Avondale Research Publications

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    Evaluating the Acceptability and Impact of an Online, Lifestyle-Based Mental Well-Being Initiative Targeting School Communities in New York State - Lifting the School Community Project
    (Sage Journals, 2024-11-20) Renfrew, Melanie Elise; Morton, Darren Peter; Maguire, Leticia Joanne; Amundson, Richard Paul; Justis, Danna Day
    Purpose To determine the acceptability and impact of an online, lifestyle-based mental well-being initiative in a school-based setting. Approach A post-program evaluation survey was administered after the intervention. Setting Fifty-seven New York State school districts. Participants Participating school districts invited all employees and community members to register for the intervention. A total of 4083 individuals participated, with 1060 (26%) responding to the post-program survey. Intervention The 7-week intervention (The Lift Project) incorporated strategies from lifestyle medicine, positive psychology and neuroscience literature. The ten lessons included online, video-based content and related experiential learning exercises. Methods The post-program survey included Likert items that evaluated the participants’ perceived program acceptability, mental health enhancement, self-efficacy, and skill acquisition. Inductive thematic qualitative analysis assessed the participants’ likes and dislikes concerning the initiative. Results A high percentage of respondents indicated that the program improved their well-being (85%), enhanced their well-being-related self-efficacy (92%), and provided them with skills for supporting their long-term mental well-being (82%). Respondents liked the evidence-based, engaging content and design elements and the focus on personal well-being, community connection, and practical applicability. Some respondents desired more social connection, disliked certain design elements, lacked time and experienced technical issues. Conclusion The initiative was acceptable and impactful, indicating that school districts may serve as an effective network for addressing the mental health epidemic.
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    Perceptions of the acceptability and effectiveness of a localised lifestyle medicine initiative to improve mental health – the lift project
    (Taylor & Francis Online, 2024-04-29) Renfrew, Melanie; Morton, Darren; Rankin, Paul; Maguire, Leticia
    Objective Evaluate survey respondents’ perceptions concerning the acceptability and effectiveness of a localised, community-based mental health program. Method Avondale University and Lake Macquarie City Council partnered to implement an online, lifestyle-based program for all Council residents during a COVID-19 lockdown period. The University and Council promoted the program through established networks, resulting in 2390 registrations representing 4041 participants. Researchers invited registered users to respond to a post-program survey assessing their perceptions concerning program satisfaction, mental health benefits, and self-efficacy for managing mental health. Qualitative questions probed respondents’ likes and dislikes and were analysed thematically. Results Response rates were low, 6% (138/2390) of registered participants completed the post-program survey. Of the 138 responses, 99% indicated they would recommend the program to others, and 94% believed they gained skills to manage their mental well-being into the future. Themes generated from the qualitative data indicated that respondents liked the video content and delivery style, community camaraderie, personal empowerment, and easy accessibility. Some respondents found online accessibility problematic, disliked the delivery style, and experienced technical difficulties. Discussion The findings from a limited number of respondents indicate that a localised, community-based lifestyle program may offer a replicable model that is acceptable and effective in improving perceived mental health and self-efficacy in managing mental well-being. Survey respondents valued the practical content, community togetherness and emphasis on self-empowerment.
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    Function and Focus of Material Elements in Vampire Narrative
    (Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2023-11-11) Fitzsimmons, Phil
    This chapter unpacks a qualitative research agenda that explores how a group of 22 young adults, aged 18–30 years of age understand the representational aspects of the materiality often associated with vampire narratives. Through a series of semi-structured interviews and the use of co-operative schematic drawing, this cohort revealed that materiality could only be understood as one component of a web of elements that framed the vampire’s representation and narrative metaphor. However, given the explicit starting point they explained materiality as it relates to the vampire character in terms of a hollowness and an exterior façade that conceals the vampire’s identity crisis, inner fears, and a conduit that reveals the two foci of the vampire’s aggression towards humanity. In essence they understood the vampire figure to represent an overall cathected presence that sought to understand the human condition.
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    A Vision for Mission: John Andrews and the Eschatological Imperative
    (2024-10) Valentine, G. M.
    In his presentation, “A Vision for Mission: John Andrews and the Eschatological Imperative,” delivered at the conference “Celebrating the Past, Looking to the Future – A Sesquicentennial Memorial Conference Celebrating 150 Years of Consistent Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Endeavour,” held from October 14-16, 2024, at Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI, Gilbert M. Valentine examines the eschatological motivations underpinning John Andrews’ missionary efforts. Valentine explores how Andrews’ theological perspectives on mission were shaped by his understanding of end-time prophecies and the urgency of Adventist evangelism. By analysing Andrews’ legacy as a pioneering missionary, the presentation provides insights into the enduring influence of eschatological imperatives in shaping the Adventist approach to global mission, offering valuable reflections on the denomination’s historic and contemporary missionary strategies.
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    Ellen White and the Anabaptist Movement
    (2024-04) Valentine, G. M.
    In his presentation, “Ellen White and the Anabaptist Movement,” delivered at the Institute for Adventist Studies Symposium on “Adventism and the Anabaptists” held from April 15-18, 2024, at Friedensau University, Germany, Gilbert M. Valentine explores the connections between Ellen White’s theological perspectives and the principles of the Anabaptist movement. Valentine examines the historical and ideological intersections between early Adventism and Anabaptist teachings, analysing how White’s writings reflect elements of Anabaptist thought, particularly in areas such as pacifism, community, and church-state relations. The study offers insights into the influence of Anabaptist theology on White’s ministry and the broader Adventist identity, contributing to the ongoing scholarly dialogue on Adventism’s historical and theological roots.
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    Adventists in North America
    (Oxford Academic, 2024-05-22) Valentine, Gilbert M.
    Emerging in New England in the mid-nineteenth century following the collapse of Millerism, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, formally organized in the early 1860s, retained its convictions about an imminent Second Advent and spread west across the continent. In 2020 the North American church comprised more than six thousand congregations. Careful Sabbath observance and a concern for health and education became major features of a distinctive Adventist lifestyle and a mark of the movement’s institutional presence in communities. Theological development led to a more Christocentric soteriology. Despite periods of debate over the role of founder Ellen G. White and key doctrines, the church avoided schism and achieved exponential international growth necessitating major reorganization in 1901. North American Adventism manifests ethnic diversity and a distinctive expression reflecting the sociocultural and political issues of its particular location. These involve such issues as women in ministry, an independent press, and a strong media outreach.
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    Reframing the Sanctuary Doctrine: A Case Study in Theological Development
    (Adventist Forum, 2024) Valentine, Gilbert M.
    Edward Heppenstall (1901-1995) has been recognized in a survey of Adventist religion teachers as the most influential Seventh-day Adventist theologian of the twentieth century. He made significant contributions to the church’s developing soteriology and key aspects of its distinctive teaching on the sanctuary teaching using the concept of cosmic conflict as a way of reframing and restating the doctrine. This paper proposes to briefly explore the context and background of Heppenstall’s emerging awareness of the need for reframing sanctuary teaching and seek to understand when, how and why this occurred? What were the roots and sources of his motivation? The study will also explore whether he encountered resistance to his initiatives and what strategies he may have adopted to successfully achieve a receptive audience for his reframing ideas.
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    Siegfried Horn: Strategies for Coping with Theological Tension and Conflict
    (European Adventist Society of Theology and Religious Studies (EASTRS), 2024) Valentine, Gilbert M.
    Siegfried Horn was an alumnus of both Friedensau Seminary and Newbold College, who subsequently served for 25 years at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary as professor of Antiquity, Chair of the Old Testament Department and finally as Dean of the Seminary. Through his field work and his writing, he became an internationally respected authority in the field of Biblical Archaeology. During most of his career but particularly through the 1960s and 70s, the Adventist church faced enormous social and cultural change and experienced increasing pressure for theological change in response to the need to accommodate new knowledge. Theological conflict often simmered underneath the surface of church life and as a result, Horn’s teaching and administrative responsibilities exposed him to significant stress as he navigated the sharp tensions. Utilizing Horn’s personal diary kept over fifty years, this paper will explore Horn’s private reflections on these tensions and his perceptions of the need for theological change. It will also seek to identify strategies he adopted in order to cope with the tensions associated with change and consider how he approached the challenge of maintaining personal integrity when his views and those of his church and its leaders markedly differed.
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    Betsalel: Called by Name to Build for God
    (Resource Publications, 2024-08) Ostring, Elizabeth Ellen
    This story imaginatively tries to understand the meaning of the ancient Jewish sanctuary and its services from the perspective of a group of young Israelites wandering in the desert for forty years. The lessons they might have derived from their discussions with Betsalel, the man chosen by name by God to make the tabernacle where God planned to dwell with his people, are explored. Betsalel connects them with Moses, inspires them to teach others, so that on the borders of the promised land the people are ready to move forward and follow God's plans for conquest. The narrative also explores how understanding the tabernacle services can inform Christian theology and prophetic interpretation.
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    Hannah: Drugs, Despair, and the Dogged Grace of God
    (Resource Publications, 2024-05) Ostring, lizabeth Ellen
    Hannah is the true story of a woman who grew up in a dysfunctional family and overcame significant learning disabilities, drug addiction, and relationship tragedies to finally discover the power of Jesus Christ and her worth and purpose as a child of God. She found that religious ritual did not answer the yearning of her heart, and relationships were not an answer either. Against all odds she obtained a university degree in Chinese and thought she had found meaning in her teaching service for others. But robbed of this by severe ill health, she discovered true meaning comes from knowing God and being available for him to use to share the good news of Jesus with others.