Managing Belonging through Language: Organizational Communication, Youth Engagement, and Congregational Vitality in African Diaspora Churches

Abstract

Purpose: This article develops an interdisciplinary account of how language functions as a management resource in African diaspora churches. It examines how organizational communication, multilingual practice, youth engagement and congregational vitality converge around the problem of belonging. Design/methodology/approach: The manuscript adopts an integrative conceptual review, bringing applied linguistics and language-policy scholarship into conversation with organizational communication, African diaspora studies, digital religion, youth ministry, practical theology and church-management research. It does not report human-participant data; therefore, no interview findings or statistical claims are presented. Findings: The review indicates that relevant scholarship remains divided into parallel conversations. Sociolinguistic studies illuminate heritage-language maintenance, language ideologies and diasporic identity, but often stop short of analyzing language as an administrative capability. Church-management and congregational-vitality research identifies governance, leadership, participation and adaptation as important, yet frequently treats communication as a neutral channel rather than a constitutive practice. Youth and digital-religion studies demonstrate that younger members negotiate faith through hybrid linguistic and media repertoires, but the organizational consequences of those repertoires remain under-theorized. Originality/value: The article advances the concept of language-mediated congregational belonging: the process through which language choices, translation arrangements, registers, communication channels and opportunities for voice shape whether members understand, recognize themselves in and participate meaningfully in congregational life. It develops a Language-Mediated Congregational Belonging (LMCB) Framework and six propositions for future empirical testing and administrative application. The paper contributes to linguistics by treating the congregation as a language-policy domain, to management by identifying communication as an organizational capability, and to practical theology by relating inclusive communication to participation, intergenerational continuity and ecclesial vitality.