Date

8-6-2025

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Chair

Jacob Dunlow

Keywords

Identity, Biblical, Storytelling, Development, Questionnaire

Disciplines

Christianity | Psychology

Abstract

In a culture where many youths are not only leaving the church but also facing psychological issues like identity crises, it is important that children develop their identity as God’s Word prescribes rather than the preference-based identities pushed by secular parties. To best ensure this development, then it is essential that children receive biblical storytelling from both the church and also the parents at home, the latter of which is underutilized in many modern Christian homes. This thesis posits that if parents are made aware of the need for biblical identity development and trained to do so, then they will regularly engage their children in biblical storytelling in the home, providing the children the foundations they need to begin forming a Christlike identity. To test this, the researcher gathered parents from First Baptist Church of Sanford and educated them on modern cultural challenges, psychology, and biblical storytelling in weekly hour-long training sessions, as well as encouraging them to apply the training regularly in the home. The project used questionnaires containing Likert-scale questions and open-ended questions to assess the parents’ home Bible study frequency and their understanding of the Scriptures both during the training sessions and in the following weeks. If the thesis proves successful, then other church groups may utilize the project’s training sessions, questionnaires, and psychological approach to improve the home Bible study and identity-development of its members.

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