Uncomfortable Discourse: Leaders’ and Members’ Perceptions of Dissent Triggers in Churches

• In Event: Secular and Sacred: Communication and Organizing in Religious Organizations

Abstract

Part of the discourse within churches, like almost any organization includes disagreement and dissent, but churches have not been considered in research that examines organizational dissent. The present study compares organizational dissent triggers identified in previous research to dissent triggers in churches. Similarities and differences emerged between dissent in churches and in for-profit organizations as well as between the perceptions of members and of leaders. The importance of these results for organizational communication are discussed.

Author

• Johny Garner, Pepperdine University