Do Larger Churches Tolerate Pastoral Narcissism More than Smaller Churches?

Pastoral narcissism in churches is a problem, from both a theological and practical perspective. In this study, we explore the question of whether church size is related to tolerance for narcissism. In the popular press, pastors of megachurches are often portrayed as narcissistic. The Dominance Complementarity Model of narcissistic leaders (Grijalva & Harms, 2004) predicts that churches which have less dominant followers, as may be the case in larger churches, would be more tolerant of narcissistic pastors than smaller churches. Yet larger churches also have the resources to hire the most qualified staff which would presumably exclude candidates high in narcissism. This quantitative study of 64 Christians who attend various evangelical churches in the United States examines how these two tendencies play out. The results indicate that Christians in larger churches tolerate narcissism significantly more than Christians in smaller churches. To prevent this phenomenon from having damaging effects on churches, larger churches need to be careful in their hiring practices by looking for signs of narcissism and to hold their leadership accountable for godly behavior.

Church Size, Pastoral Humility, and Member Characteristics as Predictors of Church Commitment

Although wavering personal commitment to a local body of believers has been a concern of Christian leaders since New Testament times, increasing individualism and other cultural changes are affecting individual Christians’ commitment to their churches in new ways. This study examines church commitment using the multidimensional construct of organizational commitment to examine characteristics of churches, church leaders, and church members that may influence such commitment. Specifically, church size, perceptions of pastoral humility, church tenure (the time one has attended a church), age, and gender are considered as possible predictors of church commitment. This commitment is measured as affective commitment (one’s emotional attachment to the church), continuation commitment (the felt-need to stay at the church), and normative commitment (one’s belief that staying at the church is the right thing to do). In a study of evangelical Christians in the U.S. (N = 244), a regression analysis indicates that higher affective commitment is associated with perceptions of greater pastoral humility and member tenure. Continuation commitment decreases as church size goes up. Higher normative commitment is associated with perceptions of greater pastoral humility, smaller churches, and longer member tenure. Overall, higher church commitment is best predicted by perceptions of pastoral humility, then by tenure and church size, with larger churches having less committed attenders. No significant differences in church commitment were associated with age or gender.

Official Protestantism in China

What do we know about Protestant Christianity in contemporary China? How is it organized; where, why, and how is it growing; and how do we understand its evolving relationship with the party-state? The purpose of this article is to evaluate the state of official Protestantism in China and take stock of what we have learned. We do so in three ways. One is to identify the origins of state-sanctioned Protestantism; another is to evaluate conflicting claims about church size, growth, and demographics; and the third is to suggest directions for future study.

Funeral Roles: Ritualized Expectations

One hundred funerals in a southern state serve as the data base for the observation and description of the different funeral roles enacted by ministers, family members, and friends. Variations by church size, the overlap of role styles, and the process by which socialization into the various roles occurs are discussed. The complementary interaction between roles is examined along with its implications for the stability and change of role sets.