Institutions and God’s Agents
Institutions and God’s Agents
This chapter starts by questioning any account that would see the Vineyards mere epiphenomenon. It then asks whether, despite its constituent heterogeneity, the Vineyard is held together by either the governing structure of institutions, by an ethic of responsibility, by church growth and management techniques, or by a shared aesthetic. This chapter shows that these forces, sensibilities, and techniques do have effects; in particular the Vineyard is shaped by it being in effect a ‘trust’ for an absent owner (a structure similar to that found in publicly held corporations). However, neither this force, not any other discussed in this chapter, have either the flexibility or the capacity to scale necessary to account for the Vineyard.
Keywords: Church governance, Denominational structure, Church Growth movement, Contemporary American religious aesthetics
California Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.