“All the World’s a Stage”
“All the World’s a Stage”
How Congregations Create the Called
This chapter offers a glimpse into the role originating congregations play in enhancing the very strong beliefs ministers have that they have been called to religious labor. It examines processes that, when viewed through a social psychological lens, explain why even clearly noncompetent candidates continue to pursue the credential. In particular, religious communities' reluctance to directly reject ministers' sense that they are called inadvertently strengthens aspirants' commitments to the called identity. In a process of acceptance herein referred to as “the horizontal call” (contrasted with the “vertical” call, which refers to interactions with the divine), the call creates a social identity—someone has to accept that ministry, if being a “minister” is to truly mean anything.
Keywords: ministry, congregations, vertical call, horizontal call, religious communities, called identity, religious labor
NYU Press 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.
