Transforming the Church Culture of Ineffective Urban Ministry: A Way to Reaching Urban Residents in Norwalk, Connecticut

Transforming the Church Culture of Ineffective Urban Ministry is a study which emulates out of the experiences of the urban communities. It engages the question, what is the church to the urban community. I am studying the church's culture of ineffective urban ministry so that I can learn how its methodological deficiencies impact cultures so my readers may understand building a transformational church. The study suggests that the church in the urban community develops a new trend of ministry that view cities as home to nearly half of the world's population and recognize that changes in the population present many challenges. In such instance, the number of urban poor tends to
rise; thus leaving some urban residents to live in abject poverty. Of course, the manifestations of urban poverty are clearly visible in all major cities: overcrowded neighborhoods, high rates of crime, inadequate housing, and insufficient access such as social services and financial means.

The issue at stake is whether the churches and those of African Methodism in the urban Communities have the capacity and capability to adopt and address the challenges. Through analysis of literatures, surveys, and interviews with practitioners of urban ministry, this dissertation investigates the methodological deficiencies of the church culture to urban ministry. This dissertation argues that if Bethel and other churches in Norwalk change the methodology of self-justified positionality of leadership, paradigm of fragmented thinking and limitation to synergism in ministry to a methodology of delimitation synergism in ministry (collaborative networking), servant-incarnational
leadership and a paradigm of holistic thinking, then Bethel and the other churches will experience an effective church culture to urban ministry.

In its attempt to fulfill the argument made, this dissertation defines the problem of methodological deficiencies of the church culture in chapter one. Chapter two presents the context with its current issues confronting the church culture while chapter three provides a review some of the various literatures connected with transforming leaders, church and culture in the community. Chapter four gives the biblical and theological basis of the dissertation emphasizing a biblical theology of wholeness for humanity in the church and the urban community. In chapter five discusses the research method and results. Chapter six gives the solution to the problem methodological deficiencies of the
church culture. It offers eighty hours of seminars dealing with: disorienting the complacency and comfortability of leaders for the works of ministry; from a paradigm of fragmented thing to a paradigm of holistic thinking; from a self-justified positionality in leadership to incarnational-servant leadership; and from a limitation of synergism in ministry to delimitation of synergism in ministry. Lastly chapter seven provide a summary along with five models of churches in New York, United States of America practicing effective urban ministry. It also provides recommendation of ten additional seminars with layout plans for implementation for clergy and lay leaders for an effective
urban church culture.