Bibliography: #VCW2LN2H

key	VCW2LN2H
title	Do the Organizational Structures of Religious Places of Worship Reflect Their Statements of Faith? : An Exploratory Study
author	Dyck, Bruno; Starke, Frederick A.; Harder, Helmut; Hect, Tracy
item type	Journal article
publication year	2005
date	2005
publication title	Review of Religious Research (Storrs, Conn.)
abstract note	Do the beliefs espoused by religious denominations have an effect on their organizational structures and practices? The authors draw on the mechanistic-organic continuum, examining 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 to describe the organizational structure and practices of religious denominations? (4) Do the espoused religious beliefs about centralization, formalization, and the satus quo have an effect on the actual practices of the denominations? The data covers 17 religious groups and 74 different places of worship (2 individuals are Bahá'ís). The findings suggest a correlation between statements of faith and the structure and practice of places of worship. It appears that the opportunity for centralized leadership in denominations is negatively related to the emphasis a religion places on formalized documents (e.g. scriptures and creeds).
pages	51-69
issue	1
volume	47
language	English
manual tags	BELIEF; ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

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