Do the Organizational Structures of Religious Places of Worship Reflect Their Statements of Faith? An Exploratory Study
Research has been silent regarding a core question that is of interest for a variety of literatures: Do the beliefs espoused by religious denominations have an effect on their organizational structures and practices? In this exploratory study we begin to address this research question by drawing fro...
| Authors: | ; ; ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Published: |
Sage Publications
2005
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| In: |
Review of religious research
Year: 2005, Volume: 47, Issue: 1, Pages: 51-69 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | Research has been silent regarding a core question that is of interest for a variety of literatures: Do the beliefs espoused by religious denominations have an effect on their organizational structures and practices? In this exploratory study we begin to address this research question by drawing from one of the most fundamental concepts within organizational theory, namely the mechanistic-organic continuum. We examine four questions: (1) Are the basic elements of this continuum (centralization, formalization, adherence-to-the-status-quo) evident in religious statements of faith? (2) If so, do these three elements correlate with each other in the same way as predicted by organization theory? (3) Does the mechanistic-organic continuum, developed in studying secular organizations, also help us to describe the organizational structures and practices of religious denominations? (4) Finally, do the espoused religious beliefs about centralization, formalization and adherence-to-the-status-quo have an effect on the actual practices of religious denominations? Empirical data are presented and analyzed, encompassing 17 different religious groups and 74 different places of worship. Our findings suggest that there is a relationship between the content of religious statements-of-faith and the structure and practice of religious places of worship. Unexpected findings regarding formalization provide an occasion for theory-building; specifically, it appears that the opportunity for centralized leadership in denominations is negatively related to the emphasis that the religion places on formalized documents (e.g., scriptures, creeds). Implications for future research are discussed. |
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| ISSN: | 2211-4866 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Review of religious research
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/4148280 |