Church reform and leadership of change / edited by Harald Askeland and Ulla Schmidt.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Askeland, Harald, editor.

Schmidt, Ulla, editor.

Series:

Research series (Svenska kyrkan) ; 12.

Church of Sweden Research Series ; 12

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Church renewal.

Christian leadership.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (218 pages).

Place of Publication:

Eugene, Oregon : Pickwick Publications, 2016.

Summary:

Reforms and processes of change have become an increasingly pervasive characteristic of European Protestant churches in the last fifteen to twenty years. Driven by perceptions of crises, such as declining membership rates, dwindling finances, decreasing participation in church rituals, and less support of traditional church doctrine, but also changes of governance of religion more generally, many churches feel compelled to explore new forms of operations, activities, and organizational structures. What is the inner dynamic and nature of these processes? This book explores this question by applying perspectives from organizational studies and bringing them into dialogue with ecclesiological categories, seeking to provide a richer understanding of the field of processes of change in churches. Among the questions asked are: What are the implications--organizationally and ecclesiologically--of viewing reform as a church practice, and how does this relate to much more comprehensive waves of public sector reforms? How is church leadership configured and exercised, how is democratic leadership related to the authority of ordained ministry, and how does leadership take on new forms in the context of churches? And how do churches incorporate organizational practices of planned change and renewal, such as social entrepreneurship?

Contents:

Introduction / Harald Askelend, Ulla Schmidt

Reforming majority churches: possibilities and dilemmas / Isolde Karle

Motifs and perspectives in the reform process of the Church of Norway / Andreas Aarflot

Church reforms and public reforms / Ulla Schmidt

Church leadership and the management of meaning in times of change: notes from the inside / Bim Riddersporre, Johanna Gustafsson Lundberg

Church leadership and congregational change: staff, volunteers, and the parish council / Kjetil Fretheim

Reforming the pastoral managerial structure in Church of Norway: exploring whether and how the managerial role of the Dean has been strengthened / Harald Askeland

Clergy discipline decisions in the Church of England and the Church of Sweden compared / Per Hansson

A deliberate action: leaving the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark / Karen Marie Sø Leth-Nissen

From "who is in charge?" to "how are we in charge?": is it time for a shift in the leadership paradigm? / Hege Steinsland

Change and development for the future: entrepreneurship in the Church of Sweden / Maria Åkerström.

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed September 6, 2016).

Includes bibliographical references at the end of each chapters.

ISBN:

9781498223331

1498223338

OCLC:

957436817