1.0 Thesis Paper Instructions

Culminating Academic Project (CAP) Thesis Paper
READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY

The (CAP) Thesis Paper is a conclusion of the THS. student’s three years of diligent study and practice. The (CAP) Thesis Paper is NOT a story of the various lessons the THS. student has learned during their training and should not be told in narrative form. Instead, this written work will demonstrate the ability of the student to synthesize numerous sources and texts, analyze their content, and apply their significance toward their future sphere of ministry. While the (CAP) Thesis Paper should not be written in narrative form, as part of its conclusion, it should include a reflective component where the student discusses how they will apply their newly acquired research into future work. 

The importance of this work to a student’s future professional development cannot be overstated. Grades and class participation will not be sufficient. Graduate colleges and universities require students to submit written work in order to demonstrate their academic skills and ability. Students with a poorly written thesis will have great difficulty being accepted into post graduate programs.

Prompt:

Consider the specific field of ministry that you are serving in or plan to serve in the future, such as children’s ministry director, head pastor, manager of a Christian missions organization, etc. Alternatively, consider an eye-opening course you took at THS. or a topic that sparked your interest which you would like to delve into deeper. With this in mind, select a topic that you would like to research. Your topic needs to be specific, as opposed to broad. Gather at least 10 different sources pertaining to your topic and analyze their content. Produce a 15-20 page double-spaced well written paper, free of grammatical errors, and holding one concise argument throughout. Your target audience for this paper will be an acceptance board at a Masters program you are looking into. (You do not have to plan to attend a Masters program. This is for you to have an audience in mind that you are writing for).

Formatting:

• Title Page including First Name, Last Name, Date, Title of Thesis (see attached page)
• Font: Times New Roman
• Size: 12
• 15-20 pages double-spaced
• 1-inch margins, 1-inch paragraph indentation
• Page numbers top right corner
• Chicago Style citations
• Chicago Style Bibliography properly formatted with minimum of 10 sources

Example of what NOT to do:

“First, I took the class “Church History” at THS. From this class, I learned about the Reformation and its importance. Second, I took the class “Character Identity.” Here we took several personality tests and I learned a lot about myself. It was very interesting. I went back to my church and had my congregation also take the personality tests. They said that it was also interesting and it helped our church a lot. Third, I took the class “Conflict and Crisis Management.” In the class, we learned that we will have conflicts at our church and how we should manage them.”

Consider: Why is the above a bad example?