ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss how the academic field of organizational studies can contribute to the study of congregations in the UK. The case will be made by looking at whether the term ‘association’ is a useful definition of five case study congregations. Before embarking on this task, it is important to acknowledge that there are
significant barriers to making use of organizational studies in this way. First, there is the diversity of academic disciplines that deal with organizations and the very different levels of visibility they have within academic life. Second, there is the culturally embedded ideology of managerialism, which asserts that the well-managed organization can achieve its mission and so resolve social problems. Third, there is the widespread assumption that all organizations are bureaucratic in form and so lessons from one can easily be translated to another. Fourth, there are the rationalistic and utilitarian assumptions that pervade much organizational writing and that are at odds with the more interpretative mindset within which most religious professionals are formed. Such is the seriousness of these barriers that many of those who participate in congregational life feel instinctively that organizational language is inappropriate and even hostile to their endeavours. Let me give my own reasons for persisting in trying to make use of
organizational studies in the task of studying congregations. First, I want to take seriously the work, both paid and unpaid, that goes on in congregations. Much of this work has remained invisible to those who research congregations because they tend to interview paid professionals. Second, I want to take seriously the desire of congregations to reflect what they believe in the way that they act. Most congregants are seeking to act in a way that authentically resonates with their beliefs, but experience a gap between the aspirational language of the liturgy and the reality of maintaining a human institution while enacting its mission. Third, I want to take seriously the experience of the local church practitioners I teach. They tell me that the way their work is organized can affect whether it fulfils or frustrates their individual ministry as well as the corporate mission of the congregation.
