The Sociology of Power in an Urban Church Severa

Several years ago this writer was a member of an urban church

which progressed through interesting changes during a brief length of time when one particularly unique person held the position of minister. Prior to the arrival of this minister, Helen Meet, the church and its functioning had been somewhat in administrative disarray. Previously there was another minister who had been there for over twenty years. He was well-liked by many in the congregation, but his personal life and various addictions interfered with effective ministering (Rustow, p. 27). At times the membership swelled and flourished, but as the years went by, a steady decline in finances and morale forced the church board to request that this minister resign.

The church was without a minister for several months. Various guest speakers filled the pulpit each Sunday; ministerial candidates interviewed for the position; and the church attendance continued to decline. According to York (1954, p. 299), these are the conditions that attract a charismatic leader. Charismatic leadership is especially in demand in times of trouble, which this urban church was sorely experiencing.

From a group of many qualified aspirants, Rev. Helen Meet was selected and installed in the post of minister. She had led a congregation in Honolulu from a size of only thirty-five members to a burgeoning membership of over six hundred within six years. Her witty, personal speaking style

. . .
n people, the board members and higher level students who planned to move into the ministry themselves within a few years. Over a period of a few months, Rev. Helen began to somewhat insulate herself from one-on-one involvement with the membership and filtered her power through the inner circle. Her dynamic teaching and preaching continued to draw steady attendance. She had begun the building of the concentric circles. Rev. Helen died suddenly of a stroke after eighteen months of ministry in this urban church. After the minister's death, there was much confusion in the administration of the church. Attendance and financial donations suddenly diminished again, and it seemed that the church was destined to repeat the cycle of the previous few years. Those individuals in the inner circle bickered and fought among themselves and seemed not to know how to function without the strong leadership of the revered and loved Rev. Helen. There was no power center. It seemed that normally intelligent and capable people had become dependent on her type of power and could not function without it. One favorite student and assistant to the minister attempted to assume leadership, as if to gain the same power by association, but she was no
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Approximate Word count = 1660
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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