This dissertation explores how urbanization and immigration affect the worldview and cultural identity of immigrants. Chapter 1 introduces the dissertation and presents the research problem. The chapter also defines key terms, gives the author's background, sets limitations and delimitations, and overviews research methods employed in the writing of this dissertation. Chapter 2 provides a literature review, synthesis, and analysis of works in the fields of urban anthropology, orality studies, and church planting. Chapter 3 explores the relationship of immigration and cultural identity. The chapter discusses ways in which urban areas encourage or limit cultural production of residents and how immigrants respond to those pressures as they express their cultural identity. The chapter concludes with an analysis of three models of assimilation likely to be found in urban contexts. Chapter 4 presents the oral worldview, including the nature of oral cognition, oral community, and methods of oral communication. After describing primary oral cultures, the chapter discusses the introduction of literacy to an oral people and the effects of residual orality. Chapter 5 draws together research presented in chapters 2 through 4 and discusses a grounded approach for identifying and reaching ethnic groups in the city. The first section presents methods to conduct ethnographic research so church planters can understand the specific dynamics in their communities. The second section discusses issues germane to reaching ethnic groups in the city including mono or multi-ethnic church, orality issues, critical contextualization, strategies for ministering in the three assimilation models presented in chapter 3, and the need for church partnerships. Chapter 6 concludes the dissertation by summarizing key points from each chapter. The chapter also describes the application of the dissertation to urban settings outside of North America and discusses the need for further research on related topics beyond the scope of this dissertation.

ABSTRACT BEST PRACTICES IN LEADING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE IN THE LOCAL CHURCH: A MULTI-CASE STUDY Juan Carlos Martinez Robleto, Ed.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2015 Chair: Shane W. Parker, Ph.D. The current study was designed to identify embedded best practices for leading organizational change in the local church ministering in an urban context. The study also sought to determine whether it was possible for the leadership in the local church to lead their congregations through successful organizational change and meaningful culture engagement without forsaking biblical and theological orthodoxy. The study validates the majority of best practices identified through the literature review and it also encountered distinctive best practices common to all three participating sites that are unique to the ministry contexts of the local church. These five distinctive best practices are: allowing doctrine and theology to inform practice, discipleship, preaching, adaptation and flexibility, and internal cultural change through transformational leadership. Chapter 1 introduces the research problem and the purpose of the research study. Chapter 2 reviews extensively the precedent literature on the subject of organizational change. This chapter emphasizes the church’s role as an organizational system and provides essential information on the area of leadership. It also focuses on John Kotter’s 8-Stage Process for leading organizational change and The Transformational Journey Method proposed by Jim Harrington, Mike Bonem, and James H. Furr. Chapter 3 provides a detailed explanation of the research methodology of the entire research study while describing the roles of the case study and content analysis approaches. Chapter 4 provides a profound and detailed analysis of the findings, and chapter 5 offers some concluding thoughts regarding the study’s contribution to the literature base as well as considerations for future research.

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