Sociology of Religion Commons^™

The Ministry: An Empirical Analysis Of Roles And Role Discord With Emphasis On Rural-Urban Differentials, Orville R. Cunningham

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Ministers occupy a status-position within a social system that carries a well-defined set of cultural expectations about their roles. The membership of the minister’s church, the community at large, and the minister himself formulate ideas and expectations about the function of his roles. Whenever the minister performs his roles in a manner that is contrary to the expectations of the membership of his church or the community the result is a role discord. Role discord also occurs when the minister performs his roles in a way that contradicts his own self-image of his roles. Therefore, this thesis will have as …