Straining at the Tie That Binds: Congregational Conflict in the 1980s

Studies of intrachurch conflict have emphasized such variant explanations as liberal/conservative divisions, external pressures that exacerbate internal cleavages, clergy/laity differences, and demographic changes as the cause(s) of church conflict. Most rely on either survey data or single-case eth...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Becker, Penny Edgell (Author) ; Ellingson, Stephen J. (Author) ; Flory, Richard W. (Author) ; Griswold, Wendy (Author) ; Kniss, Fred (Author) ; Nelson, Timothy (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage Publications 1993
In: Review of religious research
Year: 1993, Volume: 34, Issue: 3, Pages: 193-209
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Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
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Summary:Studies of intrachurch conflict have emphasized such variant explanations as liberal/conservative divisions, external pressures that exacerbate internal cleavages, clergy/laity differences, and demographic changes as the cause(s) of church conflict. Most rely on either survey data or single-case ethnographic data. We present a review and critique of these studies and argue for analyzing comparative conflict events as a way to find out which causes operate in specific circumstances. An analysis of conflict events in the churches in a midwestern urban community indicates that none of the perspectives found in the literature was predominant. Instead, we propose that some of the implications of the "new voluntarism" enlighten our understanding of intra-congregational conflict.
ISSN:2211-4866
Contains:Enthalten in: Review of religious research
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2307/3700594