Date
2-7-2025
Department
Rawlings School of Divinity
Degree
Doctor of Ministry (DMin)
Chair
Jonathan Edward Sullivan
Keywords
Financial illiteracy, stewardship, literacy curriculum, Black, SDA
Disciplines
Religion
Recommended Citation
Hughes, Christopher L., "Financial Illiteracy Elimination Through the Development of a Biblical Financial Literacy Curriculum for New Life SDA Church" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 6470.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/6470
Abstract
The problem at New Life SDA Church is biblical financial illiteracy, caused by a lack of scriptural understanding of stewardship; the existence of knowledge gaps pertaining to modern, personal financial management practices; and substandard education across generations. As a result, there is a cascading effect of sustained cross-generational scarcity, difficulties fulfilling daily commitments and responsibilities, problematic family landscapes, and non-fulfillment of church-related stewardship. Protection against financial illiteracy is for New Life Seventh-day Adventist congregants to study and utilize biblical stewardship principles, along with modern financial concepts and practices in their lives. Therefore, this research project’s purpose was to train this Black congregation through a culturally designed, biblical, financial literacy curriculum. The researcher conducted an intervention with ten members of the church using a curriculum whose goal was to focus them on God as the Owner of their resources, delineate financial stewardship, and equip them with modern financial practices, tools, and resources, and to enable them to manage their family finances better as faithful stewards of God. The researcher conducted interviews and a six-day intervention, and used SurveyMonkey surveys, quizzes, and pre-/post-intervention questionnaires in order to gauge the effectiveness of the intervention. The curricula were developed with a solid theological foundation and multiple theoretical models (i.e. Self-Efficacy, Social Learning, Goal-Setting Theory of Motivation Approach, and the Stewardship Theory), all of which were used to communicate and root the knowledge gained. The project will influence those desiring to understand and resolve financial illiteracy in similar contexts as New Life.
