Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Barry Gane

Second Advisor

Eddie Heinrich

Third Advisor

Ronald Rojas

Abstract

Problem

The 9 Mile Seventh-day Adventist Church is one of the biggest churches in the city Port Moresby. It has been discovered that many young people and some adults who were baptized into the 9 Mile SDA Church in the last ten years no longer attend church. According to overall General Conference statistics, 9 Mile SDA Church’s local conference has been losing members over the last ten years.

Method

The research was conducted using the established research protocols. Three types of research were conducted: focus groups involving both active and non-active members; a major research survey of one hundred people of different generations; and a baseline survey of fifty new members who were baptized in 2022 and 2023.

Results

The study revealed that most of the members remained in the church due to having very strong connections with others and regular participation and involvement in the church. It was also revealed that their different needs were met, which helped them to remain faithful in the church.

Conclusions

It was evident that the loss of church members can be greatly minimized when the church intentionally creates a conducive environment for the assimilation and nurturing of members to reduce dropout rates. The church should make a collective effort to employ an intergenerational approach to retention.

Subject Area

New church members; Church work with new church members--Seventh-day Adventists; Intergenerational relations--Religious aspects--Seventh-day Adventists; 9 Mile Seventh-day Adventist Church (Papua New Guinea)

Download

Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS