The development of a new church development ministry strategy assessment model for use within at-risk urban African American communities

The five levels of human needs as outlined in Abrtham Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs Theory are clearly evidenced in the ministry strategy assessment model developed and executed in the present study. Using Maslow’s needs theory, a community needs analysis was created to assess an at-risk urban African...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Burrows, Felix A, Jr
Format: Others
Published: DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center 2008
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Online Access:http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/331
http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1877&context=dissertations
Description
Summary:The five levels of human needs as outlined in Abrtham Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs Theory are clearly evidenced in the ministry strategy assessment model developed and executed in the present study. Using Maslow’s needs theory, a community needs analysis was created to assess an at-risk urban African American community’s unmet needs and desire for developing a new church in their community. A sample of non atrisk urban residents living in a different community served as a control. A demographic profile of the Presbyterian Church (USA) membership was also compared with the resident profile under study. Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs theory was found to be a sensitive predictor of unmet needs and desires of both the at-risk community and the control group. Results of the surveys, however, differed significantly between the two groups. Pre- and post new church development surveys within the at-risk urban community complimented a community needs analysis by providing additional inputs that explain at-risk community concerns in their unique context. Based on this work, it is c&ncluded that the ministry strategy development analysis has the potential for determining, refining and directing ministry initiatives in support of new church developthei~t (NCD) and church redevelopment across a wide variety of demographic, psychographic and cultural contexts.