Prelude to Struggle

In Prelude to Struggle, Katie Day analyzes the findings of a three-year study of the African American churches in North Philadelphia, the most impoverished section of the city. All of these congregations were engaged in significant community economic development projects, yet pursued their common goals through two distinct strategic approaches. Five of the churches joined a citywide community organizing coalition while the others stayed within the traditional entrepreneurial paradigm. Day argues that whether an urban African American congregation utilizes the more grassroots, confrontational tactics and structural change orientation of community organizing, or relies on the traditional model of the entrepreneurial pastor, the choice of strategy is not related to either congregational factors or pastoral leadership considered in isolation.