Power and Peril by David Brubaker
Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations by David R. Brubaker
A Review by Glen Bickford
David Brubaker is clearly a master of statistical analysis. There is much to be gained by reading this book from Alban Institute. A few of his insights are qualitative such as building layouts can help explain the interaction of staff.
[1] Most, however, are based on quantitative analysis such as the notion that building projects are not correlated with numerical growth as it is often claimed[2]. Dr. Brubaker in a study of 100 Episcopal and Presbyterian congregations in the Southwestern United States brings some interesting insights on church conflict. He begins by saying that congregations which grow tend to be those involved in conflict, though the conflict in those congregations did not seem to significantly deter growth.[3] Nor did building projects themselves cause conflict.[4]
Perhaps the most interesting of the insights on conflict are the two areas of change most correlated with conflict (note Brubaker does not necessarily indicate causality). The first is change in governance structure. It is this, Brubaker concludes, not change in size alone, that is a likely cause of conflict in congregations undergoing “size transitions” i.e. transitions usually requiring a change in functioning of the pastor and subsequent adjustment of people’s expectations.[5] One common transition of governing structure is a change from committees which report back to a board to teams which function more loosely and autonomously. Brubaker states that loss of power by committee chair could cause be a major adjustment (and implicitly a root cause of structural change conflict) I agree. Brubaker quotes a pastor that how change is done is as important as the change itself (As always-GB). I understand power shifts from one person to another in such changes in structure to be the reason for conflict.
The second major area of change bringing conflict is addition or subtraction of a worship service; the addition is usually a “contemporary” service. While adding a worship service is often done to encourage growth, this effect is modest according to Brubaker and its correlation to conflict is significant.[6] Why does adding or subtracting a service correlate with conflict? The two hypotheses Brubaker mentions are disruption of ritual and disruption of cohesiveness. Disruption of ritual is nearly obvious and more likely to be the greater effect. In this day where traditionalists make up the bulk of most church, any change such as worship time change due to the addition of contemporary worship is likely to bring pain. Regarding cohesiveness, Brubaker succumbs here to an error of logic: he states add or subtracting a service may correlate with conflict. Admittedly this is true with adding a service but group cohesiveness is actually strengthened when one subtracts a service. One could see that the conflict caused by subtracting a service is more likely correlated with a shrinking church. Such subtraction may even be the result of previous conflict. Yet the point is well taken. In my own experience when a service was added, the “fear factor” seemed to be that such a move “splits the church” and members would not communicate as well. This conflict over worship change is just as great, however, for large churches adding a service as for smaller ones.[7] Hence disruption of ritual is my own best guess is the primary reason for conflict over additions and subtractions of services, with cohesiveness more likely is secondary.
Brubaker concludes the book with a section on leadership esp. how conflict affects staff. His study with 45 congregations found staff departure usually follows or at least accompanies conflict while only in 5 of 45 congregations (89%) he studied did no staff change occur during or after conflict; 62% of non-conflicted churches had staff turnover.[8] Peter Steinke claims about 40% of congregations experiencing medium of high level conflict every 5 years. [9] Brubaker cites studies in his book suggesting “a majority of U.S. congregations see significant conflict each decade.” [10] One can rightly conclude that handling conflict is a major part of being a good leader. His summary of leadership traits (self-awareness, inviting disagreement, self-defining, thinking systemically, knowing the environment)[11] are useful, overlapping considerably with Steinke’s ideas.[12]
Brubaker then goes on to say how changes can be brought about in governance structure and worship. Brubaker essentially advises leaders to acknowledge power structures and the loss that changes can bring, anticipate conflict, move slowly and non-anxiously and emphasizing the things that have not and will not change.[13] Final conclusions include the fact that, given inevitable change, conflict is virtually inevitable. The goal then is to understand and manage change. Identified issues may be less important than systemic issues i.e. worship service and decision-making changes. Using the tradition to bolster the changes (say with church history or Biblical stories of change) is an effective technique to lessen the impact of change.[14]
Brubaker’s style is somewhat dry except for the occasional Biblical stories of change he includes. Those who revel in statistics and painstaking analysis will be in heaven here. His exacting style is perhaps more helpful as a reference book than as a “read it at bedtime” book. Hence, while quite valuable, the book is hence absorbed in small short doses. The work’s style lends itself to a research paper format more than to its current existence as a short book. Nevertheless, this is a book well worth a careful reading for pastors who wish to change worship or governance structure as their church’s membership either gro [1]David R. Brubaker, Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations (Herndon, Virginia: The Alban Institute, 2009), 5.
[2] David R. Brubaker, Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations (Herndon, Virginia: The Alban Institute, 2009), 27.
[3] David R. Brubaker, Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations (Herndon, Virginia: The Alban Institute, 2009), 30-1.
[4] David R. Brubaker, Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations (Herndon, Virginia: The Alban Institute, 2009), 38. (Brubaker quotes another study here)
[5]David R. Brubaker, Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations(Herndon, Virginia: The Alban Institute, 2009), 42ff.
[6] David R. Brubaker, Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations (Herndon, Virginia: The Alban Institute, 2009), 58.
[7] David R. Brubaker, Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations (Herndon, Virginia: The Alban Institute, 2009), 67
[9]Peter L. Steinke, Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times: Being Calm and Courageous No Matter What. (Herndon, VA, Alban Institute, 2006),101
[10] David R. Brubaker, Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations (Herndon, Virginia: The Alban Institute, 2009), 2.
[12] Peter L. Steinke, Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times: Being Calm and Courageous No Matter What. (Herndon, VA, Alban Institute, 2006), Chapters 3, 6, 8.