Program
Doctor of Ministry
Year Approved
2016
First Advisor
Parolini, Dr. Jeanine
Abstract
This thesis addresses the question of how a large church can best pursue ethnic diversity. Using qualitative research methods the researcher demonstrated that the best practices found among secular organizations in pursing diversity are effective when implemented in a large predominately white church. The researcher identified that there are common themes running through such organizations as Coca Cola, IBM and American Express in regards to their individual diversity initiatives. The researcher demonstrates that the four best practices of 1) getting the leadership to be champions for the cause, 2) casting the vision across the organization, 3) motivating the organization’s employees by demonstrating the beneficial nature of the vision’s success and 4) creating a system-wide plan allows for a large church to successfully pursue the celebration of diversity. The researcher implemented initiatives that represent each of these four best practices in the context of a large, predominantly white, evangelical church. After a two year period, the church grew in diversity.
Degree Name
Doctor of Ministry
Document Type
Doctoral thesis
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Gibson, S. R. (2016). Empowering Congregations to Move from Simple Hospitality to Celebration of Ethnic Diversity within Their Church [Doctoral thesis, Bethel University]. Spark Repository. https://spark.bethel.edu/etd/230