2010
Francis Appleton Hubbard
The Challenge of Ideological Diversity in the Local Congregation: It’s Not Easy Being a “Purple” Church, But It’s Worth It
Major socio-political national or international issues which originate beyond the local congregation can seriously impact a local congregation and require a response from it. Such issues can become sources of serious conflicts within a congregation if not handled well. This thesis examines the experiences of four different Episcopal congregations in coping successfully with ideological diversity within their memberships, thus earning them the sobriquet “purple churches,” meaning ideologically diverse, instead of “conservative” (red) or “liberal” (blue). Some biblical and theological resources plus some of the relevant literature regarding leadership as well as regarding some other sorts of diversities within a congregation are applied to coping with ideological diversity within a congregation. The lessons learned from the four congregations are combined with those from the Bible and the literature to provide resources to enable other congregations to cope successfully, and potentially to thrive, with ideological diversity.