Congregations in Conflict Cultural Models of Local Religious Life Becker

Congregations in ConflictCultural Models of Local Religious Life\nAuthor(s): Penny Edgell Becker\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9780521594622, 978-0521594622\nSynopsis\nCongregations in Conflict examines the nature of American congregations as institutions, looking in particular at how they deal with conflict within their ranks, to gain insight into religious culture, or the moral order of local religious life. In detailed and well documented case studies of conflict in twenty-three congregations Becker examines such factors as organizational processes, the extent and types of ties between church members, their shared understandings about mission and identity, and level of public commitment. From these factors, the author develops four models of local religious cultures, each of which emphasizes different aspects of the mission imperatives that broadly characterize American religion - to reprodu.