Date

5-22-2024

Department

School of Music

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Chair

Scott Connell

Keywords

Multicultural Worship, Intercultural Marriage, Marriage Immigrants, Multicultural Families

Disciplines

Liturgy and Worship

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the impact of marriage immigrants on the worship of Korean Baptist churches. This study aims to explore how the Korean church, tasked with proclaiming eternal truths in a rapidly changing world, perceives and responds to societal shifts, focusing on demographic changes over almost two decades. Mix-methods research with a Biblical worldview as the comprehensive framework was conducted to examine Korean Baptist churches’ response to demographic shifts in the surrounding locales as well as the worship experiences and expectations of marriage immigrants, who are pointed out as the main factors of this demographic shift. The quantitative approach consists of an online/mobile survey utilized to collect information from the member churches of the Korea Baptist Convention. Phenomenological qualitative research, one of the descriptive-interpretive studies, was employed to understand the world from the marriage immigrants’ perspectives and gain insights into their lived experiences, with a specific focus on their worship experience. The results of the study reveal that Korean churches are premature in their readiness for the shift toward multiculturalization in worship, and marriage immigrants’ preference for individualization and characterization over unification and integration in worship practices.

Download

Share

COinS