Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Osvaldo Lima Ferreira

Second Advisor

Ricardo Norton

Abstract

Problem

The spiritual influence of the Adventist church in contemporary society is facing the challenges of a generation that is increasingly vulnerable and fragmented due to secularism and the ongoing pursuit of alternative sources of meaning. The community resists the commitment to be part of a Christian family where their lives are transformed and their abilities used for the benefit of others.  --The First Hispanic Church of the Seventh-day Adventists of Austin, Texas, faces the same challenge. The work carried out by the congregation was not sufficient to impact and reach the local community. The researcher's investigation during the years 2021 to 2022 indicated that despite the contacts that the church has during the week with people in the community, few visitors came to the services, decided to be baptized, and stayed as part of the family.

Methodology

This is a practical project with a contextualized intervention in the community of Austin, Texas. The basis is theological and included research into contemporary authors that provided the concepts and ideas to create the strategy. A dialogue took place with the leaders of the local church to define the specific initiatives to be implemented. In August 2023, these initiatives focused on attraction and retention began to be implemented with the purpose of reaching a greater number of people in the Hispanic community, increasing attendance at Saturday morning worship services, increasing the number of baptisms in the year, and raise the retention capacity of the church. -- The process included a theological reflection in the Bible and the books of Ellen White focused on God's attraction and retention initiatives aimed at creating a plan to bring people to God and an ongoing relationship with Him. The analysis of contemporary literature summarizes the main characteristics of contemporary churches that are growing and the initiatives they have implemented to attract the community effectively. In addition, several key concepts were discovered to effectively retain church members while exposing the need for training the leaders who would carry out the project. Finally, the strategy was implemented from August 2023 to February 2024.

Results

One result was the increase in attendance at services on Saturday from 282 to 349 people (appendix G). The number of visitors attending increased from 20 to 41. The goal was to increase the number of visitors relative to the number of contacts in the community from 1 per 200 (0.5%) to 1 per 100 (1%). The actual result was 1 per 97.6 contacts (97.6%). The ratio of visitors to attendees was one for every 8.5 people (appendix H). This was lower than the goal of one per 8 attendees but higher than the previous one per 14. The decrease in this ratio was due to a higher than expected increase in overall attendance. Attendance was projected to increase by up to 320 people per service, but the actual attendance was 349 (appendix G). -- As for baptisms, a total of 32 were projected in one year and after seven months, 25 people were baptized, making an estimate of 40 for the entire year (appendix D, E and F). In this way, the proportion would be one baptism for every 100 people contacted by the church; the goal was one for every 125. -- It is important to note that the analysis of the results was conducted based on the seven-month period during which the project was implemented. Due to time limit, the statistical details presented reflect data recorded up to February 2024. Additionally, a final report on baptisms was included, covering the entire year from August 2023 to July 2024, which concluded with a total of 40 baptisms (appendix I). -- Regarding retention, the percentage of recurring attendees dropped from 69.9% (197 out of 282) to 66.5% (232 out of 349) due to the increase in general attendance. Among the newly baptized, the goal was to reach 60% and it was possible to have a recurring attendance of 68.9% (71 out of 103). General attendance of the newly baptized also increased from 81.4% (48 out of 59) to 91.3% (94 out of 103). The goal was to reach 90%, which reflects a positive achievement of the implemented strategy (appendix H).

Conclusion

The results achieved and the growth experienced by the First Hispanic Church of the Seventh-day Adventists in Austin, Texas, confirmed that the strategy implemented was effective and appropriate to the needs and challenges faced. The initiatives were a valuable tool that can be used by other churches suffering from the same conditions in terms of attracting and retaining members. Moreover, while initiatives may differ from one city to another, a well-defined strategy is essential to effectively accomplish specific local objectives. Churches can breathe with confidence that by applying these initiatives they will be able to change their future and achieve the desired growth.

Subject Area

Seventh-day Adventists--Membership; Church membership--Texas; First Hispanic Church of the Seventh-day Adventists (Austin, Tex.); Church work with new church members--Seventh-day Adventists

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