Responding to knife crime: A case study of church leadership in a community crisis

This study investigates the roles that Black Majority Church (BMC) leaders play when faced with knife crime crises in their respective British communities. Knife crime as a crisis has become a common feature in parts of British society, with a continuous rise in recorded knife crimes presenting severe concern to the public, church leaders, and the government. Additionally, as a significant player in dealing with social problems in society, church leaders have been presented with the challenge that knife crime poses to society. Therefore, conducting a study on the roles of BMC leaders in a knife crime crisis is a potential field of study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 49 BMC leaders drawn from three knife crime hotspots in England. These are London, Birmingham, and Manchester. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of research, data analysis comprises three key stages: the realist narrative approach, thematic analysis, and pastoral cycle methodology. The research findings indicate four critical areas of contributions to church leadership studies. First, eight critical underlying causes of the knife crime crisis were inferred from the accounts of BMC leaders. Second, three overarching roles concerning knife crime are identified among these leaders: pastoral, educational, and social action. Further details revealed 23 broader roles they functioned in, which were not proposed by earlier scholars. Third, results affirm the proposition of many leadership scholars that servant leadership is dominant in church settings. Lastly, collaborative leadership adds efficiency to the servant counterpart.