COMPETITIVE STRATEGIC CHOICES FOR CHURCH GROWTH IN SELECTED PENTECOSTAL CHURCHES OF LUSAKA DISTRICT.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify and establish the various competitive strategic choices selected Pentecostal churches in Lusaka District were using for church growth. The study employed a Convergent Parallel Mixed method. Descriptive survey design was used and data was collected through semi- structured interviews, questionnaire and focus group discussion interview guide. The sample size was 65 participants. Two purposive sampling methods, homogeneous and snowball sampling designs were used to collect data. Data was analysed thematically as well as using descriptive survey analysis with the help of Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). Findings revealed that in Pentecostal churches of Lusaka district, Differentiation and Diversification strategies were the most prominent competitive strategies which were used, owing to the fact that they were effective and not difficult to use. Findings also revealed that besides competitive strategies, church growth was also influenced by other factors like church location, church building, and Pastors way of doing things that help churches record church grow. On the extent to which these strategies affected church growth, findings established that competitive strategic choices affected church growth to a great extent by 41.5% and to a moderate extent by 26.8%. On the best practices, findings revealed that supporting the needy, assessing the needs, as well as having leaders and board meetings were some of the best practices these churches used to adopt the competitive strategic choices for church growth. The study recommended that, differentiation and diversification which were the mostly used strategies need to be used in a more professional and effective way by the churches to record church growth, hence the need for strategic management training for the clergy.