The Effects of Size on Other Structural Attributes of Congregations within the Same Denomination

• Published in: Journal for the scientific study of religion 1982-12, Vol.21 (4), p.304-316
• Main Authors: Pinto, Leonard J., Crow, Kenneth E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Church congregations; Churches; Communities; Community structure; Congregation/Congregations/ Congregational; Correlations; Denomination/Denominations/ Denominational; Religion; Religious buildings; Religious organizations; Sectarianism; Size/Sizes; Stock conversion ratios; Structural (see also Structure)
• ISSN: 0021-8294; 1468-5906
• DOI: 10.2307/1385520

Contemporary theorizing on sect-like religious bodies has focused on the size of entire religious organizations as an important variable in the study of these groups, particularly their transformation into denominations. In contrast, Weber and Troeltsch identified small size of congregation rather than of denomination as the sine qua non of sect-like organizational structure. This paper tests the hypothesis that small congregation size is associated with sect-like congregational attributes and therefore is likely to impede transition from sect-like to church-like (or denominational) religious organizations. It is also hypothesized that the size of the communities in which congregations are located will differentially affect congregational organizational structure, with smaller communities enhancing tendencies toward sect-like characteristics. These hypotheses are tested on a representative sample of Church of the Nazarene congregations. Four dependent variables measure sect-like congregational structural attributes: rigorous membership criteria, the conversion rate, the reversion rate, and the proportion of the annual congregational budget contributed to the denomination. The findings furnish strong support for the hypothesis that congregational size is correlated with these structural attributes, while weaker support is furnished for the hypothesis that community size is similarly related.