Five doctoral students in pastoral studies from the class of 2020 have passed the pre-defense.
This is the second pre-defense held since the establishment of the Pastoral Studies doctoral program at Nanjing Union Theological Seminary in Jiangsu in 2017, said the seminary.
On March 14, five dissertations were presented, covering topics on the image design of church buildings, challenges and coping strategies in marriage and family for young pastoral workers, pastoral care and counseling for grieving Christians—using a case study of Zhoukou City in Henan Province, coping strategies for depression among young Christians, and a case study on pastoral challenges and coping strategies based in Guizhou Province.
The members of the dissertation defense committee included Professor Chen Yilu, executive vice president of Nanjing Union Theological Seminary and doctoral student’s supervisor in Pastoral Studies; Dr. Pan Yi Jung, associate professor of Practical Theology at the China Graduate School of Theology in Hong Kong and doctoral supervisor in Pastoral Studies. They also invited Dr. Yue Qinghua, president of Fujian Theological Seminary; Dr. Xiao Anping, vice president of Zhongnan Theological Seminary; Dr. Wang Xuefu, director of Nanjing Straightforward Counseling Institute; and a Dr. in Quyi Art from Nanjing University of the Arts.
The reviewers believed that each doctoral dissertation not only had diverse perspectives in topic selection but also addressed the needs of the Chinese church and society, which demonstrated high levels of professionalism and applicability.
The five doctoral students will also incorporate varied suggestions to revise their dissertations and prepare for the final defense.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
