Anxiety as a Main Cause of Church Conflicts Based on Bowen Family Systems Theory

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-18
Author(s):  
Angella Son
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Family Systems ◽  
Family Systems Theory ◽  
Bowen Family Systems Theory ◽  
Bowen Family Systems ◽  
Church Conflicts ◽  
The Church

I propose that an examination of churches with Bowen Family Systems Theory suggests that ineffective handling of anxiety within the church as a system is a main cause of conflicts within congregations. In this paper, by examining two case studies with Bowen Family Systems Theory, I demonstrate that inattention to anxiety within the church as a system is a main cause of conflicts within congregations. I will then propose pastoral strategies to address church conflicts.

Systems Theory and Congregational Leadership: Leaves from an Alchemist's Journal

2005 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 461-491
Author(s):  
James E. Lamkin
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Family Systems ◽  
Family Systems Theory ◽  
Bowen Family Systems Theory ◽  
Local Congregation ◽  
Bowen Family Systems ◽  
Generational Transmission ◽  
Congregational Leadership ◽  
Self Differentiation ◽  
The Church

Bowen Family Systems Theory is a beneficial lens through which the minister may see his or her own life, and how that life interfaces with the life of the congregation. In addition, upon seeing the layered landscape of family and congregation, the minister may better understand his or her role as a pastor and as a leader. The article supports this thesis through personal and parish examples of how the author attempts to “live the theory.” These “system snapshots” are explored within the four basic components of the theory: The Emotional Triangle, Self-Differentiation, The Emotional Field, and Multi-Generational Transmission. The article opens with the story of the healing of a cut-off in the author's own family. As this healing was taking place, a parallel process was occurring in the church he led as the congregation dealt with a cut-off regarding its founding minister. These interlocking stories of reconnection illustrate the power and beauty of Bowen Family Systems Theory in a parish setting. Thus, the author concludes: “The greatest laboratory in which to practice this type of alchemy is the local congregation. Amid its problems and possibilities, its exasperations and epiphanies, is the strange chemistry of grace.”

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