Date
10-14-2026
Department
Rawlings School of Divinity
Degree
Doctor of Education in Christian Leadership (EdD)
Chair
Steven Smith
Keywords
Cultural Intelligence, Christian Leadership, Cultural Competency Training, Spiritual Dimension
Disciplines
Christianity | Leadership Studies
Recommended Citation
Lugo, Ronald Phillip, "Beyond Cultural Competence: Measuring and Developing Cultural Intelligence in Christian Organizations" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8979.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8979
Abstract
Cultural intelligence has emerged as a critical competency for cross-cultural ministry (Livermore, 2009). However, most churches and Christian organizations lack formal training to develop this capacity (Otaigbe, 2016). Tran (2009) notes that culture can be viewed as values, norms, institutions, and/or artifacts, all of which are difficult to define and understand. Churches today are increasingly intentionally designed to be multicultural (Berquist, 2018). Christian organizations face a challenge in communicating with individuals from diverse cultures. How do churches and Christian organizations prepare to reach and disciple effectively? This study addressed this strategic need by developing a cultural intelligence training specifically for churches and Christian organizations, drawing on the four dimensions of cultural intelligence outlined by Livermore (2015) and introducing a fifth dimension: Spirit/Spiritual. The praxis findings reflected measurable growth in cultural intelligence across all five assessed dimensions. Quantitatively, using a developed Cultural Intelligence Ministry Assessment (CQ-CMA), 219 participants across five training groups increased their combined mean score from 5.00 (pre-assessment) to 5.73 (post-assessment), a variance of 0.73. Qualitatively, four cultural intelligence profiles were developed to analyze how participants shifted developmentally across all cultural intelligence categories. The results reflected a significant developmental shift from lower- to moderate-cultural-intelligence profiles (20.1% pre-training) to the highest cultural-intelligence profile (51.6% post-training). Overall, this project provided a replicable, evidence-based framework for future churches and Christian organizations to move from cultural awareness to impactful ministries that reach across all cultures, as scripturally mandated.
