Ideological traditionalism and organisational innovation in Greek Orthodox ecclesiastical governance

Abstract

ABSTRACT Studies of church governance approach religious change either as ‘soft’ transformation (ideological and discursive adjustments implemented by clerical élites) or as ‘hard’ restructuring (shifts in organisational decision-making processes and administrative forms). This article illustrates that the joint, rather than separate, consideration of the two types of change provides a more nuanced description of the internal dynamics of religious organisations. Employing a framework with comparative applicability, which breaks with standard theoretical approaches, the empirical application examines a case in which the two types of change coincided: the Orthodox Church of Greece in the late twentieth century, where a radically conservative ideological transformation accompanied a particular instance of bureaucratic modernisation (lay involvement in high-level ecclesiastical governance).