Constructively Managing Program-related Conflict In Local Churches

Interpersonal conflict surrounding church programs is a major source of distress for both pastoral staff and lay members of evangelical churches. Such conflict, when destructive, may severely hinder the achievement of program objectives. However, conflict when managed constructively may lead to a more effective program and strengthened relationships. This empirical study seeks to understand the conditions under which program-related conflict in evangelical churches leads to detrimental outcomes and those which lead to constructive outcomes. In a role-playing, survey-based experiment of American church attenders ( N = 276), participants’ satisfaction with conflict outcome was measured in a scenario with various outcomes concerning their program-related goal (maintaining the starting time of a mid-week children’s program) and their social goals (e.g., having a better relationship with the director of the children’s program, being affirmed in their Christian identity, and ensuring that decisions are made fairly). The study indicates that, in a conflict concerning a children’s program, church attenders who have a salient social goal achieved, but not their program-related goal, will be more satisfied than church attenders who have their program-related goal achieved but not a salient social goal.

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Constructively Managing Program-Related Conflict in Local Churches

10.31219/osf.io/2kbxw ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

David Robert Dunaetz

Keyword(s):

Role Playing ◽

Social Goals ◽

Christian Identity ◽

Local Churches ◽

Social Goal ◽

Evangelical Churches ◽

Lay Members ◽

Effective Program ◽

Pastoral Staff ◽

Children's Program

Interpersonal conflict surrounding church programs is a major source of distress for both pastoral staff and lay members of evangelical churches. Such conflict, when destructive, may severely hinder the achievement of program objectives. However, conflict when managed constructively may lead to a more effective program and strengthened relationships. This empirical study seeks to understand the conditions under which program-related conflict in evangelical churches leads to detrimental outcomes and those which lead to constructive outcomes. In a role-playing, survey-based experiment of American church attenders (N = 276), participants’ satisfaction with conflict outcome was measured in a scenario with various outcomes concerning their program-related goal (maintaining the starting time of a mid-week children’s program) and their social goals (e.g., having a better relationship with the director of the children’s program, being affirmed in their Christian identity, and ensuring that decisions are made fairly). The study indicates that, in a conflict concerning a children’s program, church attenders who have a salient social goal achieved, but not their program-related goal, will be more satisfied than church attenders who have their program-related goal achieved but not a salient social goal.

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The Achievement of Conflict-Related Goals Leads to Satisfaction with Conflict Outcomes

10.31219/osf.io/zscj6 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

David Robert Dunaetz

Keyword(s):

Interpersonal Conflict ◽

Social Goals ◽

Social Goal ◽

Threat Sensitivity ◽

Evangelical Churches ◽

Justice Sensitivity ◽

Conflict Situations ◽

Face Threat ◽

Conflict Outcomes ◽

The Relationship

Interpersonal conflict, a process involving perceptions of differences and opposition, is often an undesired but inevitable consequence of interaction between individuals. Multiple goals (internal representations of desired states) can be present in interpersonal conflict. Past studies identify four major categories of conflict-related goals: content goals, relationship goals, identity goals, and process goals; the last three may be classified together as social goals. Several hypotheses were tested in an online experiment in which adult members of evangelical churches (N = 276) imagined themselves in various church-related conflict situations. Participants were assigned to one of two conditions; in one condition, participants read scenarios where their content goals were achieved and in the other condition, participants read scenarios where their content goals were not achieved. Each participant read a series of three scenarios involving the different types of social goals. For each of the three scenarios, they imagined how satisfied they would be with two different outcomes. In the first outcome, in addition to achieving or not achieving their content goal (depending on the condition), they did not achieve the social goal that was made salient (e.g., the relationship is damaged or they lose face); in the second outcome, they achieved this social goal. In addition, participants completed individual difference measures of dominance, sociability, face threat sensitivity, and justice sensitivity. This study found support for the hypothesis that the achievement of each type of conflict-related goal leads to greater satisfaction with the conflict outcome than not achieving the goal. It also found support for the hypothesis that the achievement of two conflict-related goals (specifically, a content goal and a social goal) interact to lead to greater satisfaction with the conflict outcome beyond the main effects of achieving each goal individually. Additionally, this study tested hypotheses that individual differences (dominance, sociability, face threat sensitivity, and justice sensitivity) moderate the relationship between conflict-related goal achievement and conflict outcome satisfaction. Support was only found for the hypothesis that individuals higher in sociability report greater differences in satisfaction when their relationship goals are achieved (relative to not achieved) than those who score lower in sociability.

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Digital Discipleship: A Study of How Churches in New York Used Technology for Adult Discipleship During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Christian Education Journal Research on Educational Ministry ◽

10.1177/07398913211046364 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 073989132110463

Author(s):

Jacob Dunlow

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

East Coast ◽

Local Churches ◽

Evangelical Churches ◽

Adult Discipleship

The COVID-19 Pandemic brought unexpected and unparalleled challenges to bear on the adult discipleship ministries of local churches. These challenges were felt sharply early on in New York, the location of the most severe outbreak in the East Coast during the first half of 2020. This paper explores how Evangelical churches in the New York regions of Metro NYC and Eastern New York adapted to these challenges and turned to technology to continue serving their churches. Through the use of qualitative surveys, 21 churches in New York shared how they shifted to continue to minister to their congregation. The research demonstrated that over 95% of churches surveyed engaged in digital discipleship, with half finding it to be effective for their congregation.

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Identidade e missão – perspectiva anglicana

Revista Eclesiástica Brasileira ◽

10.29386/reb.v63i252.1761 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 63 (252) ◽

pp. 851

Author(s):

Carlos Eduardo Brandão Calvani

Keyword(s):

Christian Identity ◽

Evangelical Churches ◽

De Se ◽

The Face ◽

History Of

Esta reflexão é motivada pela crise vivida pelas igrejas evangélicas tradicionais, crise que as leva a se questionarem sobre a própria identidade. A resposta se articula em três momentos: 1) uma reflexão sobre a possibilidade de se discernir na história da humanidade um sentido salvífico; 2) o que seria identidade cristã e quais os fatores que trazem este ponto para o centro do debate; 3) destaca-se, enfim, a eclesiologia subjacente aos modelos missionários adotados no Brasil, apontando as conseqüências teológicas e os desafios que esses modelos apresentam (com particular acento sobre a estratégia das igrejas ante o fenômeno da globalização). O texto é trabalhado na perspectiva anglicana, mas oferecido como contribuição para o diálogo. Ao concluir, e em sintonia com a canção de Geraldo Vandré sobre o poder das flores, o autor faz este ato de fé: “eu sou um desses poucos que ainda acredita nas flores vencendo canhões”.Abstract: The reason behind this reflection is the crisis that the traditional evangelical churches are undergoing at present, a crisis that makes them question their own identity. The answer is articulated in three moments: 1) a reflection upon the possibility of discovering, in the history of humankind, a salvational meaning; 2) establish what Christian identity is and which are the factors that bring it to the center of the debate; 3) finally give emphasis to the ecclesiology underlying the missionary models adopted in Brazil, pointing to their theological consequences and to the challenges these models present (with particular emphasis to the churches’strategies in the face of the phenomenon of globalization). The text is worked in the Anglican perspective, but offered as a contribution to the dialogue. In the conclusion, and in tune with Geraldo Vandré’s song about the power of flowers, the author makes this act of faith: “I am one of the few that still believes that flowers can overcome guns”.

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Rawls Goes to Church

TheoLogica An International Journal for Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical Theology ◽

10.14428/thl.v4i1.20683 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 134-148

Author(s):

Bob Fischer

Keyword(s):

Political Liberalism ◽

Christian Identity ◽

Local Churches ◽

Episcopal Church ◽

Protestant Denominations ◽

Mainline Protestant

Many mainline Protestant communities want to be welcoming while preserving their identities; they want to be shaped by the central claims of the faith while making room for those who doubt. And crucially, they want to do this in a way that leads to vibrant, growing communities, where more and more people gather to worship, encourage one another, and live out the Gospel. How should the Episcopal Church—and other mainline Protestant denominations, insofar as they’re similar—try to achieve these goals? I suggest that local churches borrow some resources from John Rawls’s Political Liberalism. On the view I outline, it’s valuable for local churches to see themselves as akin to political bodies composed of reasonable citizens. The idea, in essence, is that the relevant kind of reasonableness would make congregations more unified even while tolerating more diversity, and would accomplish all this without giving up their distinctly Christian identity.

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Role-playing as an educational technique in dentistry

Journal of Dental Education ◽

10.1002/j.0022-0337.1974.38.8.tb00815.x ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 38 (8) ◽

pp. 451-455 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

JA Gershen ◽

SL Handelman

Keyword(s):

Role Playing ◽

Educational Technique

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What Does It Mean to Be Social? Defining the Social Landscape for Children With Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups ◽

10.1044/2020_persp-19-00116 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 843-852 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nancy Tarshis ◽

Michelle Garcia Winner ◽

Pamela Crooke

Keyword(s):

Social Development ◽

Social Goals ◽

Apraxia Of Speech ◽

Childhood Apraxia Of Speech ◽

Social Competencies ◽

The Social ◽

Social Landscape ◽

Communication Challenges ◽

Primary Focus ◽

Speech Motor

Purpose What does it mean to be social? In addition, how is that different from behaving socially appropriately? The purpose of this clinical focus article is to tackle these two questions along with taking a deeper look into how communication challenges in childhood apraxia of speech impact social competencies for young children. Through the lens of early social development and social competency, this clinical focus article will explore how speech motor challenges can impact social development and what happens when young learners miss early opportunities to grow socially. While not the primary focus, the clinical focus article will touch upon lingering issues for individuals diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech as they enter the school-aged years. Conclusion Finally, it will address some foundational aspects of intervention and offer ideas and suggestions for structuring therapy to address both speech and social goals.

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