1999
Peter Rochefort Gustin
All About Ladies and Nailing the Step: An Exploration of Congregational Idioms
This thesis explores the various ways in which congregations use everyday language as a code for expressing emotions, for transmitting congregational history, for judging and evaluating new members (including clergy), and for recalling “inside jokes.” Classical and contemporary linguists provide a theoretical perspective, and the theology of hospitality as primarily expressed in Deuteronomy and Hebrews connects a collection of field research and anecdotes to such congregational issues as welcoming the stranger, full and partial disclosure, and spiritual growth as a prerequisite to numerical and financial growth. Written for pastoral leaders, it places the chief responsibility for “full and open communication” with the clergy and lay leadership and provides annotated case studies that provide both speaker and listener with clues for identifying and identifying with the idiom in use.