Date

11-13-2025

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Chair

Jason Whitehurst

Keywords

Military, deployment, reintegration, husband, father, headship, love, nourish, cherish, one-flesh, discipline, instruction, family leadership, training, synchronous communication, Ephesians 5

Disciplines

Christianity | Practical Theology

Abstract

This thesis project examined the result of the author’s 8-Step Family Leadership Deployment Plan on the effective leadership of ten Christian husbands and fathers deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The project’s goals were to mitigate family stress during separation and warfighter reintegration, to prevent role reversal within the family, and to prevent a pause in the headship and leadership roles of husbands and fathers. The project extrapolated eight principles from Ephesians 5:22–6:4 and was designed to fill an identified resource gap within the United States Military, particularly at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It guided participants in creating their own personalized family leadership deployment plan based upon these eight principles, using synchronous communication methods. The author created eight podcasts that coordinate with the project’s eight lessons, which were intended to help multiple learning styles. Data was collected using questionnaires prior to and after the intervention. This thesis project may prove useful in other deployment settings outside of the ministry context of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and among any of the six branches of United States Military service, including Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Space Force.

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