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Arthur W. Spalding: Leadership During Cultural Upheaval, Allan W. Freed

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

'Leadership always occurs in the context of cultural mindsets and expectations. this article describes the work of arthur W. Spalding, who was the first family-life educator in the adventist church. Spalding was born into an era described as a “watershed” in domesticity. With the opening of the american frontier in the mid-1800s came the shift from family to individualism. Urbanization, industrialization, expanded travel, and communications eroded the social and material conditions that supported the traditional patriarchal family system. the american experience glamorized consumption, gratification, and pleasure. the fad was to reject traditional authority, particularly that of the clergy and the …