Painting pictures of the family of God:

Davidson-Methot, D. G. (2000). Painting pictures of the family of God: A comparative analysis of paradigms for conceptualizing religious congregations. (Doctoral dissertation, Pacifica Graduate Institute, 2000). UMI no. 3015808

This study attempted to determine the impact on congregational leader's decision making of the mental model or paradigm that was employed to conceptualize the congregation, particularly in times of crisis. The three models analyzed were the hierarchical model, the Bowen Family Systems model, and a model informed by depth psychology, in particular analytical psychology as well as object relations theory. Central to the study was the notion that the mental model employed by leaders determined what was "seen and unseen" by those leaders, depending on the strengths and/or limitations inherent in the model. The project employed a case study method, in which 20 interviews were conducted with 15 lay leaders and 5 clergy. Two congregations served as specific examples of situations of crisis in which lay and/or ordained leaders were called upon to react in times of high anxiety, and which served to illustrate the mental models employed by those leaders. An attempt was made, although not entirely successful, to find interview subjects to represent all three models. While the first model, the hierarchical, was amply represented, the other two could only be found among clergy. The analysis of the interview material provided an illustration of the strengths and weaknesses of all three models, to the extent that the interview material could be taken as a representative sample of those models. It is argued that, among the three models, the Bowen Systems model is clearly to be preferred over the hierarchical model. However, the limited vocabulary and theoretical concepts of systems theory are inadequate to fully describe, and hence to allow leaders in crisis situations to conceptualize and respond to, the complex unconscious forces that exist in larger human groups or organizations such as religious congregations. If leaders of congregations are to be able to adequately respond to the challenges of such leadership, they need to have at their disposal a model for "seeing" their situation in all its complexity, and this must include the activity of the unconscious. Of the the three models studied, only the depth psychological model is capable of capturing this reality.