Opposing Transformation

The Role of Resistance to Change in Church Sustainability

The purpose of writing The Role of Resistance to Change in Church Sustainability in Harlem, New York, is to determine the role that resistance to change plays in ensuring that a church continues to survive in the face of the gentrification of the Harlem community.Chapter 1 details a ministry problem that prompted my interest in this project. It expounds upon the community and congregational contexts, hypothesis, scope of the problem, as well as the theological and theoretical foundations.Chapter 2 provides a literature review of works relevant to framing an understanding of the impact of resistance to change on church sustainability. The forthcoming review includes articles focusing on the dynamics of church growth and decline, gentrification, the historical significance of the church in the African American community, organizational change management, and resistance to change. Chapter 3 sets forth the research methodology utilized in approaching this project’s exploration of the extent to which the congregational attitude toward change impacted the life cycle of these two churches in Harlem, New York, the purpose and goals of the assessment instruments, the method of their administration, and the procedures for data collection.Chapter 4 presents the results of the accumulated data and the analysis of the data. Details confirming the project hypothesis are presented. The results of surveys and participants’ interviews are delineated, and tendencies noted. The chapter includes an analysis of the results of the study and a summary.Chapter 5 summarizes the ministry problem that prompted the current research, the research hypothesis, and how the results are related. The study concludes by offering recommendations for future research.