Committee Chair

Rausch, David W.

Committee Member

Crawford, Elizabeth K.; Pipes, Ashleigh C.; McCord, Jeff D.

Department

Dept. of Applied Leadership and Learning

College

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. College of Health, Education, and Professional Studies

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

The Black Church has served as a cornerstone institution within African American communities for centuries, anchoring religious practice, social engagement, and civic life across generations. Despite this legacy, church membership and attendance among African Americans continue to decline, a trend accelerated by the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. This mixed-methods phenomenological study explores the factors that contribute to African Americans' church commitment in the post-pandemic era, examining the lived experiences of church leaders and churchgoers to identify patterns of religious involvement that sustain congregation engagement and growth. Guided by communities of practice (Wenger, 2000), the social cognitive theory (Bandura, 2002), the transformative learning theory (E. W. Taylor, 2008), and Rosabeth Kanter’s commitment model (Kanter, 1972), this study employed an exploratory sequential design (Creswell, 2021). The qualitative phase utilized semi-structured interviews and focus groups with four African American church leaders and 10 churchgoers, analyzed through thematic analysis. The researcher administered the Religious Involvement Scale to 166 participants and analyzed the data using multiple regression to examine relationships in church involvement across generational, educational, gender, marital, denominational, and geographic variables. Ten themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: family influence and early socialization, pastoral leadership and spiritual guidance, worship experience and spiritual practices, community belonging and outreach, ministry participation and service opportunities, personal spiritual growth and development, COVID-19 impact and hybrid ministry, connection between involvement and church growth, intergenerational engagement and youth inclusion, and emotional needs and personal support. Quantitative findings revealed no statistically significant relationships in church involvement scores across all demographic variables examined, with generation, education level, gender, marital status, denomination, church, and personal location each serving as significant predictors of involvement. Findings from both phases converge to affirm that involvement may not be shaped by demographic characteristics, but by family influence, pastoral leadership, and opportunities for meaningful participation. Implications for practice offer church leaders a framework for strategic resource allocation, and implications for future research identify longitudinal and denominational comparative studies as priority directions. This study contributes to the growing body of scholarship on race, religious involvement, and community dynamics in a post-pandemic context.

Acknowledgments

I sincerely thank my dissertation committee for their guidance and expertise throughout this process. To Dr. David W. Rausch, my committee chair, thank you for your steady leadership, wisdom, and encouragement from the earliest stages of this study through its completion. To Dr. Elizabeth K. Crawford, my methodologist, thank you for your invaluable guidance in navigating the research design and analysis that made this study possible. To Dr. Ashleigh Pipes and Dr. Jeff D. McCord, thank you for lending your time and expertise to sharpen and refine this dissertation. To the African American church leaders and churchgoers who generously shared their time, stories, and lived experiences for this study, thank you. Your willingness to speak openly about your faith and church involvement made this research possible, and I hope this work honors the trust you placed in me. Finally, to my Doctoral Girls, Dr. Barbara Scales, Dr. Julie Spino, and Dr. Carshonda Harris Martin, thank you for the countless check-ins, words of encouragement, and shared understanding of this journey. Your camaraderie made the difficult days lighter and the milestones more meaningful.

Degree

Ph. D.; A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Date

5-2027

Subject

African American churches; Christians, Black; COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023--Religious aspects--Christianity

Keyword

The Black Church, Commitment, Involvement, Religiosity, Generational, Covid-19

Document Type

Doctoral dissertations

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

x, 90 leaves

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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