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Description / Abstract
What has caused small Churches of the Nazarene on the Southwest Oklahoma District to decline in Sunday morning attendance and be in jeopardy of being closed? A 2023 district report shows that seventy-seven percent (34) of the churches on the district have Sunday morning attendances of seventy-five or less.1 Twenty percent (9) of those are fifty years old or older. These nine have been in Sunday morning attendance decline for a decade or more (2012-2022).
1 “Quick Report of Membership, Worship, and Discipleship 2023,” an unpublished paper retrieved from the Southwest Oklahoma District office, August 2023.
Using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods, this dissertation reports, describes, and analyzes data received from pastors, lay leaders and congregations who participated in phone interviews and surveys. This information supports a propensity to focus their gatherings on traditional practices like worship, Sundays School, Bible studies, sharing meals, etc. Not included in these gatherings are non-attending near neighbors who live within a three-mile radius of the church building and were identified through demographic studies and neighborhood exegeses. This research paper speaks of an “inward turn” of these congregations, a turn away from a more robust missional nature to which Christ calls the church. Congregational decline is multifaceted. This is a study of the practices and attitudes of these local congregations. The goal of this study is to understand what has shaped and continues to influence these small Nazarene congregations and their potential demise.
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Keywordsattendance, missional, growth, outreach
Degree AwardedDoctor of Ministry
Awarding InstitutionNazarene Theological Seminary
Committee MembersBryan Stone, Levi Jones
Supervisor or ChairDavid Wesley
Peer Reviewed?No
Pages200
Original LanguageEnglish
Collections With This Resource
Doctor of Ministry Dissertations
76 Resources
- Religion - Christianity
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