2001
Frank Walter King
The Conduit Model: Connecting Congregation and Community in Context
This thesis deals with the intentional restructuring of the relationship between a congregation and a community who share a common context by the development and practice of effective communication between the two. Specifically the thesis proposes the construction of a communication conduit and its maintenance as a vehicle for an intentional connection so that the shared context will not be expected to inappropriately bear that load. By claiming the similarities of the congregation in its context to a business in its context, a working and informative parallel is drawn between the relationship marketing model most recently offered by Ian Gorden and the conduit model developed in this thesis. The means of conduit design and construction proposed, developed, and tested by this thesis is that of custom local cable television advertising as an efficient tool for connecting a congregation with its community. The last chapter of this thesis is designed to function as a “pull-out” guide that may be used by a parish or consultant to test the feasibility of such a pursuit by any congregation regardless of denomination.