A Special Case of Voluntary Associations? Towards a Theory of Congregational Organization
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5633335 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Margaret Harris (0000-0002-0123-2255, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1998 |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 602 |
| Publication date | 1998-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-1315 • E-ISSN: 1468-4446 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/591291 |
| OpenAlex | W2316847616 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 14 |
| References cited | 17 |
This paper proposes a tentative theory of congregational organization; one that is grounded in data about the common organizational features of contemporary churches and synagogues and the practical problems they encounter in their work. Religion is an important factor in accounting for both the similarities and differences between congregations but other factors also contribute to organizational issues which arise. It is suggested that congregations are special case voluntary associations in which the actions of members are limited in ways which would not normally apply in secular associations. In addition to having associational features, congregations also have special organizational characteristics with respect to the role of ministers of religion and their ultimate goals. The challenge for clergy, lay staff and lay members can be seen as one of operating the basic voluntary association model in a way that also takes into account the two special characteristics of congregational organization
Economics · Management · Organizational theory · Political science · Sociology · Voluntary association · Law · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
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‘Friends’ of Anglican cathedrals
Teaching Content on Social Work Practice with Religious Congregations
Volunteering and Civic Participation among Immigrant Members of Ethnic Congregations
Organizational Resources and the Gender Gap in Congregational Lay Leadership
Social Sources of Community Solidarity in U.S. Congregations
A Cross-Cultural Examination of Lifelong Participation in Community Wind Bands Through the Lens of Organizational Theory
Shepherds and Sheep
Immigrants and Associations
Racially Diverse Congregations
Reproducing Inequality in a Formally Antiracist Organization
Thinkers and feelers
Interpreting qualitative data
The Rest of the Nonprofit Sector
The iron cage revisited institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields
The sacred canopy
The Theory Of Social And Economic Organization
Authority, Organization, and Societal Context in Multinational Churches
The Formalization Process in Voluntary Associations
Community Organizations
Bureaucracy and Church Reform
Research Methods and Organization Studies
Congregation
Parish Autonomy
Formal Polity and Power Distribution in American Protestant Denominations
Community, market, state-and associations
Intraorganizational Power and Internal Secularization in Protestant Denominations
Work in Progress Toward a New Paradigm for the Sociological Study of Religion in the United States
| Unique citing works | 14 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,58 |
| Citation span | 2002 - 2022 (21) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 14 |