| Membership assimilation is on the decline within faith-based organizations (Katsioloudes & Tymon, 2003). This qualitative multiple case study explores the perspectives of 20 faith-based organizational leaders referencing strategic planning and membership assimilation in faith-based organizations. In-depth, semi-structured interviews using Creswell's (2007) qualitative approach to case study research served as the primary source of data collection and data analysis. Interview data were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed with ATLAS.ti, a qualitative data analysis software program. Themes that emerged from the findings were centered on four areas of concentration: faith-based organizations, leadership, strategic planning, and membership assimilation. Findings revealed that: (a) consistency, (b) core belief, (c) ethics, (d) family-oriented, (e) fellowship, (f) goal achievement, (g) life change, (h) meetings, (i) mentoring, (j) mission-focused, (k) open-minded, (l) positive living, (m) protocols, (n) resource development, (o) training, and (p) unity are all central components in developing strategies for membership assimilation in faith-based organizations. |
