion: Facing Impossible Pain Finding Incredible Power.”
2. Secondary Sources-
James, John, Russell Friedman, and Leslie Matthews. When Children Grieve: For Adults to Help Children Deal with Death, Divorce, Pet Loss, Moving, and Other Losses. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.
This book defines grief, explains normal and natural behaviors of children grieving, when to know a child might be in crisis, discusses common myths about grief, tools on how to move from grief to recovery, the paths of grief, and the different types of losses a child can experience. The book also includes real life stories from children.
Soetioso, Vanessa, and Izzatul Fithriyah. “Grief in Children and Adolescents: A Developmentally Informed Clinical Review with Illustrate Cases.” Journal of the Korean Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry 37, no. 1 (January 2026): 44-50. https://www.jkacap.org/journal/view.html?doi=10.5765/jkacap.250036.
Grief in children and adolescents is complex and different from grief in adults. This clinical review article evaluates how grief displays across different developmental stages and what factors can lead to their responses. Using their current evidence and clinical insight, Soetioso and Fithriyah, aim to equip professionals with tools and strategies to best support children and adolescents. As well as helping children build resilience.
3. Tertiary Sources-
Gerlach, Jennifer, Carlee Pendleton-Cole, Christine McAllister, and Victoria Kress. “Grief and Loss Counseling for Children and Adolescents.” American Counseling Association, (January 2026): https://www.counseling.org/.
This article is meant to equip counselors on how to recommend tools for children and adolescents that are grieving. Tools that are developmentally appropriate. It also includes ways to advocate for and resource them. The article focuses on the way grief can be misunderstood in children and adolescents. As well as how grief changed, after the COVID-19 pandemic, by exposing children even more to death.
Lezah,
You have identified some good resources related to children’s grief. I have a couple of small comments on the form of your bibliographic entries. First, always remove the hyperlinks in bibliographic entries and footnotes. Second, please recheck the title on your Soetioso resource. I think the word “Illustrate” should be “Illustrative” in the context of the title. I could be wrong, but the title doesn’t read right to me. If that is the title the author assigned, then use it. It simply caught my attention.
Blessings,
Dr. Bryan
Hi Dr. Bryan,
Yes sir. I didn’t have it underlined in Word, but when I posted it on here it automatically hyperlinked. I am sorry about that.
You are right. Again, my apologies. Please see my revision.
Soetioso, Vanessa, and Izzatul Fithriyah. “Grief in Children and Adolescents: A Developmentally Informed Clinical Review with Illustrative Cases.” Journal of the Korean Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry 37, no. 1 (January 2026): 44-50. https://www.jkacap.org/journal/view.html?doi=10.5765/jkacap.250036.
Grief in children and adolescents is complex and different from grief in adults. This clinical review article evaluates how grief displays across different developmental stages and what factors can lead to their responses. Using their current evidence and clinical insight, Soetioso and Fithriyah, aim to equip professionals with tools and strategies to best support children and adolescents. As well as helping children build resilience.
Did everything look okay besides that? Thank you again for all of your help.
Sincerely,
Lezah
Everything else was fine.
Dr. Bryan
Hi Lezah, I noticed your first source was a YouTube video from Focus on the Family. I did not know that was a valid source. Thanks for the heads up. This gives me an extra place to search. Like I asked Rob, do you have any good sights that give reliable and relevant articles?
Hi Johnny,
Yes, Dr. Bryan let us know that sermons can be used as primary source. Since the Lusko’s story is their eye-witness account of grief, I wanted to see if it would be okay. There were some great suggestions in the book ” Quality Research Papers” chapters 13 & 14. The Jarrett Library and EBSCO online database the ones I have used the most so far. I did bookmark University of Toronto Libraries, WorldCat, HathiTrust Digital Library, Open Access Digital Theological Library, Digital Public Library of America, and Directory of Open Access Books, and Google Scholar. Where are you finding your sources? I would love any suggestions too.
Websites and videos from credible sources are fine. Lezah’s video is a primary resource because it contains firsthand testimony from a family who has suffered grief through the loss of a child. Other websites and videos could be secondary or tertiary resources based on their content.
Dr. Bryan
Thank you Dr. Bryan! I will start exploring relevant videos and see if anything fits!
Lezah,
I saw that you commented on someone else’s post asking about how to find sources. I found a pretty good way to do it through ETBU’s Jarrett Library.
Go to https://www.etbu.edu/academics/academic-resources/library
Click on Tiger Prowl > Advanced Search > Insert key terms or phrases in your thesis with the correct symbols to help the search engine.
Here’s legend by EBSCO on what different symbols do to help the search engine:
OR – broadens by allowing alternatives – ex: pastor OR clergy
AND – Narrows by requiring both concepts – ex: clergy AND isolation
( ) – Keeps related alternatives together – ex: (pastor OR clergy) AND isolation
” ” – searches a phrase – ex: “peer support”
* – includes different word endings – ex: pastor* … finds pastor, pastors, or pastoral
I used key terms from my thesis as examples, but you’d change them to fit what you’re trying to find for yours.
Also, if you’re looking for peer-reviewed journal articles, check the boxes FULL TEXT and PEER-REVIEWED below the search bars. That will narrow down your search.
I hope that helps. If not, maybe we can Zoom sometime on a weekday, and I’ll show you how.
Skyler,
Thank you for this information! I have struggled finding online resources and have not taken the time to explorer the ETBU library very much. Are there any more online resources you have found?
Rob, Claude has been helpful tracking down sources. It has the ability to search, even within libraries that we don’t have access to. It was able to show me recommendations for sources and provide different options for access. You can set parameters on what kind of sources you are looking for. Obviously any AI is not a source itself, but it has it’s uses in identifying potential sources.
Mark,
This reply is not only for you but also for all of your peers, I will send it out as a class email as well since I think it important that everyone reads and understands my reply.
One of the current grey areas in theological education is the use of AI. We in religious academia are woefully behind on generating standards for the ethical use of AI. I have no problem with how you are using Claude to find resources in this seminar. I think it is an appropriate use.
With that said, here is an excerpt from the current ETBU Online Policies:
“Students enrolled at East Texas Baptist University are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards of academic honesty and integrity avoiding all forms of cheating, illicit possession of examinations or examination materials, unwarranted access to instructor’s solutions’ manuals, plagiarism, the use of paraphrasing or artificial intelligence software/sites, forgery, collusion and submissions of the same assignment to multiple courses….”
Here is a link to the full policy statement: https://www.etbu.edu/info-for/online/etbu-online-policies.
I wanted to point this out since one could read the phrase, “the use of paraphrasing or artificial intelligence software/sites”, as allowing no use whatsoever of AI in any way. I have asked for ETBU administration to review and clarify what I see as an overly restrictive statement regarding the use of AI.
As far as this seminar is concerned, I do not find the use of AI to identify research resources to be an improper use of AI. With that said, you should not depend solely on AI for your research. AI still has blind-spots especially in theology and religion.
As far as this seminar is concerned, an improper use of AI would be to outline, write, or rewrite your research paper. At this time, we are still “old school” on this point. Your writing and revising of your research paper must be your own work. You may utilize grammar and spelling checkers, such as those built into Word, but do not use AI to outline, draft, or revise your paper. You may also use other people (e.g., family, friends, peers) to review and suggest possible changes to your paper, especially with respect to style and content. However, all changes and editing must be done by you directly. We are trying to build your writing skills not to build your skills in use of AI or the skills of other human editors.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this matter.
Blessings,
Dr. Bryan
Hey Lezah! Great start on sources. I wonder if there are any professors in the counseling department that might be a help for additional sources on the topic, especially since many of them are actively counseling and have real world experience counseling through grief.
Primary Source: Southern Baptist Convention. “The Baptist Faith and Message 2000.” Amended June 14, 2023. Accessed September 9, 2026. https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/.
Article VI describes the local church as an autonomous congregation operating under the lordship of Christ. This gives me a primary Baptist statement of the congregational autonomy that my proposed accountability model is intended to preserve.
Secondary Source: Edwards, Laura, Roger Bretherton, Mark Gresswell, and Rachel Sabin-Farrell. “The Relationship between Social Support, Spiritual Well-Being, and Depression in Christian Clergy: A Systematic Literature Review.” Mental Health, Religion & Culture 23, no. 10 (2020): 857–873. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2020.1838459.
This article reviews thirteen studies dealing with social support, spiritual well-being, and depression among clergy. It will help me establish what the research currently shows about social support. It will also help to discover limitations of social support.
Tertiary Source: Bolsinger, Tod. Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory. Expanded ed. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2018.
Bolsinger uses leadership theory and ministry experience to address how pastors can lead churches in the modern, post-Christendom era. His emphasis that leaders cannot lead alone helped me begin thinking about the need for trusted peer relationships. However, I will use scholarly studies as the main evidence for my claim.
Additional Secondary Source: Sielaff, Andrea M., Kate Rae Davis, and J. Derek McNeil. “Literature Review of Clergy Resilience and Recommendations for Future Research.” Journal of Psychology and Theology 49, no. 4 (2021): 308–323. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091647120968136.
This review explains that clergy resilience is shaped by relationships, congregations, supervisors, and denominational systems (not solely by personal habits). It will help me show why pastoral isolation may require an organized relational response.
Skylar,
Thanks for posting and for adding the second secondary resource. Your resources and classifications are good. In the Annotated Bibliography, please ensure that all URLs and DOIs are not hyperlinked. I know that some in the seminar have had problems making this happen in the forum posts. However, it should be done in the Annotated Bibliography.
Blessings,
Dr. Bryan
Skylar,
This is a good find. One note, literature reviews such as this one typically are classified as tertiary sources since they serve as a catalogue of primary and secondary sources.
Dr. Bryan
Skylar,
Thanks for submitting your initial response. You only supplied one secondary resource. The instructions were that you should provide two secondary resources
Also, please ensure that any URLs or DOIs are not hyperlinked in your Annotated Bibliography. I understand that there may be some issues with making that happen in the forum posting.
Dr. Bryan
Primary Source:
Knowles, Malcolm S., Elwood F. Holton III, Richard A. Swanson, and Petra A. Robinson. The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development. 9th ed. London: Routledge, 2020.
This is the most recent edition of Knowles’ original work on Adult Learning Theory. It serves as the bridge for my research between what we know about how the adult brain learns and how it should influence the way we teach and train adults.
Secondary: Eliadis, Andriana. Neuroplasticity And Adult Learning: Can An Old Dog Learn New Tricks? Educational Administration: Theory & Practice 30 (2024): 511–17. https://doi.org/10.53555/kuey.v30i11.8640.
This journal article provides an overview of neuroplasticity in adults and discusses some of the misconceptions about the inability of adults to effectively learn as they age. It is a literature review of relevant research, so it will be useful in exploring other sources for my paper.
Tertiary Sources:
Beard, Christopher B. Connecting Spiritual Formation and Adult Learning Theory: An Examination of Common Principles”Christian Educational Journal: Series 3, Volume 14, No. 2 (2017): 247-269.
This is a useful article for the application of my research. It ties together adult learning theory and the practical steps of the church for discipleship and spiritual formation.
Choi, Karen. Neuroplasticity and Spiritual Formation: Changing Brain Structure and Core Beliefs Through Mindfulness and Scripture Meditation/Reflection. In Neuroscience and Christian Formation, edited by Mark A. Maddix and Dean G. Blevins. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, 2016.
This chapter by Karen Choi comes from a textbook edited by Maddix and Blevins that addresses what is known about how adults learn and applies it to experiential spiritual practices.
Mark,
I am impressed with your list of resources. They have definitely challenged me to dig deeper into what I could use. Everything you listed seems very specialized. Is your topic something you have dealt with before?
It’s not something I’ve done any formal research into, but it’s been an area of interest for me. I’ve done a little bit of reading, and had that Beard article already. I’m excited to dig deeper!
I mixed up my secondary and tertiary sources. I meant for the literature review article to serve as a tertiary source and the others to serve as my secondary sources, since they are providing commentary on the application of primary sources.
Mark,
You have found some excellent resources to start your research. You are correct in your second note that the Eliadias journal article is not be a secondary source but a tertiary source. Literature reviews list materials that are either secondary or primary sources on the given topic. This makes it a tertiary source. This resource appears to be one that points you to other good resources. Also, one should always investigate the footnotes and bibliography of a resource for hints of other resources to investigate. Also, you are correct that the Beard and Choi resources are secondary resources since they apply a theory (primary material) for practical use.
The good news is that you do not have to identify the types of sources in your Annotated Bibliography. Assigning a type is simply a part of this exercise to help you think about the different kinds of research resources. One wants to ensure a strong mix of primary and secondary resources. Tertiary resources have their uses (e.g., literature reviews), but they are not adequate in themselves for preparation of quality research.
Blessings,
Dr. Bryan