Cognitive Dissonance in Belonging for Black Clergy

This chapter reports on and evaluates the narratives of the clergy, as voiced by them, on their sense of belonging in the CofE. Belonging in this study refers to that component of feeling wanted and that connectedness to a place or institution (May, 2011; Tomaney, 2015; Isakjee, 2016; Whitten et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2019). The use of photo elicitation as a method of data collection has been shown to be useful in providing a deeper analysis of the lived experience of the participants. Even though 6 months had passed between the two phases of interviews, this was thought to be enough time for the participants to reflect on their first conversation with me and on their clergy journey, enabling them to begin to have a deeper understanding of how they identify with the church.