- Collection:
- Interdenominational Theological Center Theses & Dissertations Collection
- Title:
- Developing a model of congregational renewal in declining African American churches in Rankin County, Mississippi: F.A.C.E.-I.T. (Finding Answers Concerning Every Issue Today), 2018
- Date of Original:
- 2018
- Subject:
- Academic theses
Theology--Study and teaching
Theological seminaries - Location:
- United States, 39.76, -98.5
United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798 - Medium:
- theses
dissertations - Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- This research project is imperative because every person is significant regardless of demographics, educational status, and economic standings. Those who live in rural areas are in as much need of spiritual care as those who live in urban and metropolitan areas. While the Universal Church serves in the capacity of primacy, its overall health and survival depends on the sustenance of smaller tangible churches that support it. These local assemblies are often based within communities of people with common social and economical interests. In many ways, the rural Black Church continues to serve as the locus of formation regarding morality training, spiritual awareness and activism. “The uniqueness of the Black Church is found in the way enslaved Africans took the hybrid Christianity offered them by their oppressors and made it relevant and meaningful to their needs.” Those needs may adequately be summarized in the overall need for liberation (freedom). “During slavery it meant release from bondage; after emancipation it meant the right to be educated, to be employed, and to move freely from place to place. In the twentieth century freedom means social, political, and economic justice.” The academic community, denominational associations, and spiritual leaders of rural communities will benefit greatly from this project because it may serve to provide insights to those facing the present challenges of numerical and spiritual decline within Black Churches. The project included participants from five churches in rural central Rankin County Mississippi. Each of the selected churches served to represent the focus group of the study. From within the five selected churches, each individual church chose five survey and five questionnaire participants from among the congregation. The participants were selected according to their personal knowledge of the church’s history, age, attendance, absence, and overall deportment. There were also fifty “Quick Church Membership Surveys” given to church attendees within Rankin County, Mississippi. Although fifty surveys were distributed only twenty-six were completed and returned. From the pool of twenty-six, ten participants (seven women and three men) were interviewed in the church ethnographic culture process. Ethnography is the systematic study of people and cultures. The church ethnographic culture process is comprised of five stages: compiling the primary record, conducting focus group interviews, performing dialogical data collection, organizing and analyzing collected data, and using system relations to interpret the findings. At the genesis of the project, there were several preliminary assumptions that were relative to the underlining cause of the numerical and spiritual decline within African American Churches in rural Rankin County Mississippi. Among those assumptions were the lack of church programs and ministries that were uniquely designed to minister and/or generate interests for the un-churched within the community. A second assumption was the possibility of an aging and expiring membership that was not consistently being replaced with youth and young adult people to continue in their place. A third assumption included the likelihood of an economic migration caused by limited gainful employment opportunities for people within the area. As the quantitative research progressed, many of the findings supported much of the preliminary assumptions. For instance, the quantitative research revealed that not all of the Black Churches that were surveyed had successful ministries that served the community needs. In contrast, another preliminary assumption thought to contribute in the numerical and spiritual decline of Black Churches was the possibility of an economic migration. It was assumed that an economic migration might have occurred within the Black Community, causing an exodus of families seeking jobs and security. The quantitative research did not support this assumption. It revealed that all survey participants were either employed or previously employed prior to retirement in one of five major employment fields (Administrative Support, Craftsmanship, Management, Service, or Professional). During the initial Pastoral focus group interviews it was brought to light that one of the main reasons for the numerical and spiritual decline within African American Churches in Rankin County, Mississippi was the lack of Black Men in attendance. The insight of the Pastor’s focus group was consistent with the researcher’s second assumption of the possibility of an aging and expiring membership that was not being replaced with youth and young adults to continue in their place. Through itinerant speaking engagements in rural Black Churches, the researcher’s own ocularity further solidified the Pastoral focus group’s insight of absent African American Men in church attendance. The researcher’s observances were further confirmed through a literature review including the works of Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu’s book titled Adam! Where Are You? and Thabiti Anyabwile’s book titled Reviving The Black Church. Using the mixed method approach, inclusive of two sets of survey questions (Appendix F and G), a questionnaire (Appendix H), two focus group interviews with five Black Pastors (Appendix E), and conversation interviews with seven Black Women and three Black Men, the researcher explored ways to reach and resource Black Men within the community. As a result of the research efforts, verbatim statements of research participants, and the experience of each focus group Pastor in having difficulty finding Black Men to complete surveys and questionnaires, a combined brotherhood, known as the F.A.C.E-I.T. (Finding Answers Concerning Every Issue Today) Conference, was established between the Black Churches. The first F.A.C.E.-I.T. Conference was held June 14th-15th in Brandon, Mississippi at the True Vine Missionary Baptist Church. There were over 600 people in attendance each night and over 200 of those were Black men. Black Church leaders and members unanimously stated that they would like to continue with the F.A.C.E.-I.T. Conference and it appears to have generated interest in other church-related activities.
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/itc_etd:2018_sanchez_harvey_ava
- Language:
- eng
- Original Collection:
- Interdenominational Theological Center Theses and Dissertations
- Holding Institution:
- Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library
- Rights:
-
