Formal Church Polity and Ecumenical Activity
This research note examines the importance of formal church polity in ecumenical activity. The focus is on participation by denominations in national-level ecumenical agencies. Most studies of inter-organizational relations focus on structural and environmental variables. When the focus is ecumenism...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
1988
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| In: |
Sociological analysis
Year: 1988, Volume: 49, Issue: 3, Pages: 293-303 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | This research note examines the importance of formal church polity in ecumenical activity. The focus is on participation by denominations in national-level ecumenical agencies. Most studies of inter-organizational relations focus on structural and environmental variables. When the focus is ecumenism specifically, theology is usually an added consideration. However, churches are also subject to the influence of formal, traditional polity, and polity has been shown to be related to organizational structure, to social action, and to local level ecumenical activity. This study explores the role of formal polity, viewed in terms of a hierarchical-congregational dichotomy, in ecumenism at the national level. Other organizational variables are used as controls and compared to formal polity. The hypothesis, only partially confirmed, is that hierarchical denominations are more ecumenically active. The polity-ecumenism relationship is discussed in light of those research findings. |
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| ISSN: | 2325-7873 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Sociological analysis
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/3711591 |