Sources of Conflict Over Priorities of the Protestant Church

Abstract

Theoretical approaches to internal conflict over priorities in the Presbyterian church are tested using surveys of laymen, ministers, and seminary seniors. Conflicts are greatest over the type and importance of church mission and outreach; there is little conflict over congregational life, religious education, or spiritual nurture. Path analysis shows that theological factors are intervening variables between all background variables and attitudes about church priorities. Orthodoxy and ethical ism act independently and in opposite directions. It is concluded that the conflict is largely theological, explained partly in terms of church-sect tension and partly by conflicting theological orientations in the denomination.