Date of Conferral

12-4-2025

Date of Award

December 2025

Degree

Doctor of Public Administration (D.P.A)

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Michael Brewer

Abstract

Local government has been hindered by a lack of sustained interfaith engagement. Faith leaders have not been consistent stakeholders in policymaking decisions. This gap in practice stemmed from a lack of research of self-transcendence within public administrative settings. Grounded in a review of 70 years of research into the conceptual framework of government needs analysis, this study’s purpose was to explore principles and concepts of civic engagement and partnership shared among faiths. Qualitative research was designed to answer, “How do faith leaders describe the current civic participation, partnership, diversity, and inclusive strategies within their faith communities as they relate to local government policy decision making?” Twenty-four participants represented 10 faith traditions in Abrahamic, Dharmic, and contemporary faith communities in a Virginia municipality. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. A generic, bottom-up thematic analysis of shared motivations, attributes, emotions, and values extracted from interviews generated findings that included four themes: (a) humanity, (b) healing, (c) spiritual growth, and (d) freedoms. The findings connected the constructs of self-transcendence from the spiritual realm to the municipal realm. Recommendations included a new public administration framework using a faith lens to convert human needs into community needs met through outreach strategies from scopes of hospitality, community wellness, learning journeys, and breaking access to barriers, which were included in a needs analysis report, the client’s deliverable. Potential implications for positive social change include the potential to build community resilience as an antidote and intervention for religious-based violence.

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