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This paper aims to explore the experiences of church ministers who played the role of transitional leaders in congregational situations involving conflict.

Grounded theory was chosen as a suitable approach to investigate phenomena that occasionally penetrate religious publications and even less frequently scholarly management journals. Accordingly, in-depth interviews were conducted with six church ministers who had been transitional leaders in one Christian denomination in New Zealand.

Participants indicated that the drivers of transitional ministry were conflict, dysfunction and loss of direction; the goals were to heal the damage caused by conflict and restore functionality and well-being; the process, underpinned by a leadership philosophy of affirmation, trust-building, engagement and communication, involved working with church members to instil hope, establish operational structures, identify and resolve dysfunction, envision a future and ultimately recruit a permanent minister.

The limitations of a small sample size in one Christian denomination could be addressed by using wider samples in other contexts. It is suggested that insights into transitional leadership after conflict will be of interest to researchers as well as practitioners in other religious organizations, the wider non-profit sector and the private sector. Future research into the impact of transitional leadership, against a background of conflict and organizational change, will add to this empirical foundation.

The model of transitional ministry is a unique contribution to religious literature and practice. It also offers insight into how other types of organization could deal with the exit of its permanent leader, in circumstances of conflict, and manage the transition phase of a temporary replacement, so that the organization returns to a state of well-being with a renewed sense of purpose.

Warren S. Stone, President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, when asked, at the height of the anti‐union open shop movement of the 1920s, what labor thought of the churches, said “…labour does not think very much of Iabor.”

The paper aims to extend research which has sought to explain Britain's early success as an industrial power by identifying the influence of religious doctrine of the Dissenting Protestant churches on the development of accounting practices in the factory. The concern is not with specific accounting practices but with the social and moral environment which provided the incentives and permissions that encouraged late eighteenth century English industrialists to develop the practices that they used.

The paper draws on the highly influential writings of social theorists such Weber, Sombart and Tawney to identify the religious doctrines that both motivated and justified the rational, ideological business practices of prominent businessmen.

The rise of accounting as a powerful tool of control and discipline was significantly assisted by the teaching of the Dissenting Protestant churches on “calling”. Religious beliefs provided permissions, justifications and incentives which underpinned the entrepreneurial energies, opportunities and successes of the early industrialists. Accounting could be seen to assume almost the aura and nascent legitimacy of a religious practice, a means of sanctifying practices which were otherwise reviled by social elites.

Despite encouragement from accounting researchers for histories of accounting which give greater credence to the reflexivity between accounting and society, this has yet to find a significant presence amongst the searches for beginnings in cost accounting where economic and management factors remain the overwhelming focus. Religious beliefs are shown to have been especially influential in the adoption of accounting practices by early industrialists who were frequently members of the Dissenting Protestant churches.

In 1920 that part of the Church of England located in Wales was disestablished and became an autonomous and self‐governing Province of the Anglican communion. It owes its name “The Church in Wales” to two main considerations: it could not be called the Church of Wales because the argument for disestablishment was that the Welsh people were predominantly nonconformist; it could not be called the Church of England in Wales since its members were not expatriate English but Welsh, its bishops having been responsible for the translation of the Bible into Welsh and its services in rural areas being conducted in Welsh (Davies, 1970; Walker, 1976; Price, 1990; Davies, 1991).

Reports on a study of the state of the (Anglican) Church in Wales, which investigated the Church in Wales as a sociological institution through attitudes held by the clergy and lay members of the Church. Asserts that churches are institutional associational groups with rational‐bureaucratic forms of administration, rather than organizations, but that it helps to conceptualize the church as if it were an organization. Outlines some of the problems the Church faces – maintaining a presence in sparsely populated areas, secularization, decreasing personnel, and conservatism. Discusses the Church’s theory of itself and explores the conceptual world of the laity with regard to the nature of the Church, its structure, and the relationship between the Church and the world. Concludes that social enquiry is all about listening.

Genealogical research is like solving a mystery: it helps if you are a mystery buff. In doing genealogical research, one recognizes the need to solve a problem, decides what might bring the solution, then follows the clues to the end.

Attempts to explain the survival and success of the American Amish community by examining its history, tenets, structures and life style. Concludes by stressing the importance of the community’s unambiguous value system, its clear borders/boundaries, its emphasis on integration and continuity, its commitment to the “work ethic”, its techniques of separation, and its meaningful and efficacious rites and rituals.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the position of religion for the three constitutions of Egypt.

In this study, by tracing religious identity-related studies and seeing whether their existence is attributed to the ruling elites’ attitudes, it examines how factors such as new elites and new in ideology affect change of articles of religion.

The results demonstrate that the most significant factor was the existence of a new elite having a different ideology, which was obvious in the three constitutions: 1971, 2012 and 2014.

The manner in which studies of religion are written is the basis for legislation and the source of public policies that affect the discourse of political systems or results in economic and social rights that affect public policies. Therefore, if people are engaged in the process of drafting identity articles, they would participate in the reformation of their traditions and systems and there would be more integration in the society.

Few studies have attempted to work on the sociology of constitutions and religion in the Egyptian context.

Questions whether, in the USA, faith‐based communities can have an important effect on politics. Contends that other areas, where there are poorer communities, are more likely to be influenced politically in civil society although does not preclude other income sectors from being similarly affected just that deprived areas are more likely to listen to faith‐based organizers.