{"response":{"docs":[{"system_create_dtsi":"2026-05-19T21:08:49Z","system_modified_dtsi":"2026-05-19T21:18:11Z","has_model_ssim":["Etd"],"id":"4e665ddf-c486-4d59-872d-158324c46ae4","accessControl_ssim":["bd471cea-41c8-45e1-9d76-428ac026beb6"],"hasRelatedMediaFragment_ssim":["fb1fd1b5-62ac-43d6-864b-73a7e80c119d"],"hasRelatedImage_ssim":["fb1fd1b5-62ac-43d6-864b-73a7e80c119d"],"depositor_ssim":["oswann@pts.edu"],"depositor_tesim":["oswann@pts.edu"],"title_tesim":["Empowering the Margins: Exploring Church Planting and Sustainability by Socioeconomically Disenfranchised Black Communities in Majority-White Mainline Denominations"],"date_uploaded_dtsi":"2026-05-19T21:08:48Z","date_modified_dtsi":"2026-05-19T21:18:11Z","isPartOf_ssim":["admin_set/default"],"hasEmbargo_ssim":["4ceeb94f-41b8-48a0-8d22-638e958a8a9c"],"hasLease_ssim":["daf7b9e2-67a2-41a1-ac18-b07db53d5fa8"],"show_pdf_viewer_tesim":["1"],"show_pdf_download_button_tesim":["1"],"institution_tesim":["Atla RIM"],"format_tesim":["PDF"],"degree_tesim":["Doctor of Ministry"],"discipline_tesim":["Missional Leadership"],"degree_granting_institution_tesim":["Pittsburgh Theological Seminary"],"advisor_tesim":["Dr. Scott Hagley"],"committee_member_tesim":["Rev. Dr. Edwin Chr. van Driel"],"department_tesim":["Doctor of Ministry"],"year_tesim":["2026"],"location_tesim":["Pennsylvania","Western Pennsylvania","United States","Aliquippa, Pennsylvania"],"resource_type_tesim":["D.Min. Project"],"types_tesim":["Text"],"creator_tesim":["Ogbon (Swann), Oghene'tega Violet"],"keyword_tesim":["Bishop Marvin Moreland","Rev. Marvin Moreland","Black church","Tega Swann","Deliverance Temple (COGIC), Aliquippa PA","Oghene'tega Violet Ogbon (Swann)","Church planting","Rev. Rich Shymoniak","Aliquippa, Pennsylvania","Church planting by marginalized communities","Rev. Vera Shymoniak","Sound the Alarm Ministries, Aliquippa PA","Church sustainability","Congregational vitality"],"publisher_tesim":["Pittsburgh Theological Seminary"],"subject_tesim":["Ecclesiology","Missions","Theology, Practical","Qualitative research","African American churches","Church development, New"],"language_tesim":["English"],"description_tesim":["This dissertation examines how Black congregations in socioeconomically marginalized communities establish, sustain, and embody forms of ecclesial life within broader denominational and institutional contexts that often inadequately recognize or support their ministry realities. Centered on two congregations in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, this qualitative multiple-case study explores how church plants and community-rooted ministries navigate questions of sustainability, leadership, legitimacy, and mission within contexts shaped by economic disenfranchisement, racial marginalization, and uneven institutional support.\r\n\r\nDrawing upon interviews, congregational narratives, theological reflection, and ecclesiological analysis, this study investigates the organizational, relational, and theological patterns that contribute to congregational continuity and resilience. Particular attention is given to the ways ministry within marginalized communities frequently operates through networks of relational trust, communal presence, shared responsibility, adaptability, and spiritual commitment rather than through institutional models typically associated with dominant church-growth paradigms.\r\n\r\nThe findings reveal that congregational sustainability within marginalized contexts cannot be adequately measured solely through traditional institutional metrics such as financial stability, numerical growth, or organizational scale. Instead, participating congregations demonstrated forms of ecclesial vitality rooted in relational ecosystems of care, interdependence, community memory, and grassroots leadership. The study further identifies tensions between dominant ecclesial assumptions and the lived realities of ministries serving marginalized communities, particularly regarding how legitimacy, effectiveness, and sustainability are defined and evaluated.\r\nThis dissertation argues that broader theological and institutional conversations surrounding church planting, sustainability, and leadership formation must become more attentive to the experiences and insights emerging from marginalized congregational contexts. By centering the voices and practices of underrepresented ministry communities, this research contributes to practical theology and ecclesiology through a more relational, contextually grounded understanding of church, mission, and congregational life.\r\n\r\n"],"abstract_tesim":["This qualitative multiple-case study examines how two Black congregations in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania establish and sustain ecclesial life within socioeconomically marginalized contexts shaped by racial inequity, economic disenfranchisement, and uneven institutional support. Drawing on interviews, congregational narratives, theological reflection, and ecclesiological analysis, the study explores patterns of sustainability, leadership, legitimacy, and mission. Findings reveal that congregational vitality in marginalized communities often emerges through relational trust, communal presence, adaptability, grassroots leadership, and spiritual commitment rather than dominant institutional metrics. The study contributes to practical theology and ecclesiology by offering a relational and contextually grounded understanding of church, mission, and sustainability.\r\n"],"license_tesim":["https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"],"rights_statement_tesim":["https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"rights_notes_tesim":["Copyright retained by the author. This work is made publicly accessible for academic and educational purposes under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives International 4.0 license. 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