Spiritual and Religious Communication: Intragroup Conflict among Southern Baptist Pastors

Abstract

This ethnographic study examines pastoral intragroup conflict in a U.S. Southern Baptist church. In-depth interviewing and participant observation were employed. Specifically, we elicited, through formal interviews, direct statements from six practicing Southern Baptist pastors on the reasons for, prevalence, and results of such interpersonal or intragroup conflict in Baptist denominational leaderships. Findings from these efforts revealed the dynamics and corollaries of such conflict in Southern Baptist denomination in general. As the sources of such conflict are diverse, we argue that qualitatively analyzing and reporting on this subject are of value to communication scholars. Areas for future research are also addressed.

KEYWORDS:

• Communication
• southern baptism
• intragroup conflict
• pastors