Date

5-16-2024

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Chair

Stephen Grusendorf

Keywords

Missions, Partnerships, World Changers, Cross-Sector, Cross-Cultural, Covenant Community, Legitimate Peripheral Participation

Disciplines

Missions and World Christianity

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the long-term partnership of World Changers with the community of Chattanooga, Tennessee to understand best practices for creating similar cross-sector partnerships involving short-term mission work. Within this research, long-term partnership is defined as an arrangement existing for at least ten years. The study utilized the theories of covenant community (Lingenfelter, 2008), legitimate peripheral participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991), and cross-sector social-oriented partnerships (Selsky & Parker, 2005) to guide the research. The study considered the perspectives of community members, ministry leaders, and mission organization leadership to determine benefits and areas of concern related to a long-term mission partnership with a locality. After examining the data, the researcher was able to determine areas to consider and/or address when developing similar partnerships. While the impact of mission service on participants has been studied, and cross-sector partnerships of other kinds have been examined, there is not much research related to the impact of creating partnerships between these types of mission organizations and communities or best practices for beginning such partnerships. The research demonstrated that Christian ministries can establish partnerships with other organizations that may be secular in nature. It also offers suggestions to improve potential success when beginning and striving to continue cross-sector partnerships.

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