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Project"],"creator_tesim":["Butcher, Louis"],"subject_tesim":["Church growth","Church management","Church renewal"],"abstract_tesim":["Over the course of the last thirty years, there has been a steady decline in church worship service attendance in the United States. The decline has affected all church affiliations, including Catholic, Protestant mainline, evangelical, Pentecostal, Anabaptist and independent churches of all sizes and ethnicities. In particular, Millennials, those in the age range of eighteen to twenty-nine years, have left the church in significant numbers or have never affiliated at all. The fastest growing segments of the American population are agnostics and atheists. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with nearly eight hundred churches is considered a Bible belt with a long history of consistent attendance. This project will explore whether there is attendance decline in Lancaster County and, if so, what can be developed to reverse the trend. Reader responses to a series on the subject in the Lancaster Sunday News will be used to help determine the extent, if any. At the same time, pastors of fifty churches of varying sizes, ethnicities and doctrine will be interviewed to examine local patterns. Using research data on church growth and revitalization from around the country, suggestions and recommendations will be made to help reverse the trend in Lancaster County if decline is evident."],"rights_statement_tesim":["https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"thumbnail_path_ss":"/assets/work-a3b75da7abded620ab321410c80d102e5e2417b71c54de7ba7d4b0363da904f7.png","suppressed_bsi":false,"actionable_workflow_roles_ssim":["f6c99b2a-5c91-4444-8946-01a1837f1fd8-default-approving","f6c99b2a-5c91-4444-8946-01a1837f1fd8-default-depositing","f6c99b2a-5c91-4444-8946-01a1837f1fd8-default-managing"],"workflow_state_name_ssim":["deposited"],"visibility_ssi":"open","admin_set_tesim":["Metadata Only"],"account_cname_tesim":["rim.ir.atla.com"],"human_readable_type_tesim":["Etd"],"read_access_group_ssim":["public","work_editor"],"edit_access_group_ssim":["admin"],"edit_access_person_ssim":["ckarpinski@atla.com","martins02@moravian.edu"],"_version_":1851860305164894208,"timestamp":"2025-12-18T15:26:50.608Z","score":1.0},{"system_create_dtsi":"2023-10-12T17:11:57Z","system_modified_dtsi":"2024-02-17T06:11:07Z","has_model_ssim":["Etd"],"id":"bfdbee12-a23a-4bc1-a41f-c1c7ad8b2ef4","accessControl_ssim":["cd007709-a4d8-4cf1-b789-19c6a18eb7cc"],"depositor_ssim":["ckarpinski@atla.com"],"depositor_tesim":["ckarpinski@atla.com"],"title_tesim":["Developing a disciple-making strategy to create a culture of discipleship at First Baptist Church, Haughton, Louisiana"],"date_uploaded_dtsi":"2023-10-12T17:11:56Z","date_modified_dtsi":"2024-02-17T03:39:14Z","isPartOf_ssim":["f6c99b2a-5c91-4444-8946-01a1837f1fd8"],"hasEmbargo_ssim":["8d8ffef2-d844-42a6-876d-3a5c71eef6ba"],"hasLease_ssim":["8fd96638-9c91-4d39-a111-fafebb075885"],"show_pdf_viewer_tesim":["1"],"show_pdf_download_button_tesim":["1"],"institution_tesim":["Atla RIM"],"degree_tesim":["Unknown"],"degree_granting_institution_tesim":["New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary"],"advisor_tesim":["Allen Jackson"],"year_tesim":["2015"],"resource_type_tesim":["Unknown"],"types_tesim":["Text"],"creator_tesim":["Scott E Sullivan"],"publisher_tesim":["New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary"],"subject_tesim":["Discipling (Christianity)","Strategy","Church renewal--Baptists","Evangelistic work","Church growth","First Baptist Church (Haughton, La)","Church attendance"],"language_tesim":["English"],"abstract_tesim":["The purpose of this project was to develop a disciple-making strategy to create a culture of discipleship at First Baptist Church, Haughton, Louisiana (FBCH). The first step involved an in-depth study of FBCH's attendance trends from 2005 to 2015 based on the annual church profile reports and recorded church history. The project director compared discipleship strategies of churches with similar characteristics and conducted a survey of church leaders to determine the current condition of FBCH discipleship. The research showed that FBCH plateaued in attendance from 2008 to 2013. The project director determined that FBCH needed a disciple-making strategy that led to multiplication and focused on transformation. 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The prject director conducted resarch into demographics, church statistics, and revitalization strategies. The project director led a revitalization strategy process.  The revitalization strategy was presented for approval/disapproval.  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