ABSTRACT

A STUDY OF THE PROCESSES OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION
BETWEEN A PROTESTANT MISSION AND SELECTED
NATIONAL CHURCHES OVERSEAS

BY

Gerald E. Bates

Four cross-cultural conflict situations between
a protestant mission board and three autonomous churches
in the Third World (specifically, in Burundi, two inter-
locking cases in Brazil and in India) are examined with
a view to identifying and describing probable causalities
Operating in the encounters. The interactions are
explored using the case study method with an emphasis
on processes and analytic description achieved through
a correlation of (l) respondent material from participants
and observers related to the situations; (2) archival
sources; and (3) research into the respective socio-
historical environments. The cases are selected from
the time period 1960 to the present on the basis of

three major criteria :

1. Each case involves an issue important to both

 

parties -

Gerald E. Bates

2. The conflict is inter-organizational, i.e. at

least between two organized groups.

3. The interaction is cross-cultural.

 

Concepts from the fields of conflict resolution,
values studies and multinational management are used as
basic guides in analysis and reporting. The application
of relevant models (Pondy's Conflict Episode Model1 and
the Bachrach/Baratz Political System Modelz) in the
organization and analysis of the material in the indi-
vidual cases makes possible the elevation of the insights
provided by the normal case study approach into a larger
design which is essentially a comparative study.

Two very fundamental assumptions of the study
are that (l) cross-cultural conflicts may nearly always
be conceptualized as functions of value differentiations
and (2) that values may be inferred from organizational
behavior. On this basis Chapter 3 provides an analysis
of the denominational value system which is shown to be
originally a product of the parent church but which,
through processes of organizational modification begun
in the early 19603, is becoming increasingly a shared
value system. The issues of the conflict interactions
are therefore seen as being generated from two kinds of
sources--the "shared" value system and the extra-church

environment .

Gerald E. Bates

The study confirmed the special importance of
values studies and mutual values communication for cross-
cultural conflict resolution. This conclusion is sup—
ported in the cases by evidence of shifts by the reSpec-
tive parties in the rank-ordering of values within the

shared value system of which the opposing party was

unaware. The kind and extent of values involvement in

conflict is also found to be highly determinative in
choosing appropriate methods for resolving conflict.
The importance of external environmental factors in
cross-cultural conflict is demonstrated in each of the

caseS. The influence on policy of major structural mod-

ification within the organization is noted as well as

the problem of "image-lag" which occurs when one impor-

tant Sub-unit of a world system undergoes major changes

either in structure or in value—ordering. In the organi-

zation studied the position of General Missionary Secre-
tary was shown to be very person-determined rather than

role-determined, This observation points up a major

source of "image change" as antecedent to "image-lag."
Methodologically, this study appeared to confirm
the Worth of the case study method for handling complex

cross~cu1tura1 interaCtions where an emphasis on pro-

cesses is essential. Recommendations for further inves—

tigation include the desirability of developing a taxonomy

for more accurate classification of cultures on a

.
_.o-
- '9'

 

 

 

a”

 

 

Gerald E. Bates

traditional-complex (or differentiated) continuum. Other

suggested areas for further study with respect to cross—

cultural conflict are (l) investigation of the influence

of economic differentials on value selection, (2) a more

systematic analysis of individual participants in a
conflict encounter--i.e. by educational level, age, sex,

experience, or by a composite measure of "third-culture-

ness,” (3) an analysis of managerial style of principal

actors in cross-cultural encounters, (4) confirmation

of.’ empirical values deductions with respect to a par-

ticular organization by use of survey methods, and

(5) refinement and combination of current conflict

models into a more comprehensive model.

V

1 R Pondy, "Organizational Conflict: Con-
Louis ' . . .
" Administrative Sc1ence Quarterly,

cepts 5
Vol. 13’3dN§°d§1(éeptembez-, 1969), 296-320.

2 achrach and Morton S. Baratz, Power and
Peter Band Practice (New York: Oxford Uni—

Povert Theory _
GmYLPreSS, 1970)! P- 54'

 

A STUDY OF THE PROCESSES OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION
BETWEEN A PROTESTANT MISSION AND SELECTED

NATIONAL CHURCHES OVE RS EAS

BY

Gerald E: Bates

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
rtial fulfillment of the requirements

In pa for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Administration and Higher Education

1975

I

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author wants to express appreciation to the
members of his guidance conunittee--Drs. David Heenan,
Walter Johnson and Ted Ward--for each of them has con—
tributed in individual and substantial ways to the
realization of this study. Special recognition is due
to Dr. Archibald Shaw, the committee chairman, whose
patience and availability were an encouragement over
the hard spots and whose high professional sense and
jUdicious alternate use of fear and confidence gave the
extra urge to try for a better result when that urge
was needed most.

Sincere appreciation is also due to the General
Missionary Board of the Free Methodist Church of North
America without whose approval and support the project
would have been impossible. The full cooperation of
Dr. Charles Kirkpatrick, General Missionary Secretary,
has been a source of inspiration and a continuing vote
of confidence all along the way. I want to thank Bishop
Emeritus Leslie R. Marston and Dr. Byron S. Lamson for

readfmg and Commenting on portions of the manuscript.

ii

And then, to my wife Marlene and children David,
Bill and Beth Ann, I owe a very special thank you for
tolerating and supporting a husband and father who dis-
appeared day after long day into a world of books and
ideas. Without their constant understanding and love

this project would never have been realized.

iii

 

Chapter

1.

2.

3.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . .

THE PROBLEM. . . . . . . . .

Importance of the Study . . . .

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: DEVELOPMENT AND

RATIONALE OF THE RESEARCH MODEL .
Definitions . . . . . . . .
METHODOLOGY. . . . . . . . .

Criteria for the Selection of Cases
Procedures of Selection . . . .

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE. . . .

DIFFUSION OF INNOVATIONS . . . .
COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT THEORY. . .
CONFLICT DEFINITION AND RESOLUTION .

Stages of Conflict Episodes. . .
Sources of Conflict and Appropriate
Treatments. . . . . . .
Conflict-~Desirable or Not?. . .

VALUES STUDIES. . .
SPECIFIC WRITINGS ON MISSION/CHURCH.
TENSIONS O O O C O O O O 0

Summary . . . . . . . . .

THE ORGANI ZAT I ON C O O O O O C 0

THE GENERAL CHURCH ORGANIZATION . .

Organization of the General Conference

of North America. . . .

General Church Relationships Involving

the Overseas Churches . . . .

iv

Page

15
17

23
25

31
32
35
39
41

41
44

47
57
64
67
71

73

73

 

#.
~_ #1_.__._

Chapter

4.

5.

THE WORLD FELLOWSHIP . . . . . . .

THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS . . . .

THE VALUE SYSTEM OF THE FREE METHODIST
CHURCH WITH RESPECT TO ITS OVERSEAS
BRANCHES . . . . . . . . . .

Identity--"Evangelicals," "Arminian,"
"Wesleyan," "Tradition". . .
Church Order ("Normative Patterns") .
Purpose ("Exploitation of the Environ—
ment") . . . . . . . . . .
Commitment. . . . . . . . . .
The Commission on Missions and the
Value System . . . . . . . .

THE BURUNDI CASE . . . . . . . . .

RESPONDENTS AND SOURCES . . . . . .
ANTECEDENTS OF THE BURUNDI CASE
LATENT AND PERCEIVED CONFLICT .
MANIFEST CONFLICT . . . . .
COMMENTARY . . . . . . .

Cultural and Political Input from the
Burundian Environment . . . . .
Perceptions of the North Americans
Involved. . . . . . . .
Persistence of the Issues. . . . .
The Power Relationships and Formal
Strategies . . . . . . . . .

THE BRAZIL CASE . . . . . . . . .

OVE RVI EW 0 O O O O O O O O O O
S OURCE S O O O O O O O O O O 0
BACKGROUND 0 O O O O O O O O 0

Beginning and Early Progress of the
Work . . .
Inter-group Relationships in the Church
in Brazil . . . . . . . . .
The Political Situation . . . . .
Field Mission/National Church . . .

PERCEIVED CONFLICT MOVING INTO MANIFEST
CONFLICT: THE SEMINARY CONSTITUTION .

Page
80
106
113
118
121

122
123

131
136
139
140
145
152
186
186

195
198

203
210
210
211
212
212
214

215
217

224

 

Chapter

APPOINTMENT OF A NATIONAL AS SEMINARY
ADMINISTRATOR . . . . . . . .

Background . . . . . . . . .
The Level of Perceive and Felt
Conflict . . . . . . . . .

COMMENTARY. . . . . . . . . .

The Political Climate . . . . .
The Inter-group Situation in Brazil.
Church/Mission Relations . . . .
Other Evangelical Groups . . . .
Missionary Morale. . . . . . .

6. THE INDIA CASE . . . . . . . . .

BACKGROUND. . . . . . . . . .
LATENT CONFLICT .

Events in India . . . . . . .
GMB Thinking . . . . . . . .

FELT AND PERCEIVED CONFLICT . . . .
MANIFEST CONFLICT . . . . . . .
COMMENTARY. . . . . . . . . .

7. DISCUSSION . . . . . . . . . .
INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS . . . .

The Shared Value System. . . .
The Burundi Case . . . . . .
The Brazil Case . . . . . .
The India Case. . . . . . .
Generalizations Over the Whole Study

IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . .

Utility of the Models Used. . . .
Implications . . . . . . . .

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY . . .

Methodology. . . . . . . . .
Suggestions for Further Investigation

APPENDIX

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Page

230
231
237
251
253
254
255
257
258
268

269
277

278
280

282
289
292
299
301
302
305
307
308
308
315

315
318

321

321
323

327

328

 

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure

Page
1. "Naive" Model . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2. Problematic Model. . . . . . . . . . 12
3. Research Model. . . . . . . . . . . 13
4. A Charting of Pondy's Conflict Episode Model
with Contributing Variables. . . . . . 42
5. Pattern of Mutuality and Equality . . 63
6. Chronology . . . . . . . . . . .- . 194
7. Charting on Bachrach/Baratz Political
System Model. . . . . . . . . . . 207
&. Constitution Issue . . . . . . . . . 262
9. Personnel Issue . . . . . . . . . . 263

vii

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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

From Wendell Willkie's announcement of One World

 

in 1943 to the present there has been an increasing
appreciation of the finite nature of planet Earth and the
consequent interdependence of its inhabitants. Along
with these realizations, technological advance has
brought widely dispersed peoples into direct contact with
and awareness of one another. Anthropology, the newest,
in a formal sense, of the social sciences, occupied
itself for many years mainly with investigation of the
exotic. As a result of three decades of reflection
under the shadow of the "bomb“ and as the ecologiCal limits
of the environment come into view attention in the social
sciences seems to be turning to the search for universals
and shared elements and away from the former enchantment

with variety for National Geographic's sake. Concur—

 

rently with these historical trends generic man is
experiencing an ever-increasing institutionalization
of his life. Many would say that under the pressure

of population increase this is the only way to long-term

survival. Amitai Etzioni characterizes our modern society

as
. . . an organizational society where, in fact, it
has been necessary to create organizations to regu-
late and supervise organizations and where organi-
zations are taking over a larger segment of its
citizens' lives.
A prominent example of institutionalization on the inter-
national scene is the emergence of multinational business
corporations.

Another factor to be reckoned with, a counterforce
with respect to the internationalizing of resources
encouraged by the multinational firms, is the assertiveness
of relatively new nation states symbolized most recently
by the politicization of scarce resources and the willing-
ness to use these resources as political and economic
levers of influence in the international community. Out
of this complex picture come certain key words which char-
acterize to a large extent man's position in relation to
his neighbor earth—dwellers: awareness, interdependence,
institutionalization, interaction and conflict. Most of
these factors involving relations between peoples of
diverse cultures will be expressed and experienced at
the institutional level through governments, international

business, philanthropic organizations and other smaller

institutions. The contemporary situation certainly makes

 

1Amitai Etzioni, Modern Organizations (Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964), pp. 1, 2.

 

it clear that, in the broadest sense, there is need for
exploration of cross-cultural institutional interactions.
Such investigations are necessary precursors to eventual
theory building. John Fayerweather, Professor of Inter—
national Business at New York University, reflects some-
thing of the tentative state of present theory when he
observes as recently as 1972: "We will hopefully develop
systematic concepts and principles to guide negotiations
as time goes on."2

The late nineteenth and twentieth century
missionary expansionism of protestant Christianity gave
protestant missionaries a new exposure to other cultures
with a broad spectrum of involvements not specifically
religious. The change agent role of missionaries is
attested to by a long service record in almost every

3

corner of the globe. George Cressey, Maxwell Professor

of Geography at Syracuse University, goes so far as to
describe the missionary movement in this way:
In other words, the missionary movement repre-
sents the projection of American culture and its

diffusion abroad. In a sense, it seeks to inter-
nationalize the world.

 

2John Fayerweather in the Foreword to Inter-
national Business Negotiation: A Studyjin India By Ashod
Kapoor (New York: New York University Press, 1972),
pp. XXII, XXIII.

 

3Elmer S. Miller, "The Christian Missionary:
Agent of Secularization," Missiolo , An International
Revue, V01. 1, No. 1 (January, 19757) Pp. 994107.

 

The function of the missionary is often defined
as seeking to establish "indigenous, self-propagating,
self-supporting, independent, national Churches."
Where these did not originally exist, and today where
they are weak, the traditional assignment of the
missionary was spiritual conversion. This is seldom
regarded as enough, for to create a Christian society
also means to improve health, education and economic
standards.

The point is that, while missionaries would not be
altogether comfortable with such an absolute identifi—
cation of their role with western culture, they were in
the vanguard of change, dealing with basic issues in
cultures other than their own, and in most cases, with
very few of the theoretical tools available to uS today.
Along with their philanthropic activities the missionaries
did plant churches which are independent and national and
which are now largely autonomous segments of the world-
wide Christian community. It is this situation which
provides the specific setting for this study. The area
of mission/national church relations represents a rela-
tively new and unexplored field in terms of cross-
cultural interaction. This area of activity has become
vaStly more important over the past fifteen years because,

coinciding with the political emergence of a host of new

nation states in the early 19608, there has been a

 

4George B. Cressey, "Mission to Everywhere: The
Religious Agencies," The Art of Overseamanship, eds.
Harlan Cleveland and Gerard J. Mangone (Syracuse Uni-
versity Press, 1957), p. 54.

 

parallel acceleration in the creation of autonomous
denominational churches overseas. Even where these
existed before 1960 the new spirit of nationalism and
ethnic pride has given rise to many of the same critical
issues in relations with the older churches in the United
States or Europe. Up to the present these mission/church
relations have been regulated mainly at the intuitive
3d_hgg level. For these reasons there is need for sys-
tematic study of the variables operating in the mission/

national church conflict interactions.
THE PROBLEM

The problem in research form will involve a sys-
tematic investigation of conflict situations in policy
determination between a protestant mission board and
related national churches in the Third World, focusing
on the time period from 1960 to the present. In examin-
ing these situations an attempt will be made by means of
selected case studies to identify and describe probable
causalities relevant to an understanding of the cross-
cultural interactions of religious organizations such as

missions or churches.5 In this study the mission board

 

 

5In most cases parent church bodies in this
country relate to their counterparts overseas through a
missions department or commission so the generic term
"mission" is used here as designating the organizational
representative of a parent body with respect to the
overseas churches.

to be examined is the General Missionary Board, the
overseas mission arm of the Free Methodist Church of
North America, (75,000 members in United States and
Canada and 175 missionaries in twenty-three overseas

fields). National churches are conferences in the Third

 

WOrld bearing the denominational name. Conflict Situations

 

i2_policy determination are defined as interactions with

 

critical possibilities generating substantial commitment
on the part of the participants. Examples of these are:
issues of property ownership, institutional control,
proportional representation on committees or institu-
tional boards, and negotiations of cooperating agree-
ments .

It should be mentioned at this point that the
situations to be studied do not occur altogether arbi—
trarily but that there is built into the denominational
structure periodic reviews of the mission/church relation-
ship as conferences of mission origin move through suc-
cessive stages of increased autonomy from "mission"
conference to "provisional" conference to "full" con-
ference. The last level has ecclesiastical status in
the organization equivalent to American conferences.

The importance of these levels of status for this study
is that, at rationally determined times, the situation

is thrown open for re-negotiation of contract and a

review of the major issues governing the relationship

between the two organizations.

Importance of the Study

 

Most major segments of the worldwide Christian
community feel themselves committed ideologically to
some expression of Christian unity. This has its source
directly in the words on Jesus on several occasions (see
The Gospel of John, 10:16; "There shall be one fold and one
shepherd," and 17:11 "That they [the disciples] may be
one as we are”). The same constraints toward unity oper-
ate within a denomination (Methodist, Presbyterian, Epis-
copalian) with respect to its autonomous national branches
spread around the world. On the basis of the Church's
scriptural chapter, therefore, it is desirable to maintain
the unity of the faith for there is "One Lord, one faith,

6 The joining of Jews and Gentiles in the

one baptism."
New Testament Church is symbolic of the bringing together
of different cultures and national groups as fellow citi-
zens of the household of God (see Ephesians 2:14, 19).
For these reasons the matter of conflict resolution is
very basic to the religious integrity of a Christian
community's self-image. As a result the greatest antici-

pated value of this study will be for those involved in

cross-cultural religious work.

 

6Ephesians 4:5.

The study also has implications for model build-
ing and testing in regard to other cross—cultural organi-
zational interactions. This will be brought out most
clearly through the use of various models in the ordering
and analysis of the case study material.

A third area of importance or applicability for
the outcome of this study has to do with international
development efforts. Alexander Leighton has observed:
"When someone writes a history of efforts by great nations
to aid in the development of smaller nations, he will be
tempted to call it how to back wrong horses."7 Leighton
goes on to observe that this is not a reflection on
motivation but on the problems encountered in selecting
procedures which lead to success. Studies in the field
of diffusion of innovations have pointed out the resistance
characteristics of receiving cultures which in turn under-
score the importance of understanding conflict in its
cross-cultural manifestations. A more specific appli-
cation of this study concerns efforts at cross-cultural
human resource development through education. Not only
have missions maintained a deep commitment to education
as an instrument of development but it may be stated that

the experience of missions is perhaps the closest analogue

 

7Alexander H. Leighton in the Preface of Cooper-
ation and Change, ed. Ward H. Goodenough (New Yor :
RusseII'Sage Foundation, 1963).

 

\\

\

.v\ \.

to the total educational problem in relation to Third
World cultures.

The treatment of the cases in this investigation
reflects a comparative dimension in its cross-cultural
concern and awareness of differing environments. This
emphasis relates directly to current management theory,
particularly to such comparative models as the Farmer-

Richman approach8

which emphasizes the effects of
environmental constraints on the management situation.
Their model is treated in more detail in the second
chapter in the review of the literature.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: DEVELOPMENT AND
RATIONALE OF THE RESEARCH MODEL

The purpose of this section is to discuss the
theoretical framework underlying the study. Reference
has already been made to the fact that the Christian
community in its most inclusive sense furnishes in some
general way a value framework for conflict resolution.
For research purposes this larger value system is con-
sidered too amorphous and internally differentiated to
be useful. For this study, therefore, since the subject

matter has to do with interactions within the formal

 

8Richard N. Farmer and Barry M. Richman, "A
Model for Research in Comparative Management," Inter-
national Management, ed. Richard N. Farmer (Belmont,
CaIIfornia: Diékenson Publishing Co. Inc., 1968),
pp. 76ff.

 

 

10

bounds of a single denomination (The Free Methodist
Church), the relevant value system is considered to be
that of the denomination. It is further assumed that
the parties on either end of the conflict Situations to
be studied are related in some way to this shared value
system however differently it may be perceived via the
respective cultural screens. For convenience this value
system may be called the macrosystem of values.

The rationale for the major outlines of the study
may be best understood through a series of simple models.9
If the mission board is labeled "A" and the national

church overseas "B" then one kind of interaction

structure could be visualized as follows:

 

OF VALUES value
system)

A \1
B

\
H.

\ / MACROSYSTEM (or shared

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 1

"Naive" Model

 

9This series of models is owed in large part to
Ted Ward, Professor in the Institute for International

Stugies and a member of the Guidance Committee for this
stu y,

11

In this ideal_or "naive" model, A is completely
contained in the macrosystem of values drawing all of its
value inputs from that system. B also receives all of
its value inputs from the system while exposed at the
perimeter for purposes of expansion through conversions
from the non-Christian community (which may be seen as a
form of innovation diffusion).

The actual situation is substantially different
from the ideal model. Mission boards, however organized,
function as para-church entities which act administra-
tively on behalf of the church but do not necessarily
reflect the full range of the church's value system. It
is also true that the constraints bearing on the mission
board are not necessarily filtered through the macro—
system as an intermediary. On the other end of the
interaction, in the Third World environment, the contact
point is generally a set of elites who act on behalf
of the national church but who are, to some extent
atypical by virtue of their being elites and therefore
more exposed to inputs from a more extended environment.
Most are inhabitants of the third culture area between
traditional and modern cultures described as " . . . the
behavior patterns created, shared, and learned by men of

different societies who are in process of relating their

12

societies, or sections thereof, to each other."10 By

incorporating these considerations into the model a

"problematic" diagram emerges:

 

MACROSYSTEM OF VALUES

(or shared value system)

1 / \ 1
A ‘I B
/ \ Figure 2 f \

Problematic Model

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Lre
\

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the problematic model both A and B extend
further beyond the perimeter of the macrosystem repre-
senting the fact that they are more vulnerable to extra-
systemic inputs than the ideal model indicates. On the
A side, extraneous inputs may include such elements as
nonchurch management theory or other influences such as
western individualism. On the B side such forces as
nationalism, tribalism or elitist ambitions may impinge

on the group's decision-making.

 

10John and Ruth Useem and John Donoghue, "Men in
the Middle of the Third Culture: The Role of American
and Non-Western People in Cross-Cultural Administration,"
Human Organization, Vbl. 22, No. 3 (Fall, 1963): p. 169.

 

13

In order to further clarify the relationships and
processes postulated as a basic framework for this study
a third model is suggested which is called, for convenient

reference, the research model:

 

MACROSYSTEM OF VALUES

(or shared value system)

 

 

 

\ //- \\//
—.-A e " B 4—

Figure 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research Model

In this model A and B are extracted conceptually
and placed outside the macrosystem. This tends to

sharpen several dimensions of the problem:

1. The interaction is carried outside the macro
system which now operates as a referent group,

a constituency.

2. The A/B interaction can now be looked at as an

organizational interaction rather than an

l4

intramural dispute. The inter-organizational
approach to conflict situations is assumed to be
more appropriate where considerable cultural

distance is involved.

3. Both A and B relate to selected sets of values
in the macrosystem which are perceived as most
meaningful to them at a particular point in
history. This does not necessarily mean unaware-

ness of wider value areas of the system.

4. Both A and B have increased their vulnerability
to external inputs reflecting a greater sensi-

tivity to extraneous environmental influences.

Viewing the problem in this way helps to classify
probable causalities into two categories, those for each
party in the conflict situation which are generated from
the shared value system and those entering as inputs
from the separate environments. While this general
model integrates the major elements of the study as a
whole, two models from conflict theory will be utilized
in the specific case presentations and in the analyses
of the respective cases: The Pondy model deals with
conflict episodes and defines five stages in a conflict
cycle; (1) latent conflict, (2) perceived conflict,

(3) felt conflict, (4) manifest conflict, and (5) conflict

15

aftermath.ll

The second model which is particularly
useful in the analysis of protracted formal negotiations
is the Bachrach/Baratz Political System model dealing
with power-authority-influence flow in the conflict
process.12 These models will be presented more fully

in connection with the respective cases.

Definitions

 

The following operational terms are defined as

they will be used in this study:

Conflict: This concept is defined in terms of

 

Schmidt and Kochan's model. These authors state that
the potential for conflict depends on the extent to
which required resources are shared, the degree of
interdependence and the perceived incompatibility of
goals. Potential conflict becomes actual conflict when
there is interference, passive (e.g. noncooperation) or
active, which advances the interests of the actor unit

toward its goals at the expense of the other party.13

 

11Louis R. Pondy, “Organizational Conflict:

Concepts and Models," Administrative Science Quarterly,
Vol. 12, No. 2 (September, 1967)) p._300.

12Peter Bachrach and Morton S. Baratz, Power
and Poverty, Theory and Practice (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1970), p. SIT

 

13Stuart M. Schmidt and Thomas A. Kochan, "Con-
flict: Toward Conceptual Clarity," Administrative
Science Quarterly, September, 1972, pp. 339-70.

 

 

16

Culture: In simplest terms culture is defined
as the learned and shared behavior of a community of
interacting human beings. A two-part expansion of this
definition by Useem, Useem and Donoghue as it applies
to traditional and modern societies is useful at some

14 (a) Culture for comparatively

points in this study:
stable, isolated, small, nonliterate societies comprises
a style of life woven into the fabric of the entire
group and generally passed on by oral tradition and a
system of roles. Conflicts and decision-making call

for applications of appropriate patterns for specific
situations. There is a generally nonreflective attitude
toward the underlying themes. (b) For complex, changing,
accessible, large-scale literate societies, cultural
themes, while still stored, learned and shared, are much
more abstract and explicit, more systematic and
elaborated due to the cumulative effects of written
records. In complex societies culture norms are more
debated, discussed and reassessed. There is greater

latitude as to how basic themes are interpreted and

applied.

 

14Useem, Useem, and Donoghue, "Men in the Middle
of the Third Culture," pp. 169, 170.

n
.. ..

 

 

 

 

l7

Organizations: Etzioni's definition is accepted

 

here as " . . . planned units, deliberately structured

for the purpose of attaining Specific goals."15

Value: "A value is a conception, explicit or
implicit, distinctive of an individual or characteristic
of a group, of the desirable which influences the selection

16 This

from available modes, means and ends of actions."
definition includes elements further elaborated in
Rokeach's work on instrumental and terminal values,
i.e. preferable modes of conduct (means) and preferable

end states (ends).17

METHODOLOGY

The general objectives of this research involve
investigation of negotiation processes occurring in
conflict situations between a protestant mission board
and committees of leaders in autonomous national churches

overseas. Although both parties in the interactions

 

lsEtzioni, Modern Organizations, p. 2.

16Clyde Kluckholn and others, "Values and Value-
Orientations in the Theory of Action: An Exploration in
Definition and Classification," Toward a General Theory
of Action, eds. Talcott Parsons and EdWard A. Shils
(CEEBridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press,
1959). p. 395.

17Milton Rokeach, "A Theory of Organization and
Change Within Value Attitude Systems," The Journal of
Social Issues, XXIV, No. 1 (January, 196 , .

 

 

..o .
v . n
.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

\

 

18

studied are bearers of a common denominational name the
method of analysis followed assumes that the situations
more closely resemble an inter-organizational conflict
pattern since each party represents referent constituen-
cies. These are, respectively, the American denomination
and its counterpart churches in the Third World. In
this research effort three case studies are presented
which include four conflict episodes.

The rationale for the case study approach is
modeled somewhat on the plan of a more ambitious study
carried out by Ashok Kapoor and reported in his book

International Business Negotiations: A Study in India18

 

in which he analyzed the process of interaction between
a business consortium based in the United States and the
Government of India. Dr. Kapoor comments on his method:

The study touches on all aspects of the matter--
economic, political, behavioral. Primary emphasis
is not placed on any one of these dimensions; rather
I have tried to demonstrate their interaction and
the impossibility of understanding the process of
negotiations without taking all of them into account
as the participants in the negotiation were obliged
to do.

This study does not claim to offer a new theory
or set of precise measurements of the multitude of
variables which characterize the international
business negotiation process . . . . However the
study is useful because it provides Specific

 

18Ashok Kapoor, International Business Negotia-
Eions: A Study in India (New York: New York University
Press, 1970).

l9

evidence which can help to develop a sharper recog-
nition and awareness of factors that may have been
taken for granted heretofore.19

With.respect to Kapoor‘s study John Fayerweather
observes:

A detailed case study such as Dr. Kapoor has pro—
vided is of great help to individuals on both sides
in broadening their skill in analyzing the atti-
tudes and interests of those with whom they are
negotiating.20

In another context, in a critique of a paper
"Case Studies of Managerial Behavior" Fayerweather out—
lines the peculiar values of the case study method. His
comments are so germane to the characteristics of this
investigation that they are reproduced at length here:

At the root of this matter is the variety of
facets of managerial behavior and of the cultural
factors bearing on them. Davis makes very well the
point that case studies alone can convey the com-
plexity of this reality. In stating that cases
are useful before and after quantitative studies--
for hypothesis formation and interpretive appli-
cation of results respectively--I think he under-
states the independent value of the case studies.
They are in fact the only means we have today for
analyzing the full complexity of managerial
behavior, and they are apparently still the most
effective means for studying many individual aSpects
such as interaction processes.

I think it is true that the greater portion of
our knowledge of comparative management is the
result of various types of case studies, along
with depth interview and observation methods which
lie somewhere between cases and surveys. The value
of "hard" data surveys . . . lies more in the

 

19Ibid., pp. X, XI.

2°In Ibid., pp. XXII, XXIII.

20

provision of solid bodies of evidence to back up
already fairly well established knowledge. Only
to a limited degree have they provided new knowledge.

It seems to me that too often in academia the
criterion of "hardness of data" is overstressed,
losing sight of the ultimate criterion of advance-
ment of knowledge.21

Fayerweather‘s emphasis on the utility of the

case study method in dealing with complex cultural
variables and interaction processes applies very directly
to the concerns of this study. While it cannot be
claimed that what follows in the case presentations
surmounts the ordinary limitations of the case-study
method it is hoped that the construction of the cases
will reach the level of analytic description through the
correlating of various kinds of data. According to
McCall and Simmons,
An analytic description (1) employs the concepts,
propositions, and empirical generalizations of a
body of scientific theory as the basic guides in
analysis and reporting, (2) employs thorough and
systematic collection, classification and reporting
of facts, and (3) generates new empirical generali-

zations (and perhaps concepts and propositions as
well) based on these data. 2

 

21John Fayerweather, critique of a paper "Case

Studies of Managerial Behavior" by Stanley M. Davis in
Comparative Management, Proceedings of the Comparative
Management Workshop (New York: New York University Press,
1970), PP. 135, 136.

22George J. McCall and J. L. Simmons in the

introduction to the book of which they are editors,
Issues in Participant Observation (Reading, Massachu-
setts: Addison-WéSley deliShing Co., 1969), p. 3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

21

In very concise terms these characteristics
describe the basic operational guidelines of this study.
A fundamental assumption of this approach is that many
aspects of the cross-cultural interactions to be studied
are "latent," that is not apparent to or describable
by laymen including the participants. It is therefore
important to classify and compare various kinds of data
in order to arrive at an adequate understanding of the
events. Toward this end the cases in this paper will
be constructed from the observations of informants,
records and documents, and from interpretive material
from participants or observers. In view of the prominent
cultural dimensions of the cases presented, respondent
interviewing is particularly important in making possible
comparison of differing individual or group perspectives
on any given situation and in achieving a feeling for
the zeitgeist, the climate of the encounter. Specific
information on data sources will be given in the opening
sections of the individual cases.

Having defined the major purposes of the study
and the method of investigation it is now appropriate
to relate the larger parts of the study to each other
and to the concluding chapter. The research model
developed on pages thirteen and fourteen of this chapter
indicates the importance attached to values and the

shared value system with respect to the case studies.

22

A basic assumption is that, in cross-cultural relation-
ships, the differences in values are highly dynamic.

In fact, most forms of conflict may be conceptualized

as values encounters. An important epistemological
corollary to this approach is that values may be
inferred from organizational behavior. In accord with
these assumptions Chapter 3 is devoted to an analysis

of the value system of the parent church body with
respect to its overseas branches. The analysis is based
on the official documents of the church and on an
examination of the extensive restructuring carried

out in the early 19608. Chapter 3 fulfills two functions

in the organization of the study as a whole:

1. It contains much material necessary to an
understanding of the structures and variables

operating in the individual cases.

2. It also gives a base line of comparison for
analyzing in terms of values some of the actions
taken by the interacting parties in the conflict

episodes.

It is clear at this point that the cases and their
analyses may serve as correctives, confirmations or
supplements to the material in Chapter 3. In this
regard the synthesis and interpretation of findings

in.the concluding chapter involves an alternation, a

23

weighing of values between those deduced in Chapter 3
and those found to be operating in the individual cases.
Extraneous inputs into the generation of issues are
summarized from the cases as they vary from case to case
according to the respective environments. Out of the
correlating of these two classes of variables come the
empirical generalizations which form the findings of
this research effort.

Criteria for the Selection
ofICases

 

 

In order to select the cases appropriate to the
general demands of this study, certain criteria were
established. Before these were considered, however, a
preliminary determination was made as to whether each
case under consideration met the basic conditions of
the conflict definition and offered reasonable promise
of availability of data sufficient to make a meaningful
assessment. Where these preliminary conditions were met

the following more stringent criteria were applied:

1. The case must involve an interaction important

 

to both parties. The varying nature of the
issues makes a rigid definition of "importance"
difficult in terms of finding suitable measures.
Bachrach and Baratz have considered this problem

and they conclude:

24

The distinction between important and unimportant
issues, we believe, cannot be made intelligently
in the absence of an analysis of the "mobilization
of bias" in the community; of the dominant values
and political myths, rituals and institutional
practices which tend to favor the vested interests
of one or more groups relative to others. Armed
with this knowledge one could conclude that any
challenge to the predominant values of the estab-
lished "rules of the game" would constitute an
"important" issue; all else unimportant.23

This statement repeats essentially the rationale
for Chapter 3 of this study for which the purpose
was to map the relevant portion of that "mobili—
zation of bias," the organizational value system
of the parent body insofar as it applies to
relations with its overseas branches. Use of
these data plus behavioral clues such as sus-
tained interest on both Sides, a substantial
commitment of time, energy or resources to the
solution, and manifest attachment to the respec-
tive points of view will be considered sufficient
evidence for empirical identification of issues

which are important.

2. The second criterion is that the conflict must

be inter-organizational in the sense that it

 

must be between two organizations or (more
precisely in these cases) between two distinctly

organized groups. This requirement refers back

 

23Bachrach and Baratz, Power and Poverty, p. 11.

 

25

to the research model of this study. It is so
defined as to rule out not only situations
involving solely interpersonal conflict but also
those in which individuals of greater or lesser
power may be aligned against an organization or

group.

3. The interaction must also be cross-cultural,

 

i.e. between parties not Sharing a common culture.
This eliminates consideration of conflict situ-
ations where the North American mission agency
could be involved in a conflict Situation with

a group of its own missionaries overseas. The
obverse of this where groups of nationals within
a given country might be found in conflict is

also ruled out.

Procedures of Selection

 

The initial search for cases was begun by con-
sulting with the General Missionary Secretary followed
by an extensive perusal of the archives of the General
Missionary Board. As a result of this preliminary
investigation seven situations were discovered which
offered promise of meeting the requirements of the
study. In some cases the extent of the involvement of
nationals was obscured by the fact that, linguistically,

the correspondence was filtered through the field mission

26

superintendent. In others the nature of the organi-

zational involvement was not clear. The situations

initially chosen to be considered were these:

1.

Taiwan--a jurisdictional dispute over the use

of funds from a property sale.

Hong Kong--an attempt by the mission to settle
a factional power struggle in the provisional

conference.

India--conflict over the institution of a self-
support plan for the conference ministers and

workers.

Burundi-—conf1ict over ratification of a new
constitution involving issues of prOperty

control and deployment of missionary personnel.

Zaire--a constitutional dispute containing many

of the same elements as that of Burundi.

South Africa--clarification of mission/church
relationships and jurisdiction of funds from

property sales.

Brazil-~conf1ict over institutional control,
specifically the appointment of a seminary

president.

Investigation of material in the archives

yielded sufficient information to construct a preliminary

27

précis of each situation in which an attempt was made
to give a skeletal description of what took place as it
appeared from the documents. In some cases this infor-
mation was supplemented by interviews with informed
individuals who were available (missionaries on fur-
lough, headquarters staff, bishops). The summaries
were submitted to leading actors in the interactions

or to those who had first—hand knowledge as far as these
could be determined. Generally three classes of indi-
viduals were queried: missionaries with direct exposure
to the problem, the General Missionary Secretary, and
national leaders. In some cases bishops were also
included where they had had a close association with

the situation. The résumés were accompanied by a brief
explanation of the purpose of the research and a set of
six questions which were generally uniform across all
cases:

1. Are you aware of other important dimensions of
the interaction which are not included in the
summary? Were there other issues? Are there
errors of fact or emphasis?

2. To what extent do you think external factors
influenced this interaction (political or
economic factors, other groups or examples,

time or distance)?

3. Were you aware of cross-cultural communication
problems?

4. How would you evaluate the outcome of the
problem? How was the solution accepted?

28
5. How did the missionary liaison person function

in all this? What was his contribution?

6. At any time during this exchange did you feel
there was a possibility of complete breakdown

of relationships?

In addressing nationals the format was changed to
conform to educational level as well as linguistic style
and the cultural requirements of polite address in the
respective languages (French, Swahili and Kirundi) but
the same general information and inquiries were included.
Information generated by this method was tabulated by
question and individual on one large table for each
prospective case in order to facilitate easy reference
and comparison. Missionary responses were grouped as
were those of the headquarters executives and nationals.
This procedure made comparison of responses on any
question easy, either across one group or across all
groups. In some cases follow-up letters were sent to
clarify certain points. Occasionally the replies named
other individuals involved in which case those named
were also sent the summary and questions.

The primary purpose of this stage of the investi-
gation was to collect sufficient data on all the pro-
posed cases to make possible a rational selection through
application of the criteria listed above. A comple-
mentary contribution of this exercise was that it fur-
nished valuable information on those cases chosen to be

studied in greater depth. In nearly every case

29

correctives and elaborations were received in the
responses which rounded out the description and pointed
to other fertile areas of investigation with respect

to that case.

AS a result of the preliminary inquiries three
cases were selected which met the conditions established;
the Burundi case, the Brazil case (containing two related
conflict episodes), and the India case. The cases

rejected were so treated for the following reasons:

1. Taiwan--This proved to be a problem between the
missionary board and its missionary staff on
the field and was therefore ruled out on the

cross-cultural condition.

2. Hong Kong--The national church was so fragmented
and weak that a conflict Situation could not be

defined.

3. Zaire-—The lack of replies by national respondents

made this case impractical.

4. South Africa--What first appeared as a conflict
situation proved to be mainly organizational

re-structuring on the field.

The motivations, definitions and procedures out-
lined in this chapter are what give form and impetus
to the study. For reasons similar to the rules for the

classical detective story substantial amounts of the

30

raw data are reproduced in the text. This is done with
a view to giving the reader a fair opportunity to
evaluate the conclusions drawn as a result of the

study--or to add or substitute his own.

Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The investigation of specific conflict situations
between a mission board and committees of elites repre-
senting national churches overseas deals with an area in
which very little has been done in terms of systematic
description and analysis. For this reason the study
cannot replicate earlier research efforts nor can it
build directly upon other similar studies in the ecclesi-
astical field. For the same reason this survey of the
literature will be broader than is sometimes encountered
in a research study. This chapter, in reviewing relevant
literature, will have for its purpose, therefore, the
orientation of the study to related theory in various
fields. This has been done, to some extent, in the
section discussing the importance of the problem in
Chapter 1; but it is necessary to add a more compre-
hensive discussion of some of these concepts in order
to facilitate understanding of how the data of this
study are interpreted. In this review of the literature
important fields of research and theory to be considered

are the following:

31

32

l. Diffusion of innovations

2. Comparative management theory

3. Conflict definition and resolution
4. Values studies

5. Specific work on mission/church tensions.
DIFFUS ION OF INNOVATIONS

Increased social contacts brought about by modern
technology have encouraged a developing interest in the
processes of social change. Gradually this area of
investigation has broadened to include not only the
emergence of invention through the interaction of a
society with its changing environment but, also, the
diffusion of innovations as they spread and permeate
society as a whole. Historically, the development of
models for the purposeful diffusion of innovations has
moved through a sequence of three principal stages1 which
correspond roughly to steps of development in mission

practice and theory:

 

1David A. Schon, Beyond the Stable State (London:
Temple Smith, 1971), p. 80. The material on page thirty-
three is adapted from Schon with the exception of section
3 where I differ from Schon on the matter of his "move-
ment" (which encompasses the Black Panthers, NAACP and
the UAW) which I consider too amorphous and undefined
to qualify as a unified system. I have, therefore, only
accepted the formal element of his outline, the systems
firm. The "missions" column is mine.

 

33

 

 

 

 

 

l. The center-periphery model pioneer

which includes (1) an innovation '| missionary

or message, defined in its dispatched
essence at the center, (2) with his
movement from center to clients, message to
and (3) management and resources penetrate
from the center (example: another
agricultural extension agent). culture.

2. Proliferation of centers-- institutional
a modification of the center— missions
periphery model in that sec- overseas
ondary centers engage in the

diffusion of innovations. h

Primary centers support and

manage secondary centers

(example: Roman army, colonial

models).

3. The network or business a global net-
system firm (a true multi- work of autono-
national organization). mous churches.

Everett Rogers defines the essence of the dif-
fusion of innovations process as a human interaction by
which one person communicates a new idea to one or
several other persons.2 This process includes (1) a new
idea, (2) an individual with knowledge of the innovation,
(3) an individual not yet aware of the new idea and,

(4) some sort of communication channel. The process,

according to Rogers, is modified by homophily_(alikeness)

 

or its antithesis heterophily which affects the cross-
3

 

cultural transfer of innovations.

 

2Everett M. Rogers with F. Floyd Shoemaker,
Communication of Innovations (New York: The Free Press,
1971), p. 24.

 

3Ibid., p. 15.

34

Schon criticizes Rogers' elaboration of the
communication process as being inadequate in sc0pe to
account for what actually happens when the unit of dif-
fusion is larger than simple products or techniques.4
Schon feels that Rogers greatly underestimates the con-
servative environment into which more complex innovations
are introduced, the major systemic disruptions they
cause, and the battle which ensues at their introduction.
The interaction is, therefore, much more than a dissemi-
nation of information. In actual fact, under the
pressures of interaction the innovation often evolves
significantly within the process.

The relevance of this discussion for this study

may be summarized as follows:

1. Schon's historical outline, applying to the
general development of theory in the diffusion
of innovations, helps in establishing a sequential
relationship between missions theory and manage-

ment models, both past and present.

2. At the institutional level, Schon's critique of
Rogers' work is highly pertinent on the points
of: (a) cultural conservatism and resistance
to change, (b) the struggle involved in systemic
change, and (c) the creative possibilities of

the interaction process.

 

4Schon, Stable State, pp. 95-107.

35

The consideration of larger units of change
diffusion leads naturally into the next section con-
cerned with multinational firms and comparative manage-

ment theory.
COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT THEORY

Currently, there is a great amount of activity
in the area of comparative management studies and the
result has been a mind-boggling mass of theories,
approaches, typologies and models. This is not to say
that the effort has been unproductive but simply that,
at this point in its development, the state of compara-
tive management theory is rather fluid and uncoordinated.
Hans Schdllhammer ventures to call the situation a
"comparative management theory jungle."5 Most studies
have focused on two broad categories of problems:

(1) multinational comparison of interrelationships of
management variables within given national domains and
(2) multinational comparisons of management-relevant
phenomena in different countries.6 This means that

it is difficult to find theorizing efforts in the

 

5Hans Schdllhammer, "Strategies in Comparative
Management Theorizing," Comparative Management, Proceed-
ings of the Comparative Management Wofkshop, 1970 (New
York: Graduate School of Business Administration, New
York University), p. 16.

 

6Ibid., p. 17.

36

comparative management field which apply directly to

institutional interactions and processes across national

 

 

or cultural boundaries. Kapoor's study has been cited
in Chapter 1 (p. 18) as a nearly unique exception in
this regard. This does not mean, however, that there
have not been substantial advances in comparative theory
out of which relevant segments may be selected which
contribute substantially to various dimensions of this
study.

The major areas of interest in the comparative
management field may be grouped under three heads:
(1) organizational characteristics, (2) managerial
style, and (3) environmental factors. Each of these
aspects will be included in the course of this study
but the most important insights relating to the cross-
cultural aspect seem to be those efforts focusing on
the dynamic nature of the environmental matrix within
which the management process takes place. A number of
efforts have been made to analyze and systematize the
environmental restraints. Reference was made in
Chapter 1 (p. 9) to the benchmark model in this area
of theory, the Farmer-Richman ecological model. Farmer
and Richman contend that there has been insufficient
attention to the external constraints on management,
particularly as they vary from nation to nation. They

make the point that management theory has tended to hold

37

the external environment as constant but that comparisons
between internal management problems in differing
cultures may prove useless unless the external environ-
ment is also studied carefully.7 As a correction to

this situation Farmer and Richman offer a taxonomy of
external constraints under four heads--economic, socio-
logical, educational, and legal-politica1--which they
have attempted to weight and quantify in order to make
comparative evaluations possible. Without entering

into the details of this model the applicability of

its general emphasis to the present study can readily

be seen in relation to the dynamic inputs-from-the environ-
ment impinging on the negotiation process.

A Significant complement to the Farmer-Richman
model is contributed by Negandhi and Estafen8 in their
emphasis on management philosophy. Negandhi later
expanded this framework to include environmental factors
in much the same way as Farmer and Richman. The major

outline of his model appears as follows:9

 

7Richard N. Farmer and Barry M. Richman, Com ar-
ativef¥anagement and Economic Progress (Irwin, 1965),
p. 33 .

 

8Anant R. Negandhi with Bernard D. Estafen, "A
Research Model to Determine the Applicability of American
Management Know-How in Differing Cultures and/or Environ-
ments," Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 8, No. 4
(December,l965), pp. 309-18.

 

9A. R. Negandhi, "A Model for Analyzing Organi-
zations in Cross-Cultural Settings: A Conceptual Scheme

38

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Management Environmental
philosophy Factors
L T7 (F—
4/
Management
practices
i. .
Management Enterprise
effectiveness effectiveness

 

 

 

 

 

 

A reasonable addition to the Negandhi model would be to
point out that environmental factors may also be a force
in defining management phiIOSOphy.

Two years afterward, Estafen further attempted
to Sharpen the management philosophy variable emphasized
by Negandhi by subsuming it under a more general term,
"system transfer characteristics," defined as the flow
of men money, materials and information across each facet
of the firm/environment interface.lo According to
Estafen management philosophy contributes to, rather

than determines, the system transfer characteristics

 

and Some Research Findings," Proceedings of the Compara-
tive Administration and Management Conferegge_(Kent,
Ohio: ColIege of BESiness Administration, Kent State
University, 1968), pp. 55—87.

 

10Bernard D. Estafen, "System Transfer Charac-
teristics: An Experimental Model for Comparative Manage-
ment Research," Management International, Vol. 10,
No. 2/3 (1970): pp. 21:34.

 

39

working alongside other factors such as historical acci-
dent or chance. The system transfer characteristics
describe the kinds of transactions occurring between
the management process and its external environment.
While these models are designed to assist empiri-
cal research in comparative management and do not apply
directly to the cross-cultural interaction link, the
insights provided in regard to environmental constraints,
the influence of management philosophy, and the system
transfer characteristics have their analogous elements

in the conceptualization of this study.

CONFLICT DEFINITION AND RESOLUTION

Kenneth Boulding has observed that conflict is
not merely a phenomenon common to organizations or
societies but that it actually constitutes in itself
a system subject to laws and principles which permit
it to be explained and controlled to a degree wherever

11 On this basis a substantial body of

it may occur.
theory has been developed. This section will review
briefly those areas of conflict theory which bear most

directly on this study.

 

11Robert L. Kahn's summary comment on Boulding‘s
chapter ”A Pure Theory of Conflict Applied to Organi-
zations," Power and Conflict in Organizations, eds.
Robert L. Hahn and Elise Boulding (New York: Basic
Books, Inc., 1964). p. 154.

 

40

In Chapter 1 (p. 15) organizational conflict is
defined as requiring three conditions: sharing of
required resources, a degree of interdependence, and
perceived incompatibility of goals. Potential conflict
is actualized when there is interference, advancing the
interests of one actor at the expense of the other party.
This definition combines two kinds of conflict, the
conflict of interest and the conflict of values. Aubert
states that a conflict of interest assumes a situation
of scarcity while a conflict of value is based upon a
dissensus concerning the normative status of a social
object.12 He adds that value conflict behavior is
almost always accompanied by conflict of interest where
the scarcity may be of the order of power or authority.13
Following this explanation the distinction seems to be
mainly as to where the weight of a given situation falls
on the Schmidt/Kochan model accepted as definitive for
this study--on "scarcity" or on "goals," depending upon
the relative dominance of interest or value respectively.

Apart from the definition of conflict, the body

of theory surrounding this subject appears to contribute

to the present investigation under the following

 

12Vilhelm Aubert, "Competition and Dissensus:
Two Types of Conflict and of Conflict Resolution," Con-
flict Resolution, Vol. 7, No. 1 (March, 1963), pp. 27, 29.

 

l3Ibid., p. 29.

41

heads: (1) stages of conflict episodes, (2) underlying
sources of organizational conflict, and (3) the relative

desirability of conflict.

Stages of Conflict Episodes

 

Louis R. Pondy charts the passage of conflict
Situations through a cycle of escalation and de-escalation
or, in other terms, equilibrium-disequilibrium—equilibrium.
He states that the chronology of a typical conflict event
passes through five stages: (1) latent conflict (con-
ditions), (2) perceived conflict (cognition), (3) felt
conflict (affect), (4) manifest conflict (behavior), and
(5) conflict aftermath (conditions).14

This construct provides a tidy model for looking
at the cross-cultural interactions examined in this
study, particularly if Pondy's other observations are
charted onto the conflict episode model (page 42).

Sources of Conflict and
Appropriate Treatments

 

 

In trying to organize the underlying sources of
organizational conflict Pondy cites three basic types:15

(1) competition for scarce resources, (2) drives for

 

l4Louis R. Pondy, "Organizational Conflict:
Concepts and Models," Administrative Science Quarterly,
V01. 12, No. 2 (September, 1967), p. 300.

lsIbid.

42

 

 

Aftermath of

Preceding

Conflict Episodes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Environmental
Effects

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

\V
Organizational i Latent
and Conflict
Extra-Organizational
Tensions '
Felt > Perceived
' 5' Conflict 6 Conflict
Availability of
Strategic ‘ 9 Manifest ( , Conflict
Considerations Conflict Resolution
Mechanisms
Conflict
Aftermath
Figure 4

A Charting of Pondy's Conflict Episode
Model with Contributing Variables

 

43

autonomy, and (3) divergence of subunit goals. Accord-
ing to Pondy, these sources may be correlated with
appropriate conflict-resolution models. The competition

for scarce resources tends to a bargaining model. The

 

superior-subordinate (autonomy drives) conflicts are

dealt with on the vertical dimensions of the bureaucratic

 

mggel. Goal differentiation is treated on a systems
mpgel by manipulation of variables to reduce tension
(perhaps selection of leadership more congenial in

goals, perhaps by training programs designed to modify
goal perceptions, or by reducing pressures for consensus).

The three elements of this analysis with their
corresponding models provide a useful tool for the
analysis of cross-cultural organizational conflict
because in almost any conceivable conflict situation
of that kind they are all to some extent present. The
specific question of goal divergence will be treated
at greater length in the section below devoted to values
studies.

Bachrach and Baratz make an important contri-
bution to conflict theory with their work in charting
the flow of political power in situations where groups
seeking re-allocation of values challenge groups com-
mitted to existing values. Their political system model
is referred to in Chapter 1 (p. 15, footnote 12). Their

terms "mobilization of bias" and "non-decision making"

44

correspond roughly to organizational value system and
pre-emptive action in the decision-making process
respectively. A fuller discussion of this model will

be given in the analysis of the Burundi case.

Conflict--Desirable or Not?

There has been a continuing debate among organi-
zational theorists as to the character of conflict in
terms of social value. March and Simon define organi-
zational conflict as a breakdown in the standard

mechanisms of decision-making, i.e. as a malfunction

16

of the system. Corwin, in an extensive review of the

literature on conflict, points to the wide range of
valuations that may be placed on conflict:

Coser sees conflict as a "disease," Thompson is
concerned with prevention of conflict in its
organizational context, weber sees it as integral
to social life itself, Simmel indicates that groups
require it to function effectively over time;
Small, Park, Ross and others view conflict as a
central and integrating process; and Dalton among
others has suggested that it is inherent in leader-
ship positions and a source of flexibility and
creativity within organizations.17

 

16James G. March and Herbert A. Simon, Organi-

zations (New York: Wiley, 1958). p. 112.

17Ronald G. Corwin, The Development of an Instru-
ment for Examinin Staff Conflict in the PEBIic SchooIs
TColumbus, Ohio: Départment of_SocioIogy and Anthro-
pology, The Ohio State University, 1963), pp. 14-15.

45

Recent writers have tended toward accepting conflict as

an inescapable fact of organizational life and some

18

have begun to write appreciatively of it as a lever

for progress.
Kubly is representative of a certain type of
conceptual approach when he defines two kinds of conflict:

The first is destructive and wasteful. It has
its origins in the frailties of human nature, and
thus it is hard to eradicate. You all have observed
it--the smoldering resentment one group feels toward
another, the excessively jealous guarding of one's
prerogatives, the denigration of others in order
to build up one's importance, the quiet sabotage
of the work of others, and that sort of thing.

The second form of conflict is basically con-
structive. It is the clash of opinions of men of
good will. It is the warfare of viewpoints care-
fully prepared, capably stated, and stoutly
defended. Its value lies in bringing differences
out into the light of day where there is a chance
for sober evaluation.

This passage illustrates the fact that much of
the debate over the value of conflict seems to result
from a lack of definition in that the different value
judgments apply more to its manifestations and outcomes

than to the total conflict system. The position of this

 

18Henry Assael, "Constructive Role of Inter-
organizational Conflict," Administrative Science
Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 4 (December,'l969), pp. 573-82.

 

 

19Harold E. Kubly, "One Way to Resolve Organi-
zational Conflict" (Madison, Wisconsin: Bureau of
Business Research and Service, School of Commerce,
University of Wisconsin, 1964), p. 8.

46

study will be closer to that of Boulding who holds that
conflict is an intrinsically neutral phenomenon. It
may, however, be assigned value by an applied value
system just as Kubly's evaluation is a pragmatic one
based on two forms of expression conflict may take.
Value judgments may not necessarily be confined to the
forms of conflict, however, as some value systems may
label it as categorically undesirable. A survey of
the literature seems to point up the necessity for
defining carefully the conflict system underlying the
behavioral aspects. It is equally important to relate
value judgments to an explicit value system.

This section would be incomplete without
including some comments on utopian structures. The
utopian attitude holds a close kinship to certain
aspects of the Christian value system which in turn
makes it interesting to this study. Allen C. Filley20
describes an ideal system in which status is displaced
by function, where there is social and economic equality
and where conflict would be resolved by consensus. ‘
Filley sets consensus over against fiat or compromise

which he characterizes as win/lose and lose/lose

solutions respectively. He sees the emergence of new

 

20Allen C. Filley, "Some Major Issues in the
Future of Management: Practice and Teaching," Academy

of Mana ement Proceedin s, Thirtieth Annual Meet ng,
August 33-26, 1970, pp. 24ff.

47

patterns in values as requiring an adjustment of the
system to persons rather than fitting persons to the
system. The consensus solutions to conflict situations
would come about through articulation of values on
both sides and a search for positions which include the

desired ends for both parties.

VALUES STUDIES

At various points in the preceding sections the
importance of values for questions of organizational con-
flict and cross-cultural relations have been emphasized.
The research design of this study calls for study of
a religious value system as it may shed light on inter-
organizational conflict situations. In Chapter 1 (p. 17)
reference was made to the means/ends distinction in the
consideration of values. These categories refer to
preferable modes of conduct and preferable end states,
respectively. From the writings of Kluckholn and
Rokeach certain key observations relating to the dynamic
character of values may be derived, particularly as

they apply to cross-cultural conflict situations:

1. ‘Values determine not only the subject's (or

group's) own actions but also his (their)

judgments on the actions of significant others.21

 

21Rokeach, "A Theory of Organization" (Chapter 1,
p. 17, footnote 17), p. 16.

48

2. Both Kluckholn and Rokeach mention the affective
attachment that exists with respect to values.
A corollary to this is that the affective attach-
ment usually includes an effort to pr0pagate
the values held among at least some others

(for example, children).22

3. Kluckholn emphasizes the interdependence that
pertains between instrumental (or modal) values
and end values in that the use of certain means

will inevitably negate the ends sought.

4. Kluckholn further asserts that values are, for
the most part, cultural products and defines
group values as those

. . . which define the common elements in the situ-

ations in which the actors repeatedly find them-

selves, and they must make some kind of sense in
terms of a group's Special history, present social
structure, and environmental situation.23
Lundberg sees general agreement among masses of
men on the broad goals of human life but states that

the major differences of opinion arise about the means,

the costs and consequences of different possible courses
24

 

of action. Often the approved modes of action and

 

22Kluckholn, "Values and Value-Orientations,”

p. 413.
231b1d., p. 417.

24George A. Lundberg, Can Science Save Us? (New
York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1961), p. 99.

49

the permissible costs are delineated in formal codes
or standards which attempt to reflect the total action
system. These standards often call for differentiated
responses. These may include preferential values (which
could be illustrated by policy guidelines), categorical
or non-negotiable values (articles of faith), and
utopian values which set a general direction but are
recognized as being beyond immediate attainment (true
world peace, for example).25
Since all relationships between groups or
organizations involve exchanges of tangibles or intan-

26

gibles, the above categories assume real importance for

understanding conflict situations, particularly with
regard to recognizing some items as intrinsically non-
negotiable. Eisenstadt states that:

The most important illustrations of such non-
exchangeable commodities are the symbols and
situations of basic cultural, societal, and
personal identity, such as those of personal
honor and virtue, of the limits, nature and
belongingness to different collectivities.2

25Kluckholn, "Values and Value-Orientationsr"

P. 413.

 

26Edmund R. Leach, Rethinking Anthro olo
CLondon: University of London, The Athbone Press, 1961),
pp . 101-030

27

S. N. Eisenstadt, Essa s on Com arative
Eflfisgtutions (New York: Wiley, 1965), p. 53.

50

Aubert points out that negotiation in the values

area is a very sensitive thing for several reasons:

1. A scent of the illicit clings to such dealings
and is represented by folk proverbs such as
"one cannot trade in values" or "no bargain

with the truth."

2. It is hard to define an exchange or compromise
in the value area. Values are difficult to
quantify and weigh.

3. There is no private ownership of values. They

are communally owned.28

All of these considerations treated so far in
this section illustrate forcefully the necessity for
appreciating the critical importance of values studies
in cross-cultural relationships and particularly so
with reSpect to religious organizations which are by
definition concerned with maintaining and propagating
their own value systems.

Up to this point the treatment of values has
dealt largely with operational definitions and obser-
vations in the area of values studies. It is also
desirable to examine briefly some of the more fundamental
theoretical work which underlies this area of inter-

cultural exchange.

 

28Aubert, "Competition and Dissensus," p. 29.

51

Malinowski (d. 1942) examined the relationships
between Europeans and Africans in Africa in the 19305
and came to conclusions strikingly similar to those
found today under the "third culture" label. He
advocated a "three column" approach to studies of
culture change--white hinterland, black hinterland and

29 Malinowski saw

a middle column of culture contact.
the Situation in terms of institutional interaction with
contributions of organizational charter, materials and
practices entering from both sides and issuing in the
product of a new amalgam of culture. His concept of

30 rested on the corollary that human

"common factor"
institutions are roughly commensurate across cultural
dividing lines and that elements of common interest
exist, however differently they may be structured in
their respective cultures. The common factors provide
contact points across which communications may pass from
one culture to another. The basic importance of these
insights for cross-cultural relationships lies in the
emphasis on discovering corresponding values and goals,

a substantial part of the understanding necessary in

the resolution of conflict.

 

29Bronislaw Malinowski, The Dynamics of Culture
Change: An Inquiry into Race Relations in AfricaITNew
Haven: Yale University Press, 1943), P.'18}

3°Ibid., p. 72.

52

Maslow's work with the prepotency of human needs
does not appear to have been adequately appreciated in
its implications for cross-cultural relationships.
Maslow himself was preoccupied with the upper extremi-
ties of his scale and particularly the self-actualizing
persons who constituted for him his most fascinating
subject matter. Maslow must, however, be credited with
struggling to return the study of values to science:

I am convinced that the value-free, value-neutral,
value-avoiding model of science that we inherited
from physics, chemistry, and astronomy, where it
was necessary and desirable to keep the data clean
and also to keep the church out of scientific
affairs is quite unsuitable . . . for human
questions, where personal values, purposes and
goals, intentions and plans are absolutely 31
crucial for the understanding of any person . . .

Maslow saw that the higher reaches of his scale
must be built on the prior satisfaction of basic needs.
His discussion of the cultural implications of his work
holds that metamotivation (motivation toward the highest
levels of human self-actualization) is species-wide and
therefore supracultural. But he also recognized that
cultures may fail to provide a congenial environment

for human maximization (and he observes pessimistically

that they most often do).32 He suggests that on this

 

31Abraham H. Maslow, The Farpher Reaches of
Human Nature (New York: The Viking Press, 1971), p. 5.

 

321bid., pp. 325, 3B6.

53

basis (i.e. of a supracultural factor) cultures may be
judged. Maslow's thought raises questions important
to this study in regard to how cultures existing at
generally different levels on the need-satisfaction
scale may communicate in terms of values and goals

and what problems may be generated specifically as a
result of this dissonance.

Boulding points out, somewhat in contrast to
what might be concluded from Maslow's need satisfaction
scale applying to cultures operating under serious need
deficiencies, that the value structure of a society may
act dynamically in a way quite independent of accidental
conditions of scarcity or plenty. That is, something may
be assigned a high value either because it holds a high
value in the overall preference structure or because
it is scarce.33 These insights point up the extreme
complexity of cross-cultural interchanges and the
multiple possibilities for conflict.

Two more recent areas of research relate to the
Malinowski/Maslow studies and provide some refinements
in this general area. These are the Third Culture
concept introduced and made common currency by Useem,
Useem and Donoghue and the investigations of the stages

of moral development carried out by Lawrence Kohlberg

 

33Kenneth E. Boulding, Conflict and Deggnse
(New York: Harper and Brothers, 1962), pp. 297, 298.

54

and his associates. They are presented briefly here
more for the stimulating questions they raise than for
the answers they provide.

Useem, Useem and Donoghue call the complex of
patterns generic to the intersections of societies the

34

third culture. (A resemblance to Malinowski's three

 

column approach can readily be seen.) The "third
culture" concept is broadened to envisage this inter-
sectional area as a more or less permanent cultural home
for individuals from both sides of a cultural interchange
involved in the task of relating their respective socie-
ties to each other. The Useems and Donoghue assume a
behaviorist point of view speaking mainly of patterns,
themes and norms rather than reaching for the underlying
values. They describe the arena of activity but do

not probe into the underlying area of values--to what
extent the values of the respective home cultures are
suspended by those individuals operating in the third
culture (perhaps only for the duration of their stay)
and to what extent values are permanently modified by
the dynamics of the third culture situation. These are

questions beyond the scope of this research but which

 

34John and Ruth Useem and John Donoghue, "Men
in the Middle of the Third Culture: The Role of American
and Non-western People in Cross-Cultural Administration,"
Human Organizatiop, Vol. 22, No. 3 (Fall, 1963), p. 169.

 

55

should be investigated by empirical means. For those
with cross-cultural experience the third culture concept
and its elaboration corresponds remarkably well with
what is encountered where cultures meet. It will be
referred to in this study as a useful construct.

The second area of current values research with
relevance for this study is that of Lawrence Kohlberg35
on the stages of moral development. Kohlberg attempts
to chart a universal sequence of stages of moral develop-
ment on which the moral decision level of any individual
in whatever culture may be charted. The relevance of
this work for value-laden cross-cultural negotiations
can hardly be challenged. It is disturbing because,
in a way analogous to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, it
raises a number of questions about value-communications
between mismatched cultures operating predominantly on
different levels of the scale of moral development.
Kohlberg's research seems to indicate such disparities
exist, presumably because all cultures do not provide
equal occasions for moral decision-making.

On the helpful side Kohlberg asserts the existence

of a universally shared set of moral forms and further

_

35Kohlberg's thought is quite thoroughly repre-
sented in his chapter, "From IS to Ought: How to Commit
the Naturalistic Fallacy and Get Away with It in the
Study of Moral Development," Cognitive Development and

E istemolo , ed. Mischel (New York: Academic Press,
15717—41, pp. 51-235.

 

56

contends that the basic content, the principles of
morality, are universal as well. These contentions
along with the fact that each stage on his six-stage
scale must be reached by passing in sequence through
each of the stages below it offer promise for facili-
tating resolution of certain aspects of cross-cultural
conflict, particularly in that the passage through the
sequence of stages confers a memory and therefore an
understanding of the subordinate stages.

Kohlberg has been attacked by such writers as
Alston and Simpson for ethnocentrism and cultural bias.36
A weakness in the empirical findings has been that the
more advanced stages of his model do not appear in certain
cultures (at a Significant level) and to which he has
replied (as noted above on page 55) that certain cultures
are limited in the range of conflict situations which
call forth stage advancement and the opportunities for

37

assuming new roles. At the very least Kohlberg

faces serious charges of naiveté in the handling

36William P. Alston, "Comments on Kohlberg's
'From Is to Ought,'" Mischel, Cognitive Development,
pp. 269-84; Elizabeth Leonie Simpson,_“Moral Development
Research, A Case Study of Scientific Cultural Bias,"
figman Development, Vol. 17 (1974), pp. 81-106.

 

 

37Dorothy C. Adkins, Frank D. Payne, and J.
Michael O'Malley, "Moral Development," Review of
Research in Education, ed. Fred N. Kerlihger (Itasca,
III-111018: F. E. Peacock Publishers, Inc., 1974), p. 109.

 

57

of his cross-cultural material which, in itself, invites
some of the criticism directed at his work.
SPECIFIC WRITINGS ON MISSION/CHURCH
TENSIONS
In order to understand the literature on mission/
church tensions it is necessary, first, to look at the
two major divisions in American protestantism and their
differing solutions to the mission/church problem. What
may be called the conciliar approach belongs mainly to
the larger denominations affiliated with the National
Council of Churches, in the United States, and with the
World Council of Churches. These groups have favored
integration or fusion of mission agencies into the
church structures. Over against this group stands the
more conservative segment of protestantism, often
identifying itself by the term "evangelical," incor-
porating more biblically centered groups and often
carrying out their missionary mandate in relationship
with such umbrella agencies as the Evangelical Foreign
Missions Association (EFMA) and the Interdenominational
Foreign Missions Association (IFMA). To give perspec-
tive to the magnitude of this division it may be cited
that, in the United States, the conciliar group through
the Division of Overseas Ministries supports approxi-

matxely 10,500 missionaries while EFMA/IFMA affiliates

58

send 11,500. The Free Methodist Church of North America,
through its missions arm, is a member of EFMA. For this
reason major attention in this review of the literature
will be confined to this side's discussion of the
mission/church relationship.

In order to understand properly the evangelical
position and its history, it is essential to review
some of the strong attacks upon the mere existence of
separate mission agencies in today's world. These
attacks have come from various spokesmen, both western

and Third World, of the conciliar group.

1. Arend Th. van Leeuwen, Dutch theologian, calls
for a radical transformation of the missionary
enterprise and its replacement by a mission by

the whole church throughout the world.38

2. Keith Bridston, American Lutheran, advocates

death of the old forms in order that the church

may fulfill its mission today and tomorrow.39

38Arend Th. van Leeuwen, Christianity in World
§£§29£y_(London: Edinburgh House, 1964): PP- 19‘21: 330-

39Keith Bridston, Mission, Myth and Reality
(New York: Friendship Press, I965), pp. 15-18.

 

59

3. Fr. Paul Verghese, Syrian Orthodox, speaks of
western missions (both Protestant and Catholic)

0 I O O 0 I 40
as economic imperialism and neo-colonialism.

4. E. P. Nacpil, Dean of Union Theological Seminary,
Manila, states that the present structure of
modern missions is dead and ought promptly to

be eulogized and buried.41

5. The Bangkok Conference sponsored by the World
Council of Churches' Commission on World Mission
and Evangelism declared:

"Partnership in mission" remains an empty slogan.

Even where autonomy and equal partnership have

been achieved in a formal sense, the actual

dynamics are such as to perpetuate relationships

of domination and dependence. [These] . . .

reflect the economic inequalities between the

nations concerned.42
The appeal of radical statements like these to
nationalistic sentiments and the attractive neatness
of the fusion solution to mission/church relationships

has tended to put the evangelical groups on the defensive.

 

4oPaul verghese, "A Sacramental Humanism," The
Spristian Centugy, September 23, 1970, pp. 1118, 1119.

41E. P. Nacpil, "Mission but not Missionaries,"
Egternational Review of Mission, July 1971, pp. 359, 360.

423. Luther Copeland, "Wanted! Radical Reform of
Missionary Structures," International Review of Mission,
Mal. 62, No. 248 (October, 1973), p. 4027

60

They have been forced to justify, first of all, the very
existence of mission agencies and then to spell out as
well as possible the relationships between them and their
related overseas churches. It is the latter area of
structural definition which is of particular interest

to this study. Without the background given above, much
of the discussion and many of the issues would be diffi-
cult to understand.

In the past decade evangelicals have sponsored
three large conferences in an attempt to define various
aspects of the task of world evangelization.

The first of these conferences, the Congress on
the Church's Worldwide Mission, was held at Wheaton,
Illinois, April 9—16, 1966, and endorsed in the "Wheaton
Declaration" the principle of cooperative partnership:

" . . . we recognize a continuing distinction between
the church established on the field and the missionary
agency."43

In 1971 EFMA/IFMA convened Green Lake '71 at

Green Lake, Wisconsin. The principal papers of this

meeting were published under the title Missions in

 

Qpeative Tension.44 Recurring themes in the published

papers are:

__‘

43International Review of Mission, Vol. 55,
N0. 220 (October, I966): P. 470.

 

_ 44Dr. Vergil Gerber, ed. (South Pasadena:
William Carey Library, 1971) .

61

l. Reiteration of mission/church dichotomy. This
theme was supported on mainly pragmatic grounds
as it was affirmed that scripture does not pre-
scribe specific organizational structures.
Structures must not, however, violate the

church's integrity defined on scriptural grounds.45

2. The mission/church relationship was therefore
recognized as an organizational (not theological)
relationship and potentially vulnerable to

. . 4
destructive tenSIOns.

3. There seemed to be an affirmation of a certain
inevitability of tensions and of constructive

possibilities inherent in their proper management.

The major concern, as the title indicates, was
to determine the best structures to manage relationships
between the mission agencies and the younger churches.
It seems a bit unusual that churchmen should give such
a large proportion of their attention to structure and
relatively little to processes.

At Green Lake, a major address on mission/church
relations overseas was given by George W. Peters of

__

45Raymond Davis, paper in Missions in Creative
Tension, Green Lake, Wisconsin, 1971, p. 24.
‘fi—

 

6George W. Peters, paper in Missions, p. 49.

 

62

Dallas Theological Seminary in which he presented a
structural plan entitled "Partnership of Equality and
Mutuality." This plan is of special interest for the
present study because it has been adopted as a working
model by the General Missionary Secretary of the Free
Methodist Church. It is reproduced on page 63 and will
be referred to from time to time.47
In the Lausanne Covenant, the public document of
the Congress on World Evangelization (Lausanne, July,
1974) convening 3,000 church leaders from 150 nations,
there is little that addresses itself directly to the
structures governing relations between the younger
churches and missionary agencies. Re-evaluation of
structures is called for and "a growing partnership
of churches" is anticipated.48
Gerber observed in 1972 that evangelical leaders

had not written much on mission/church relations49

and,
even with the stimulation of workshops and conferences,
not much new thought has been produced. Integration of

current anthropological and sociological insights,
47Ibid., p. 229.

48Evangelical Missions Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 4
(OCtober, 1974), pp. 313-20}

 

49Gerber in Church/Mission Tensions Today, ed.
C. .Peter Wagner (Chicago: Moody Press, 1972), p. 15.

 

63

CHURCH AUTONOMY -- AUTHORITY AND RESPONSI-
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64

although reported in missions publications, is generally
left to the individual at the operational level rather
than making an attempt to work them into the organi-
zational picture.

In closing this section, reference should be
made to a paper, "Mission/Church Tension in Africa as
a Function of Goal Discrepancy,"50 which represents
an effort to do what is advocated above. Bates uses
Malinowski's model of cross-cultural institutional
interaction and applies Maslow's hierarchy of values
and the prepotency of needs to the interface of culture
contact. He contends that the differential of goal
orientations brought about by a situation where the
interacting cultures are at different levels on the
Maslow scale explains much of the friction at the con-

tact interface.

Summary

Five fields of research and theory have been
Surveyed in this chapter which help to orient the study
with respect to the current state of knowledge in related
areas. These areas of investigation also provide some
off'the basic insights and models which are utilized
throughout the study. From the section on diffusion of

lnhovations it may be seen that the stages of missions
\

50Gerald E. Bates, Practical Anthropology;

V7
(DEL,. 18, No. 6 (November-December, 1971): pp. 269-78.

¥

 

65

organizational development overseas corresponds
remarkably well with the developmental sequence followed
by other organizations of disparate kinds. This obser-
vation suggests, of course, the applicability of general
theory to the missionary enterprise. The resistance
factor in receptor cultures is pertinent to discussion
of conflict situations. In the comparative management
area the major finding appears to be that very little
has been done on cross-cultural comparative studies.
Relatively recent efforts are addressed to the assess-
ment of environmental factors but, to the present,
little attention has been directed to the cross-cultural
interaction and processes. The study of conflict as

a system is producing a number of models and a sub-
stantial amount of theory which can be applied with
profit to the kinds of cross-cultural interactions
treated in this study. The involvement of values in
conflict theory and cross-cultural research of any kind
is inescapable. Much useful work in values studies is
being done but overall attempts at synthesis are lacking.
Perhaps the greatest benefit to be derived from a survey
of this area of research and reflection is an appreci-
ation of the complexity of the problem, especially when
Cross-cultural dimensions are added to an already complex
and idiosyncratic field. There has been little syste-

fluitic effort at defining and describing the variables

66

operating in the mission/national church field of
relationships. Most of the efforts at solutions in
this area have been developed from the top down by
borrowing from western secular management theory.
This would suggest the necessity for working toward
a theory from a base of analysis of the factors

Operating in the cross-cultural arena.

Chapter 3

THE ORGANIZATION

The research model and the general research
design of this study presented in Chapter 1 emphasize
the importance of the macro system of values delimited
for study purposes as the denominational value system.

A basic assumption of the study is that the interacting
parties in the conflict Situations, in each case the
mission and a national church group overseas, receive
two kinds of value inputs, one set from the nonchurch
environment and another set from the shared church value
system. In terms of Pondy's model (Figure 4, p. 42) the
church's value system will be seen (alongside other
extraneous environmental factors) as a contributor to
the generation of issues as a Special kind of "environ-
mental effect." At the advanced levels of the conflict
cycle the church's value system and the resultant
structures will contribute to the definition and
resolution of conflict. On this basis Chapter 3 explores
the set of denominational values which define relation-

Ships with the overseas churches.

67

68

A second purpose of the chapter derives from the
need, in a specialized study of this kind, for an orien-
tation to the terminology and structure of the organi-
zation in order for the reader to follow the discussion
of the cases.

In accord with the dual purposes cited above the
intention of this chapter is to give (1) an overview of
the system of formal roles and functions which constitute
the organizational profile of the Free Methodist Church
and (2) a description of the processes of structural
modification during a period when the organization was
engaged in defining new relationships with its overseas
branches. The theoretical framework of the chapter is
built around the assumption that the organization is
Operating in an Open system and that it has two major
dimensions--structura1 and process--both of which are
dynamic and interacting.1 On this basis it is further
assumed that the kinds of organizational behavior and
structural modification, particularly in times of crisis
or great change, are highly indicative of its underlying
value system, A number of writers in management and

values studies have commented on the relationship between

¥

1Richard J. Selfridge and Stanley L. Sokolik,
"A Comprehensive View of Organization Development," in
MSU Business Topics, ed. Dole A. Anderson, Vol. 23, No. 1
(EastILansing, Mi—h.: Graduate School of Business Admin-
;gtration, Michigan State University, Winter 1975) , pp. 48-

 

69

structure and/or behavior and values discovery at the
organizational level. Kenneth Boulding sees the whole
structure of an organization as a system for decision-
making:
The very structure of an organization can be regarded
as a "constitution," a constitution being defined as
a previously agreed method of resolving conflicts
which have not yet arisen. We can go further and
argue that virtually all organizational decisions
are the end product of a process of conflict reso-
lution between the points of view of the various
sections and departments.2
Boulding's statement relates structure to "means" values
in the emphasis on preferred methods and possibly inter-
mediate "ends" values in the varying points of view held
by different parts of the organization on issues to be
decided. Lundberg asserts that:
It is possible to infer the values of groups from
the way in which they habitually Spend their time,

money and energy. This means that values may be
inferred from historic documents of all times . . . .

3
Lundberg's position may be extended logically from the
emphasis on distribution of resources (time, money,
energy) to the structures groups establish for themselves

in order to organize the kinds of activities he mentions.

2Kenneth Boulding, "A Pure Theory of Conflict
Applied to Organizations," in Conflict Management in
Qgganizations (Ann Arbor, Mich.: FoundatIOn for Research
on Human Behavior, 1961), p. 50.

 

 

3George Lundberg, "Human Values--A Research
Program,” Research Studies of the State College of
Washington, 1950.

70

Kluckholn underscores the importance of studying the
dynamics of decision-making:
"Real" values, then, can be discerned by careful
analysis of selections made in "choice" situations.
. . . The observations and investigation of behavior
in crisis Situations is particularly rewarding.

With this theoretical background the plan of this
chapter is to describe and analyze the value system of
the organization, particularly those elements which have
bearing on the overseas branches, working by inference
from organizational behavior. By centering attention on
those actions of the Free Methodist Church which define
relationships between the North American body and its
overseas branches, it is assumed that the elements of
the overall value system which have bearing on the cases
considered in this study will be identified. The second
important purpose mentioned above is to furnish the
information necessary to an adequate understanding of
the cases which form the data base of this research.

The presentation of this material will be made
under three heads: (1) the general church organization,

(2) the WOrld Fellowship, and (3) the General Missionary

Board.

4Clyde Kluckholn and others, "Values and Value-
¢3rientation in the Theory of Action: An Exploration in
Definition and Classification," in Toward a General Theory
<1f Action, eds. Talcott Parsons and EdwardiA. Shils
<3 r1 ge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1959),
P- 408.

71
THE GENERAL CHURCH ORGANIZATION

The articles of organization and government of
the North American General Conference give the following
levels of church government: (1) pastoral charges, (2)
districts, (3) annual conferences, (4) the General

Conference.5

1. The lay membership of the church is divided into
local societies, one or more of which constitutes

a pastoral charge.

 

2. The pastoral charges within an annual conference

may be grouped into districts. An annual con-

 

ference may choose to have only one district with
boundaries corresponding to those of the annual

conference.

3. The General Conference organizes the work at

large into annual conferences of which the

 

ministers are permanent members. At the sessions
of the annual conferences lay delegates are
admitted having been chosen by the pastoral

charges thus effecting an approximate balance

 

5The information in this section is based on the
Book of Discipline of the Free Methodist Church of North
AmeriCa, 1969 edition (Winona Lake, Indiana: The Free
Methodist Publishing House). The Book of Discipline is
organized by numbered paragraphs. Due to—frequency of
references to this source the symbol D and the paragraph
numbers will be used throughout this chapter.

 

72

between ministerial and lay delegates. This
principle of lay representation is an important
element in the democratic organization of the

denomination.

4. The General Conference is composed of the bishOpS

 

and ministerial and lay delegates chosen by the
annual conferences. Whenever an annual conference
reaches an aggregate church membership of 800, it
is entitled to two ministerial delegates and to

an additional ministerial delegate for every
additional 600 full members. A like number of

lay delegates are chosen from each annual con-
ference. The ministerial delegates are elected
by the ministers and the lay representatives are
chosen by the lay delegates to the annual con-

ference.

The General Conference is the only legislative
b°dy in the church. Two or more ordained elders are
ale‘==‘I:.ed by the General Conference as bish0ps. The
Get‘eral Conference convenes every five years. (Prior
to the 1964 conference, with the exception of the

c:
Git1‘ltenary conference in 1960, this was generally four

ye‘irs.)

73

Or anization of the General
don erence of North Amefica

 

The Board of Administration consists of the
bishops, the executive secretary of the Board of Bishops,
Eighteen ministerial and eighteen lay members, one each
frrbnn the respective administrative districts. This
Board has general organizational and supervisory powers

OVEBJ: all the activities of the church during the interim
b‘etfir’eeen General Conference sessions. Currently the Board

of‘ Zkriministration is organized into four commissions:

IL. The Administrative Commission which acts as a
court of appeals, directs the departments of
finance and stewardship, and acts as Board of

Directors for the Publishing House;
2. The Commission on Missions;

3. The Commission on Christian Education including
the departments of Higher Education, Christian

Education and Servicemen;
4. The Commission on Evangelistic Outreach.

IE

aqh of the four commissions is chaired by one of the
b

ishops.

EQEEEESEral Church Relationships Involving

“-SE_JOverseas Churches

 

 

Rather extensive explanations are necessary to

:‘53eerstand the complex and overlapping matrix of

74

relationships which characterize the global aSpect of
Free Methodism. The more formal and structural dimensions
of"these ties are described with a minimum of historical

background in the numbered sections immediately following.

1. World Free Methodism. In 1960 the Free
Methodist Church of North America took two important
'“EVV steps in formally recognizing its emerging inter-
national character. The first of these was the granting
of authority to the overseas areas to develop general
conferences with powers equal to its own. The action
a:1<1_ :rationale are clearly stated in the Book of Disci-
piii-tie, 1969 edition, page 6:

It seemed that the time had come to provide for the
:more Speedy evangelization of the world and the
extension of scriptural holiness and its fruits
through the Free Methodist Church by the firm
establishment of general conferences other than

the North America General Conference on a basis
preserving in each the essentials of Free Methodism.

(D, para. 16.5)

The second decision in 1960 was the authorization
t9 organize a world fellowship of Free Methodist Churches
which was subsequently recognized by the North American
Gerteral Conference. The World Fellowship is formally
t~ee(Jgnized in the section of the Discipline called
“Principles of Free Methodism" which must be ratified

3? (all general conferences:

The General Conference shall recognize the World
Fellowship of Free Methodist Churches as a means
of promoting evangelistic outreach through

75

fellowship, understanding, and cooperative planning
among all areas of Free Methodism, according to
the constitution and bylaws of said organization.

(D, para. 64)

(These actions were initiated in 1960 and fully elaborated

in the Discipline of 1964.)

2. Annual conferences of mission origin. The
f111.1. annual conferences overseas related to the North
Aule:l:".i.can General Conference have the right to send
delegates to the General Conference. (It is necessary
tc’ Sixpecify the general conference by name because there
a): e two other general conferences outside of North
Ame-‘l:‘:i.ca, the Japan General Conference and the Egypt
General Conference.) The overseas conferences con-
st:j-1tlite as a group one of the administrative districts
and o by virtue of this, have two members on the Board
of Administration of the General Conference.

It is interesting to note that this representation
was nearly lost in the 1974 General Conference where
th"el‘e was feeling, particularly among the bishops, that
the matters treated by the Board of Administration were
lam:‘gely pertinent only to North America. A second
reason for suppressing the overseas district was that
thQSe conferences do not contribute to the operating
budget of the General Conference. The attempt to

s
uppress this district was defeated informally on the

b .
6‘3-18 of three arguments:

‘

FH‘I‘IT“

76

1. The protocol effect on the overseas churches of

recalling a privilege extended to them;

2. The training aSpect of their participating, even
marginally, in the highest councils of the church;

and,

3. An appeal to the historic principle (and related
to the "free" in Free Methodist) in regard to
budgetary contributions--that to remove this
representation on the basis of nonparticipation
in the budget would be a violation of the "free

seat" (as against pew rent) stand of the church.

{rt153s3e arguments prevailed and the representation was

r63“lé'ained.

§

3. The superintendency of the bishops. In

 

IIE‘JCTnony with the request of the Asia Fellowship Con-

fe I‘ence, the North American General Conference of 1960
ele=1lended the supervisory mandate of the bishops to cover
tflh‘ei full conferences of mission origin overseas. This
decision is recorded in the Discipline, paragraph 330.2d.
A flirther assignment of the bishops is to assist the
area fellowships in the development of national leadership
Elt‘<3» in achieving the level indicated in the disciplinary
agileMndards for new general conferences (D, para. 331.9a).
IPIEVDVision for the organization of new annual conferences

<31? special cultural or language groups is made in

77

paragraph 331.9c even where these conferences may overlap

the boundaries of existent annual conferences.

4. The Constitutional Council. Until 1960 the

Free Methodist Church worldwide was related in one way
or another to the North American General Conference.
In. 1960, under the impetus of World Fellowship thinking
which will be described in a later section, the two

other General Conferences were recognized, Japan and

EgYPt. Since general conferences are defined by the

Polity of the church as the highest legislative body,
the multiplication of these conferences presented the
need for developing the organizational structure upward
to Provide an integrating echelon to hold things together.
Much debate in the period 1958-1960 surrounded the
question of whether to create some kind of "world-church"

b . .
ureaucracy or to stop short of that With some kind of

c
ogrdinating or constitutional body. The precise powers

and functions of the Constitutional Council are described
be low but it is significant to note that the integrating
sactor which holds the international aspect of the Free
Me thodist Church together is not organizational but
corlfessional, hinging on voluntary attachment to the

U.
pIrinciples of Free Methodism" contained in paragraphs
1\ . . . . . .
16 and 20-73 of the DiSinline which must be identical

O

1 . .
11 all general conference constitutions.

‘

78

The Constitutional Council is composed of

representatives from all general conferences of Free

Methodism on a basis proportionate to membership. The

representatives are the bishops (or equivalent officers)
with an equal number of other representatives, giving

due attention to the principle of lay representation

(D- paragraphs 62 and 70) . The Council acts as a board

0f review for all legislation passed by the general
conferences in order to determine if there are any

Points in conflict with the provisions of the "Principles

of Free Methodism." It must be clearly understood that

the Constitutional Council is in no way a legislative

or governing body; its power is only by arbitration and

r
e fie rendum.

5. The Commission on Missions. Until 1960 no

3
ta~";ement of objectives or purpose appeared in the

S . . . . . .
eQ‘tion of the DiSCipline regulating the ConuniSSion on

M.
lasions. In 1960 the following introductory paragraph

was inserted and has remained in all subsequent editions
The Free Methodist Church by the Board of Adminis-
tration and through the Commission on Missions
seeks to carry the gospel of Christ to the world.
By education, medical service, and evangelism, the
church, in obedience to the teachings of Christ,
attempts to share the blessings of the gospel as
widely as possible in the lives of individual
persons and in society. (D. para. 140.1)

In general the Commission on Missions is to

ad:
inister the mission program of the North American

Infinit-

79

General Conference which includes fund raising and dis—

INirsement, recruiting and sending of missionary personnel,

arud opening of new work. The more detailed instructions

to the Commission with respect to the overseas work are

Contained in the following paragraphs: (D. 141.9, a. and

13.)

a.

b.

The commission shall have the following relation-
ship to new work:

(1) Until the church which is established on any
field develops to full conference status, the
work shall be under the jurisdiction of the
Commission on Missions.

The commission shall have the following relation-
ship to full conferences and general conferences
of mission origin:

(1) Full conferences and general conferences

of mission origin are related to the commission
through the field mission. The mission consists
of the missionaries under regular appointment

by the commission and serving the conference or
general conference.

(2) A liaison committee composed of missionaries
and national church leaders may submit requests
for needed personnel and finance together with
full explanatory matter to the Commission on
Missions through the Missionary Secretary.

IEr; Iparagraph 141.10 a. and b. criteria for the organi-

z . I O O O
E11t'-:I.on of conferences on the mission fields are given:

a.

Provisional Conferences. When an annual con-
ference on the field is in a preparatory stage,
it shall adopt in principle the DISCIPLINE of
the Free Methodist Church together with a con-
stitution adapted to its local situation and
peculiar needs, the same to be approved by the
Commission on Missions.

Full conferences. When provisional conferences
have made marked advancement in national
leadership, evangelistic outreach, self-
government and self-support, and have reached
the stage where they are able to operate
satisfactorily under the DISCIPLINE of the
Free Methodist Church, and a constitution

80

approved by the General Conference, the Com-
mission on Missions shall recommend such con-
ferences to the area bishop to be organized as
a full conference as outlined in Paragraph 331,

Section 9.
Any changes in constitutions of full con-

ferences of mission origin shall be considered
by the Commission on Missions for recommendation
to the Board of Administration or General Con-

ference for approval.

In the preceding sections the relationships
e$1:ablished by the North American General Conference
‘Vj-t:ki respect to the overseas areas of the denomination
I‘Ef\rea been described. The Book of Discipline, a book
(315 2334 pages, is concerned primarily with the admin-
is'tlr:at:.ion. of the North American church and, for this
reason, the actions with international implications
"al?l>!ear relatively few and brief. They do, however,
lle“’sa important and far-reaching consequences. It is
ifcagc. this reason and for the purpose of presenting some
of the dynamics in the development of these relation—
sluj—ps that extended treatment must be devoted to two
it“IDCthant agencies described briefly above-~the World
Feleowship, initially chartered in 1960, and the Com-

masion on Missions, missionary agency of the General

Q1"*‘Jlrch.

THE WORLD FELLOWSHIP

In order to understand the structural response
5111(1' eventually, the value system of the Free Methodist

(=lillrch.as it applies to relationships with the overseas

81

branches, it is necessary to investigate thoroughly the
background and development of the Free Methodist World
Fellowship.

The period from 1958 to 1964 saw a great surge
of creative thinking and purposeful activity in the
leadership of the Free Methodist Church as attempts were
made to assess and respond to the international impli-

cations brought about by the success of its foreign
mission effort. The selection of material in this
section will attempt to present not only the organiza-
tional dimensions but something of the affective content
as Well in order to convey as far as possible a feeling
of the excitement reflected in the documents of the
peJi‘iod .

In October 1958 the Commission on Missions
recommended to the Board of Administration that pro-
vision be made for consultation with overseas leaders
thrchigh a World Planning Council. Initiative was to be
placed with the North American Panel. It was determined
that the World Flaming Council would not represent
simply the Commission on Missions but all departments
of the church.6 The proposal was accepted by the

Board of Administration and the North American Panel
\

 

(W‘ 6Frank J. Kline, ed., Asia Fellowshi; Conference
Frlnona Lake, Indiana: The Continuing Committee of the

A ee Methodist World Fellowship, North American Division,
91:11 19-28, 1960), p. 6.

82

met the same day to organize. The language of the request
addressed to the Board of Administration is noteworthy:
. . . it has become clear to the Commission on
Missions that the Free Methodist Church of North
America is approaching the time when it must think
in terms of a world church of related national
churches, and plan with representatives of national
Free Methodist groups looking toward the organization
of largely autonomous national churches within the
various countries now controlled in large measure
by mission extensions of the home church.
ITlee mandate to the North American Panel included "creating
a .rieaw type of world church relationship" and a "compre-
hensive plan for the structure of world Free Methodism."
According to Byron S. Lamson, then General
NfiLssssionary Secretary, the major motivating factors for

a World organization were:
1. Nationalism,

2. Maturation of mission churches and leadership,

and

3. The challenge of the unevangelized areas of the
world, i.e. a need for mobilization of the
worldwide forces of the church for evangelization

and service.9
\

5&3 7"Report of the North American Panel," The Free
w, November 24, 1959.

If 8Byron S. Lamson, Venture (Winona Lake, Indiana:
lth and Life Press, 19605, p. 536.

I 9Byron S. Lamson, To Catch the Tide (Winona Lake,
miiana: General Missionary Board, 1963), pp. 29-33.

83

Lamson illustrates the awareness of the pressures
of nationalism by responding in an interview published
in 1957 in the denominational paper:

Independent nations look with suspicion upon the

missionaries coming from the Western world. They

are trying to free themselves of foreign influence.

They feel that the Christian church is a foreign

import. If there is to be a Christian church in

these countries it must be truly indigenous,

without paternalistic gressure from the older

churches of the West.1
Ira lais book written five years later, Lamson reflects
Jbaa<31< on this period asserting that nationalism helped
Parc>xlide impetus for organizing the world fellowship
au1<3.p furthermore, that it helped nationals to have a
fEEEBZLing of adequacy for the responsibilities of leader-
Ship.11 It is significant that in the one year, 1960
alone, the roster of the United Nations swelled by
tLW"anhy'wtwo new members, fifteen of these from Africa,
a c(Initinent in which Free Methodist missions has tra-
ditionally held a large missions investment.12

In commenting on the maturity of the overseas

churches, Lamson makes the value-laden statement that:

\

The loInterview, "Missions in a Changing World," in

(3 Free Methodist, the denominational magazine,
ctOBer I9 , I957 .

11Lamson, Tide, p. 32.

12Yearbook of the United Nations-1971 (Vol. 25).

84

It has been increasingly felt that overseas churches
were as truly the churches of Jesus Christ as was
the church in North America and that our polity

should somehow be adjusted to recognize this fact.

13
In proceeding toward the world organization it
was decided that a series of regional consultations
should be held in different parts of the world. Bishop
Marston in his report of the North American Panel to
times Board of Administration outlined the purposes of
'tliee area conferences as finding the essential elements
(315 IFree Methodism in the respective countries through
(1) Christian fellowship, (2) group worship, and (3) full
discussion of national and common problems.14 The
main concern seemed to be to conserve the essential
he15‘2l'.tage and spirit of Free Methodism, not only in the
histetric western sense but in relation to its develop-
ment in the diverse national contexts. Combined with
this concern was a determination to give each area of
the church maximum freedom in organizational matters.15
A sL‘tbsidiary but real concern attached to the sense of

urgency in world evangelization was the hope that by

trartsferring responsibilities to national leaders

13Lamson, Tide, p. 32.

14

15

"Report of the North American Panel."

Lamson, Tide, p. 33.

O_n—..._._ ‘-

85

the missionary force could be released for new fields
or new types of service.16
The first of the regional consultations was
scheduled for the Asia area, in Japan, April 19—28,
1960. In preparation for this meeting Lamson tells of
the deliberate selection of a transcendent goal, the
need for evangelization of the whole world, in preference
to a strictly organizational one: "To place the con-
ference emphasis on organization rather than evangelism
would have resulted in a failure to achieve the highest
V-‘=EI.II_I.1es."l7 Thus the major question for the consultation
beCMe "How can we best harness all our resources for a
Worldwide evangelistic advance?"18
The specific objectives for the Asia conference
Were set as "united prayer, fellowship, communication
betWeen the churches, strategy for world evangelism,
strengthening and defining our mutual faith, and con-
sideration of the relationship between the younger
churches themselves, and between the younger churches

19

and the mother church. Analysis of these objectives

\

C 16Ibid., p. 32; "Report on the World Fellowship
C”Hierence," in The Free Methodist, March 20, 1962.

 

17Lamson, Tide., p. 35.

18Ibid. 191bid., p. 36.

86

shows a balanced combination of high idealism and prac—

tical organizational concerns.

At this point there was an awareness of two
possible alternatives as to the form the organization
might take--a loose federation of completely autonomous

churches or a closely integrated organization with one

general conference . 2 0

National study panels were formed in the countries

participating in the Asia conference. Questions for

Study on doctrinal, denominational and strategy matters
were submitted to the national panels and responses were

Circulated to the participants. It was felt, however,

that "there is no alternative for face-to-face contact.

We can learn from each other."21

The Asia Fellowship Conference convened at Osaka,

Japan, April 19-28, 1960. Delegates came from Philip-

pines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Egypt and India--
generally two nationals and a missionary from each-~plus
the six North American representatives. The style of
1a‘nguage used in the report issuing from the conference
could best be described as "eloquent Christian hyperbole"--
llyperbole in the sense that the experience of fellowship

and shared concern seemed to over-tax the vehicle of

language .

\

2

°Ibid., p. 41. 211bid., p. 40.

87

In the introduction to the report of the con—
ference, Lamson cites some of the peak experiences

shared by the delegates:22

V. B. Samudre in speaking of the first Pentecost
asked: "Will all the Free Methodists around the world
find themselves in one room? "

Rev. Karam Mina of Egypt prayed, "O God, Egypt
for Christ, India for Christ, Hong Kong for Christ,
Japan for Christ--the whole world for Christ." The
report goes on to say that it was more tears and groans
than words as he concluded, "O God, you see us. Give
us a word for our situation."

There were more concrete expressions of mutual
concern. A Japanese member used his entire savings
to Purchase two drums for street-meeting work in Hong
Kong . Another furnished two organs for Taiwan while
a third volunteered the freight expense. Japanese
St-'~-l<3.ents purchased a motorcycle for India.

Dr. Frank Kline, missionary from India and
seeretary of the conference, spoke of attendance for
the members as "one of the highest privileges of their
lives."

The organizational recommendations of the con-
fieI‘ence may be listed briefly as follows:

\

8. 22Asia Fellowship Conference report (see footnote
1:: for the complete refErence) .

A-..

88

That similar conferences be convened for the

Africa and Latin American areas.

That a World Fellowship be organized including
among its members proposed general conferences,

overseas and national annual conferences.

That the bishops undertake to supervise the
overseas conferences on the same basis as those

in North America.

That provisional conferences put forth efforts

to become full conferences.

That national conferences be given the right
to organize general conferences under conditions

to be determined later.

That a World Assembly be created subsequent to

the Africa and Latin American consultations.

That a continuing committee with representation
from Asia, Africa, South and North America he
organized with a view to drafting a constitution

for a world assembly.

A number of specific suggestions were made
relating to the powers and functions of the
World Assembly. These are detailed in pages 27-

29 of the Asia Fellowship Conference report. It

 

is noteworthy that the WOrld Fellowship was

89

first conceived of as an interim body until the
World Assembly would be organized. Among the
responsibilities of the World Assembly would be
that of liaison between mission boards and

national churches.23

The dual order of objectives--transcendental/
religious and organizational-~was visible throughout
tries conference and was reflected in nearly every part
of the report. A typical statement is that:

Christian fellowship was remarkably close, group
worship melted us together in the oneness of
Christ, discussion led us to significant agreement
on principles that should provide an effective
basis of world fellowship and an over-arching,
unifying organization.

Lamson characterized what he saw of Free

met:hodism in the conference by saying:

. . . Free Methodists are not ivory tower meta-
physicians. For them holiness is "love in action"
expressing itself in works of love and mercy,
social action and worldwide missionary endeavor.

While it is clear that certain leaders were
highly involved in the development of the fellowship
program, efforts were made to inform the general con-
Stituency of the church through published reports and

t1archdgh articles in the denominational magazine. 0n
\

23Ibid., pp. 26-29. 24Ibid., p. 25.

25

‘p Lamson, "Our World-Wide Fellowship," Report,
' 100.

90

November 24, 1959 a full-page report of the North American

Panel was published in the Free Methodist giving the

 

rationale for the Asia conference. On April 12, 1960,
just before the conference, another full-page presentation
of the program with pictures of the delegates was given

in the Free Methodist specifying the concern of the con—
ference as world—wide church advance and calling for
prayer in all the churches. On June 7, 1960 a page

with pictures, again in the Free Methodist, outlined

 

the events and actions of the conference and called for
100,000 Free Methodists to join in nothing less than
an all-out crusade, with suffering if need be, for the
more speedy evangelization of the whole world. This
task was to include every geographical, cultural,
interest and problem area of life. All must be brought
under the rule of Christ. Analogy was made to the first
Pentecost and the sending out of witnesses into all the
known world.

The actions of the 25th session of the General
Conference of North America (which was, significantly,
the centenary of the denomination) held in June 1960

are reported in the Free Methodist of July 5, 1960.

 

The proposal for a World Assembly including authorization
for the formation of other general conferences came to
the floor on June 18. The pr0posal is met with silence

until veteran missionary James H. Taylor of Taiwan

91

rises to oppose recognition of national churches and
the granting of general conference status to Egypt and
Japan. A vigorous debate ensued and finally a hearing
outside the general session was arranged. On June 22
the secretary of the North American Panel resumed the
stand. The issue as reported was: "Will North American
Free Methodists share their sovereignty with the Free
Methodists of other nations?" After a hot debate the
issue was again postponed to the afternoon session. A
new motion was then brought in modified to include only
authorization for the establishment of a World Fellowship
of Free Methodist Churches with a continuing committee
to study further the structure of a World Council of
Free Methodism. The motion passed and the General Con-
ference reporter commented:

Free Methodists have made history today, repudi-

ating western supremacy, giving mature mission

fields the right to petition for membership in

a world organization and the privilege of man-

aging their own internal affairs.

In successive motions Japan and Egypt are granted

general conference status.

Dr. Kaneo Oda, Japan Conference president,

responds: "You have been helping us for the last sixty

 

26The Free Methodist, July 5, 1960, p. 10.

92

years. Now we can vote by ourselves--self—control,
~self-support, self-propagation."27

Norman Cooke, mission superintendent in Egypt,
congratulates the conference, "This is the ultimate in
missions. Unless we are willing to take this position,
we should not Open another mission field."28

On August 9, 1960 a report in the Free Methodist

 

entitled "Our World Church, One Family--One Room" reviewed
the recent decisions on Japan and Egypt and closed with
a reference to Samudre's speech at the Asia conference
where he said:
. . . may the Free Methodist family around the world
find themselves in one room; may they join hands
across the seas as a family would do in one room;
and may the spirit of the family dwell in our Free
Methodist Church.29
In accordance with the plan and as authorized
by the 1960 General Conference, area fellowship con-
ferences were held in Africa (September 12-17, 1961)
and in Lake Placid, Florida for the Latin American area
(January 2-7, 1962), a change of location from the
Dominican Republic due to troubled conditions there.

The African conference was held in very uneasy

conditions at Lundi station, Rhodesia. Delegates from

 

27The Free Methodist, July 5, 1960, p. 10.

28Ibid.

29The Free Methodist, August 9, 1960, p. 10.

 

93

Rwanda came out of a situation of tribal fighting and
traversed the Congo just before Tshombe and UN forces
began open battle over the Katanga secession. These
conditions, along with an acute consciousness of newly
independent and about to be independent nations, served
to underline the precariousness of foreign presence in
Africa. In contrast to the Asia conference the African
delegates were more concerned with strategy and methods.
For many African participants this was a first experience
of sharing internationally as Africans and there seemed
to be a new appreciation of the international dimension
and the shared heritage of the Free Methodist Church.30
Lamson characterized the Latin American con-
ference as more concerned with economic and political
problems. There were traces of anti-North Americanism,
criticism of past missionary methods and a feeling that
such a conference was long overdue. In spite of these
sentiments, however, there was an intense experience of
sharing and unity.31 The Spanish secretary recorded
at one point: "The following moments were indescribable
in that missionaries and pastors, Latins and North
Americans were melted into the same spirit of joy in the

32

presence of their Lord." The minutes go on to record

 

3OLamson, Tide, pp. 68-79.

31 32

Ibid., p. 77. Ibid., p. 72.

94

that this close communion marks a new beginning in the
historic evolution of Free Methodism, particularly in
the Latin American zone.

On January 9-21, 1962 the organizing conference
of the World Fellowship was convened at Greenville,
Illinois. There were four co-chairmen--Joao Mizuki from
Brazil, Isaac Shembe from South Africa, Bishop L. R.
Marston from North America, and Bishop Kaneo Oda from
Japan. In much of the literature surrounding the event
there was mention of the fact that this was a "first,"

33

a step for which there were no precedents. The stated

objective of the conference was mobilization for the
more speedy evangelization of the world. The purpose
stated in the World Fellowship constitution adopted on
January 12, 1962 (the sense of history is underscored by
noting the time--7:32 P.M.) reads as follows:

The Free Methodist World Fellowship is an organi-
zation for the coordination of the world-wide
activities of the denomination. In harmony with
this purpose it shall endeavor to promote closer
fellowship and mutual understanding among all
branches of the Free Methodist Church, serve as

an agent for joint planning and cooperative action,
carry forward studies helpful to the member con-
ferences and perform such other services as may

be required by the members.34

 

33The Free Methodist, March 20, 1966, p. 14.

34Article II, Purpose, Constitution of the World
Fellowship.

95

The constitution provides for representation
from general conferences, full conferences of mission
origin and provisional conferences thus tying together
all organizational units of the Free Methodist Church.

National delegates from the different areas of
the world expressed themselves as impressed by the sense
of family, of unity, of acceptance, of Openness, of
expanded horizons with respect to the church around
the world:

Joao Mizuki of Brazil: " . . . we talked together
like members of one family." A gift from Rhodesia, a
wooden bowl, came with the greeting, "They who eat in
the same bowl are friends." Another delegate expressed
it: ”We are undergoing a change in the relationship
between the mother church and the national churches--
moving from paternalistic attitudes to fraternalistic.
. . . The WOrld Fellowship came just in time . . . . "
A delegate from.Africa reported, "They came up, put
their arms around me just as though I were their brother.
They didn't seem to have any feeling that I was a black
man. This is a great thing. This is the way it is in
Africa now among our African brethren and among the

missionaries. They are one . . . I forgot that I was

96

black." A Latin American spoke of new understanding of
the problems of churches in America.35
The point in recording all of this here is to
catch the impact these conferences had, not only in
organizational terms, but affectively on the participants
from the various parts of the world.
In preparation for the 1964 General Conference
to which the major proposals of the World Fellowship
in regard to church organization would need to be Sub-
mitted a number of articles were published in the Free
Methodist. In the issue of March 20, 1962 the editor
Dr. Gregory wrote in an editorial entitled "A Revolution

in Church Fellowship":

we are passing through one of the greatest periods
of revolutionary ferment since human history began.
There is a revolution going on in church fellowship
and administration within our own church itself.
Under Go '8 guidance we unite in a new way as Free
Methodists of many nations to make Christ known.36

On May 12, 1964, very close to the time of
General Conference, the Executive Secretary of the

WOrld Fellowship, in an article in the Free Methodist,

 

reflects the concern of the constituency in North

 

35This paragraph is summarized from Lamson,
Tide, pp. 80-123.

36Free Methodist, March 20, 1962, p. 3.

 

97

America through a list of questions to which answers
may be had by writing to the World Fellowship office:

1. Why do we need a separate organization such as
the World Fellowship to coordinate the work of
world-wide Free Methodism? Why couldn't it be
carried on by the General Missionary Board?

2. What does the Fellowship hope to accomplish?

3. Are we going to turn all of our overseas proper-
ties over to the national churches?

4. How much will the Fellowship cost? How is it
to be financed?

5. Is this actually desired by overseas churches,
or is this just a scheme pushed upon them by the
North American church?

6. What are the plans for an arrangement which will
insure the coordination of the work of the
several general conferences so as to keep their
legislation in harmony with a basic Constitution
for all Free Methodist Churches?

7. With our overseas churches becoming nationalized
and self-sufficient, what will be the future of
the missionary?37

In the document circulated to answer these

38

questions responses are given which may be summarized

briefly as follows:

Why a separate organization? Reasons given:

 

Maturity of the national churches, adjustment to
nationalism and resentment of foreign control, need
for an organization which belongs to all nations
touched by the Free Methodist Church, release of the

General Missionary Board for its more specialized

 

37The Free Methodist, May 12, 1964, p. 14.

 

38This undated document entitled "The Free Metho-
dist WOrld Fellowship: What It Is and What It Is Doing"
was circulated just before the General Conference held
in the summer of 1964 in order to clarify the World
Fellowship concept before it entered the legislative pro-
cess.

98

activities by transferring more of the responsibility
for development of overseas churches over to the general

church.

What does the Fellowship hope to accomplish?
Suggested functions: To act as a liaison for better
acquaintance, better spiritual union, exchange of ideas,

coordination of programs.

What about_properties overseas? Here there is

 

a differentiated answer based on a concern for protection
of properties for the use and benefit of the recipient

churches.

Cost. Reply: Very modest, about $10,000 per
year, raised by quota payments from the overseas con-

ferences and from North America.

How guarantee the identity of the several
gpneral conferences? Here there is reference to the
"Basic Principles of Free Methodism" to be held in
common and ratified by all, and the Constitutional

Council.

Role of the missionary? Changing, not only sent

 

by the missionary board but invited by the national
church. Initiative for planning to be gradually trans-

ferred to the national churches.

99

The major legislative changes proposed by the
WOrld Fellowship were adopted by the General Conference
of 1964. The new plan for reference to a common set
of principles of Free Methodism by all general conferences
and regulation of this relationship by a constitutional
council seemed to allay fears of an over-arching super-
church organization.39
Through 1969, coverage of World Fellowship

activities continued to receive major attention in the

Free Methodist magazine. (An important contributing

 

reason for this is undoubtedly the fact that, in 1964,
Byron S. Lamson, General Missionary Secretary, was
elected to the editorship and served through 1969.)

A two-page editorial in the issue of April 22, 1969,

six weeks before the 1969 General Conference, outlined
the main purposes and activities of the World Fellowship.
On June 10, 1969 a survey of the Fellowship's activities
for the interim 1964-1969 appeared along with a brief
editorial on the overseas churches calling for prayer

for the organization and its activities world-wide. A
three-page report of the Fellowship sessions of June 3-6,
1969 was included in the June 24 issue. A seven-page

Summary of the Fellowship reports was given in the

39The organizational chart as approved may be
seen in the Appendix, from Current, March-April 1972,
a denominational circular.

100

July 22, 1969 copy. It should be reported, however,
that the bishOps' pastoral address of that year (Free

Methodist, June 10, 1969) did not mention the World

 

Fellowship. In the publicity for the subsequent
General Conference in 1974 the missions cavalcade is
given thorough coverage while the World Fellowship
received eight lines. The pastoral address of 1974,
while speaking of the international dimensions of the
church, did not mention the World Fellowship by name.
The Follow-up Report on the 1974 General Conference

published in the Light and Life magazine (successor

 

to the Free Methodist) devoted 10 of 294 lines to the

 

World Fellowship. The World Fellowship has not had a
full-time executive secretary since 1972.

A number of reasons may be adduced for the
apparent decline in interest in the World Fellowship
evidenced in 1969 and 1974. The most obvious is that
it would be highly unusual if such a high degree of
involvement and enthusiasm could be sustained by an
institution around any single issue for more than a
decade. A second important factor is that (as has
been mentioned in the case of Dr. Lamson) in 1964 and
1969 there was a "changing of the guard" in that many
0f the leaders largely responsible for the vision and
execution of the World Fellowship design were retired

or changed to other positions in the church. A third

lOl

factor, difficult to measure but perhaps the most impor-
tant is the conservative turn of American society in
regard to foreign aid and involvement abroad due to the
trauma of the Vietnam war and the general disillusion-
ment with the efficacy of buying friends abroad. The
Free Methodist Church in North America is a conservative
body and one young participant in the 1964 General Con-
ference was heard to remark that it was a "Goldwater
General Conference." This climate did not prevent the
ratification of the World Fellowship proposals. Other
actions taken in the conference, however, showed that
attention was swinging back to the concerns and minis—
tries of the North American church and the urgent
problems of its own society.

In support of this observation it may be noted
that the Women's Missionary Society whose objectives
since 1894 had been to promote missions information,
to deepen interest in world evangelism and to secure
Systematic contributions for missions began to emphasize
home Bible study and in 1969 created a new office, a
director of outreach to promote evangelism in the United
States.

At the 1964 conference a unified outreach budget

pliin was adopted which tied mission fund raising to a
uni-.fied system including such disparate ministries as

thfi youth department, radio, evangelism, bishops'

102

salaries and retirement. The new plan was eventually
called United World Mission for Christ from which the
Commission on Missions receives a portion amounting to
just over 50 percent of UWMC income. The Commission is
generally forbidden to solicit funds within the denomi-
nation outside the UWMC framework. The plan was rushed
into effect so that the first results appear in 1966.
In the first year expendable income available to the
Commission on Missions, calculated as a percentage of
total denominational income in the United States and
Canada, dropped from 8.2 to 5.9. The averages for
these same figures for eight years previous and subse-
quent to 1964 are 7.81 percent and 6.30 percent respec—
tively (compiled from the Free Methodist Yearbook and
denominational audit sheets). It is interesting to note
that the pattern of United States nonmilitary assistance
to less developed countries follows a very similar
pattern so that the figures for the corresponding
eight-year periods calculated in thousandths of United
States GNP are .00754 and .00414 respectively (compiled
from Statistical Abstract of the U.S. and Overseas Loans
i‘nd Grants, Statistics and Reports Division, Office of
FHJIancial Management, AID).

Political research indicates "relatively close

COJTrelations between public opinion in most geographical

103

areas and the attitudes of their representatives."40

David Wall concludes that aid programs of donor countries
are almost entirely determined by domestic political
forces "which are divorced from any concept of a need

41

of poor countries for aid." Theodore White cites the

disenchantment of Americans with $100 billion spent in
post war aid as Goldwater arrived center stage in 1964.42
These three statements seem to indicate that, in the
American democracy, representatives generally do reflect
the feelings of their constituencies; that foreign aid
programs reflect donor inclinations more than objective
assessments of need in the receptor countries; that in
1964 American society was reacting against exporting
aid overseas in what it saw as a fruitless and unappre-
ciated endeavor.

While the detailed exploration of this matter is
beyond the scope of this study, the strong correlations
between the changes in church giving for missions and

the changes in United States foreign assistance programs

are highly suggestive and may be considered as giving

 

40Michael Kent O'Leary, The Politics of American
Aid (New York: Atherton Press, 1967), p. 76.

 

41David Wall, The Charity of Nations (New York:
Basic Books, Inc., 1973), p. 79.

 

42Theodore H. White, The Making of the President
1964 (New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1963), p. 213.

 

104

some support to certain hypotheses about the Free Metho-

dist Church in 1964, e.g.

1. That the General Conference delegates of 1964
probably reflected a change of mood of the grass

roots constituency;

2. That the Church, in spite of pretensions to a
critical stance with respect to its society,
is still very reSponsive to general social and

historical trends in attitudes;

3. That 1964 marked a turning point from an inter-
national orientation to a more conservative
homebound emphasis in the general church

leadership.

These observations do not repudiate the validity
of the World Fellowship concept as a genuine expression
of the values of Free Methodism elicited by a particu-
larly urgent set of international circumstances both in
and out of the church. It is likely, however, that the
countervailing developments of 1964 revealed an ambiva-
lence and a shift in the rank ordering of values so
that the attention of the North American church turned
more to the needs of its own immediate environment.

The work of the World Fellowship continues with
the president, a bishop, doubling as executive officer.

The new emphasis established in 1974 is on the

105

development of leaders in the overseas churches through
an international scholarship fund. This may be seen as
a response to the voices of national elites. It is
also a narrowing of the attention of the organization
from its original themes to a Specialized activity and
emphasis. Little attention seems to be given these days
to the development of a strong international network of
churches. Much of what is being done is carried out in
the regional groupings, the area fellowships. The
General Missionary Board is withdrawing the services
of its area executives as executive officers of the
area fellowships. It is interesting to note that, prior
to the developments reported in this paragraph, in an
evaluation study of the Free Methodist Church reported
in 1972 by an independent agency the following comment
is made:

It is evident that the "World Fellowship" was

initiated to provide a rallying point for mutual

encouragement of FM people around the world.

Though there has been a recent effort to formalize

and staff this part of the FM activity, guidelines

for its actual and abiding function are not imme-
diately clear and/or distinctive.43

 

43Report of Evaluation Study of the Free
Methodist Church of North America (Fort Morgan, Colorado:
Christian Service Fellowship, 1972), p. 108.

106

THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS

The formal mandate and powers of the Commission
on Missions are given in an earlier section of this
chapter (pp. 78-79). The purpose here is to discuss
the philOSOphy of the Commission on Missions over the
period 1960 to the present.

In order to understand how the operating phil-
osophy of the Commission on Missions is determined, it
is first necessary to see how the Commission is formed.
The Board of Administration of the general church organizes
itself into commissions one of which is the Commission on
Missions. Traditionally this includes one-fourth of the
members of the Board of Administration with one bishop
as chairman. Two additional members are elected by the
Women's Missionary Society. Three area missionary rep-
resentatives are nonvoting members. Since the Board of
Administration is elected at each general conference
sitting and since the commissions are re—formed after
each general conference, there is substantial change of
membership every five years. The General Missionary
Secretary is the executive officer of the Commission.

He is hired by the Board of Administration and usually
holds office for a long tenure. The Commission meets
in spring and fall for week—long sessions largely con—
cerned with personnel and finance. While individual

members make important contributions on policy decisions

107

and would certainly weigh carefully any radical departure
from accepted policy, the structure virtually determines
that the dominant on-going philOSOphy of the Commission
is set by the man in day-to-day contact with overseas
situations and problems, the General Missionary Secretary.
For a period covered by this study there have
been two missionary secretaries, Dr. Byron S. Lamson
(through 1964) and Dr. Charles Kirkpatrick from 1964
to the present. Both men are able administrators with
well-formed mission philosophies. The focus in this
section will be on their respective positions with
regard to relations between the Commission (often
referred to under the corporate name The General Mis—

44 and the national churches

sionary Board-~or GMB)
overseas.

A consistent theme through several decades of
Free Methodist missions has been the emphasis on develop-
ment of indigenous churches in the areas of mission out-
reach.45 A fundamental premise during the World Fellow-

ship period was recognition of the full theological

integrity of the younger churches overseas measured by

 

44The Board of Administration of the Free
Methodist Church of North America is incorporated as
The General Missionary Board. In common usage General
Missionary Board and the Commission on Missions are used
interchangeably.

45Lamson, Tide, pp. 26-28.

108

New Testament standards. In 1957 Lamson affirmed his

conviction that "The Church is there as truly as it is

"46

here or anywhere. In 1963 he added to that statement

the observation that " . . . our polity should somehow

47

be adjusted to recognize this fact." These convictions

gave rise to further conclusions in regard to the role
of missionaries on the mission fields. If the Church

is the Church here or there it is logical that its
adherents and workers should relate to the Church
wherever it is found and work in and through it. Lamson
reflects this position as it works out with respect to
missionaries:

This means that missionaries will go to these
fields upon invitation of the mission churches,
and will take appointment under the mission
conferences, work as partners and servants of the
church. The influence they will bring to bear
in a mission conference will be on the basis of
their own personal membership in the conference,
and not as representatives of the mission.
Ultimately the mission itself as a mission will
disappear. The missionary will work in and
through the national church.48

At the World Fellowship Organizing Conference the com-
mittee on The Church and its Missionary Enterprise took

much the same position specifying that the mission will

-__

46Interview in The Free Methodist, October 29,

 

1957.

47Lamson, Tide, p. 32.

48Ibid., p. 30.

109

care for housekeeping items such as missionary housing,
language study and children's education. Lamson com-
mented approvingly on this saying that it

. . . represents an advanced but sound point of

view with reference to the relation of mission

and church and represents our best thinking on

the role of the missionary in this new day.

Administratively this position worked itself out
in the new constitutions for full conferences being
formed in the overseas areas. The area secretary for
Africa reported that a new constitution for the Ruanda—
Urundi conference provides that the missionaries take
their places in the church on an equal basis with
African leaders.50
In 1964 Dr. Lamson was elected editor of the

denominational magazine and Dr. Charles Kirkpatrick
became General Missionary Secretary. Kirkpatrick had
been a successful pastor and superintendent of the
Pacific Northwest Conference, highly interested in
missions and a participant in the Africa Fellowship
Conference in September 1961. At the conference in

Africa, in an interview conducted by Lamson, he responded

to the question: What impressed you most [about the

 

491bid., p. 94.

50Victor W. Macy, "The Survival of the Free
Methodist Church in an Independent Ruanda-Urundi," The
Free Methodist, July 18, 1961, p. 13.

 

110

conference]? he replied, "The willingness of the Africans

to accept more responsibility for the evangelization

51

of their countries." In the Missionary Manual (a

 

handbook of policies and procedures mainly for the
guidance of the missionary staff), 1965 edition, one
year after his appointment, elements of Kirkpatrick's
thinking on the development of indigenous churches came
through in a number of statements:
(Preface) Our philoSOphy of operation is a frank
commitment to indigenous develOpment of the national
church. Field methods are crafted to the culture
of the peOple . . .
(p. 21) Programs should be originated and adminis-
tered with a view to eventual full national staffing
and support. The mission program will be relevant
to the national church only to the extent to which
the national church can identify with it both cul-
turally and economically.

(p. 31) Missionaries should give every encouragement
to the develOpment of national church leadership.

On the basis of the statements given about it
is clear that the theme of the indigenous church, its
importance and its development, has not wavered in the
changeover of Missionary Secretaries. On the other
hand, comparison of the following statements by Kirk-
patrick with positions taken by Lamson in the years

1957-1964 will reveal a significant difference in

 

51The Free Methodist, October 31, 1961.

111

points of view with regard to how missionaries and the

mission organization should relate to developing churches.

On October 7, 1966, commenting on a document

Guidelines for Constitutions in a note to Bish0p Kendall,

 

chairman of the Commission on Missions, Kirkpatrick wrote:

In consideration of the proposed Africa Fellowship
conferences the matter of partnership could be
emphasized between the mission and the conference.
In development of the World Fellowship we have
considered that the only way of identification

has been that of integration but we must also
remember that churches and’boards have achieved
identification with equal success on a cooperative
basis.52 [italics not in the original]

 

 

 

Earlier that year on July 18 in a letter to

the Africa Area Secretary in regard to a constitution

for

made between "integration" (disappearance of the "mission'

the Burundi conference, Kirkpatrick wrote:

The development of the indigenous church and
national conferences must be established on a
partnership basis. In the former situation the
nationals served under the missionary and we felt
this was wrong, but it is just as demoralizing to
place the missionary completely under the national
or conference. Evidence of good faith concerning
partnership would be to consult the missionaries
as to where they may best serve.53 [italics not in
the original]

 

 

It is important to note the deliberate contrast

into the national church structure) and "partnership"

seen as allowing for identification in terms of goals

52Document in General Missionary Board files.

53Letter in General Missionary Board files.

112

while maintaining the integrity of a separate existence
for the mission organization. There is a basic simi-
larity of position to that of the "Wheaton Declaration"
cited in Chapter 2 (p. 60) but in interviews with Kirk—
patrick on October 25, 1974 and December 19, 1974 it

is clear that he considers the position of the Green
Lake Conference of 1971 (Chapter 2, p. 62) to be closer
to his thinking. A plan presented at that conference
under the title "Partnership of Equality and Mutuality"
(Chapter 2, pp. 62-63) has been referred to by Kirkpatrick
as most closely expressing his management philosophy on
church/mission relations.

In the interviews cited above, Kirkpatrick
stated that he was aware of problems that may have
arisen because of the change in policy from integration
to partnership, possibly because the earlier policy,
and particularly some presentations of it, may have
given rise to false or exaggerated expectations on the
part of national leadership. He sees this policy of
partnership as steering between over-optimism with
respect to overseas capacities and intentions and a
policy of no confidence either of which brings problems
when people are thrown into close relationships. Kirk—
patrick considers his position as reflecting the best
of the results of the experimentation of the early

1960's as these have been shared among many mission

113

boards. He feels that the partnership approach gains
much through a clear definition of relationships.

This policy has been worked out in at least one
conference constitution in which guaranteed missionary
representation on the conference board of administration
has been dropped and a separate liaison committee on
church/mission relations created made up of missionaries
and nationals. Kirkpatrick comments that this is an
application of the Green Lake principles.54 He states
that he sees such an arrangement as a vote of confidence
in the nationals, a position of noninterference in con-
ference affairs while still maintaining the important
liaison body. Kirkpatrick says that he is concerned
in some cases about protecting the conference from over-
influence by, and consequently over-dependence on, the
missionary.55

The value implications of this shift in missions
policy described above will be discussed in the following
section on values.

THE VALUE SYSTEM OF THE FREE METHODIST CHURCH
WITH RESPECT TO ITS OVERSEAS BRANCHES

The theoretical rationale for this chapter is

based on the assumption that the value system of an

 

54Letter of February 28, 1975 to this writer.

55Personal interview of October 25, 1974.

114

organization may be inferred from both structure and
process as the organization engages in open system trans-
actions with its environment. Aberle states that, par-
ticularly in studies of religions or any system of ulti-
mate values, while
. . . it is the consequences of the system of ideas
and values for social action which is important
for social analysis, nevertheless, the task of
outlining the values themselves, whether at a
relatively concrete level or in terms of a few
general principles, is always a necessary part
of the analysis.

The primary task of this chapter, therefore, is
to deduce from the international dimensions of the
organizational structure and its behavior in a period
of intense cross-cultural activity on those dimensions
the elements of the total value system which are most
pertinent and dynamic in that area of its organizational
life. General case study methods have been used in
correlating the material in the chapter.

What emerges in the course of the chapter is
essentially the description of organizational modifi—

cation over a period when formal structures were being

acted upon by three major change factors:

1. What has been called the World Fellowship move-

ment, in the early 1960's,

56David F. Aberle, "Shared Values in Complex
Societies," American Sociological Review, Vol. 15, N0. 4
(August 1950), pp. 500-01.

115

2. The changeover of missionary secretaries in 1964,

and

3. The shift in general social mood in the mid-1960's
with regard to international involvements vis-afvis
a rising consciousness of major problems in

American society.

Kluckholn observes that group values are usually

organized around:
1. Attitudes and behavior toward the supernatural,

2. Problems of selection between types of normative

patterns governing interpersonal relations, and
3. Exploitation of the environment.

He states further that these values must make some kind
of functional sense in terms of a group's special
history, present social structure and environmental
situation.S7
An examination of the material presented shows
that value deductions will need to be made from two
kinds of outcomes. One set of value inferences can be
made from the formal results of structural modification.

Another set will take into account other kinds of value

indicators not immediately (and perhaps never) reflected

57
P. 417.

Kluckholn, "Values and Value Orientation,"

116

at the formal ecclesiastical level though they may appear
at a different level as administrative policy changes.

With respect to the formal structural changes
Kluckholn's three categories of group values cited above
prove useful as corresponding conveniently to the three
elements of the "Preamble" to the "Basic Principles of
Free Methodism" and are used in ordering the formal
analysis section.

In order that we may wisely
1. attitudes and behavior preserve and pass on the
toward the supernatural: heritage of doctrine and
principles of Christian
living transmitted to us as
evangelicals in the Armenian-
Weslayan tradition,

2. normative patterns: insure church order by
sound principles and
ecclesiastical polity,

3. exploitation of the prepare the way for the

environment: evangelization of the world
and the more effective
cooperation with other
branches of the Church of
Christ in the advancement
of Christ's kingdom among
men,

We, the ministers and lay members of the Free

Methodist Church, in accordance with constitutional

procedure, do hereby ordain, establish, and set

forth the followin as the Constitution of the Free

Methodist Church.5

In further explanation of this arrangement,
"attitudes and behavior toward the supernatural" may

be equated with paragraph one which contains the

 

58Free Methodist Book of Discipline, quoted from
the 1974 edition but provided for in the 1964 action of
General Conference.

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III

Owl

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117

doctrinal identity along with a set of theological tra-
ditions and their implications for Christian living

which set a life-style acceptable to God; the "normative
patterns" refer to the church's role-definitions and pro-
cedures; and the "exploitation of the environment" is
represented by the orientation toward the extra—systemic
environment, the nonchurch, the "world" as recipient of
the church's work of evangelization and the advancement
of Christ's kingdom.

To these three is added the declaration of
commitment "in accordance with constitutional procedure"
which presents a classic example of the affective
dimension of values attachment-~the desire to preserve
and propagate. This commitment is measured by the
detailing of these principles in the Articles of Religion,
the Conditions and Rules of Membership, and the Articles
of General Organization and Government. Commitment is
further underscored by the care taken to assure that
these principles are held in common by all Free Methodist
general conferences, present and future, and by placing
restrictions on their modification.

The fact that the Preamble cited is both rooted
deeply in the theological and historical endowment of
the Free Methodist Church and elicited by the historical
conditions and actions of the early 19608 makes this

confession particularly appropriate as a framework for

118

an analysis of the denominational value system. For

this reason considerable attention will be given here

to the elaboration of the church's pattern of preferences
revealed in the World Fellowship "era" using the four
elements cited from the Preamble as an outline.

Identity-~"evangelicals," "Arminian,"
1TWesleyan," "Traditionwfl

 

 

 

The term "evangelical" reflects attachment to
the Bible as the ultimate authority for faith and
practice and, in the mission context, to New Testament
principles of church development. At numerous points
in the history of the World Fellowship movement there
were references to a sense of continuity with the New
Testament Church. Addresses at the first Asia conference

59

cite the example of St. Paul. A report on the World

Fellowship Organizing Conference states: "The Fellowship
has no precedents to follow except the pattern of mis-
sionary and church development recorded in the New

60

Testament." Bishop Walter S. Kendall, in an article

"Free Methodism--Its World Fellowship" writes:

59James H. Taylor, Jr., Asia Report, p. 16.

60The Free Methodist, March 20, 1962, p. 14.

 

119

The Free Methodist Church seeks to identify with
the early church in both doctrine and fellowship.
It attempts to achieve this in its organizational
structure.61

 

"Arminian-Wesleyan" identifies the theological
position of the Free Methodist Church. "Arminian" says
that it rejects what it sees to be the deterministic
decrees of John Calvin and follows the position of Jacob
Arminius in defining the offer of free salvation to all
men and their universal ability to respond in faith.
Much more dynamic in Free Methodism is the sense of
identity with the eighteenth century Wesleyan movement
emphasizing an immediacy of spiritual experience, a
changed life through the Holy Spirit, and the necessity
of practical good works. The report of the Committee
on World Organization at the Asia Conference begins:

The Free Methodist Church providentially resulted
from the efforts of holy men and women a century
ago in America to revive and restore in Methodism
the principles of historic Christianity that John
Wesley had revived a century earlier in England.
God has blessed the Free Methodist Church in its
extension of the witness of full salvation to other
nations.62

At the centenary General Conference of 1960 a

section on the "Purpose of Free Methodism" was added to

the Discipline (paragraph 16) defining the denominational

 

 

61The Free Methodist, April 22, 1962, p.

 

62Asia Report, p. 24.

120

identity under five points: doctrine, experience,

worship, piety, stewardship and service. The statement

concludes with this paragraph:
These distinctives of the Free Methodist Church
from its origin are still living issues. In every
era and every land they are the witnesses of the
church, needing utterance clear and strong that
they may be heard and heeded amidst the world's
confusing and misleading voices.

The last term in the "identity" part of the
Preamble to the Basic Principles of Free Methodism is
"tradition." Much of what has been said above applies
to this historical sense of continuity with doctrinal
and churchly traditions. The fact that the period studied
here corresponds with the church's centenary must not be
overlooked. The centenary occasion called naturally for
re-affirmation of the church's historic heritage. This
appears to have been reflected in the overseas dimensions
of its activity. Not only was there a great upsurge of
denominational sense of identity but the central thrust
of the area consultations overseas was described in 1959
by Bishop Marston as finding the essential elements of

63 This

Free Methodism in the respective countries.
statement seems to expect a recognizable denominational
image while allowing room for cultural modification and

accepting the need for culture by culture definition.

 

63The Free Methodist, November 24, 1959, p. 8.

 

121

Church Order ("Normative Patterns")

Perhaps in this area the underlying value system
with respect to the overseas churches comes most promi-
nently into view. The Free Methodist Church is a very

orderly body. Its attachment to its Book of Discipline

 

is attested to by the debate and careful study that go
into its revision at each General Conference and at the
respect it commands in all procedural and doctrinal
matters in the interim years. In a remarkable way it
reflects both continuity and change. This characteristic
must be appreciated in order to give proper weight to

the significance of the major changes in church organi-
zation effected in response to the overseas church needs.
The issue of sharing sovereignty (page 74 above) was

no small matter. The willingness to create new structure
in the organization in order to accommodate the overseas
churches and relate them to a world organization wit-
nesses to a recognition of world trends and a willingness
to respond flexibly to them. The character of this
response is rooted in the carefully protected democratic
principles of the church. These are expressed in North
America by the formulae for equality of lay and minis-
terial membership in virtually all the councils of the
church and by maintaining the right of appeal. In the
international sector the esteem and respect for overseas

church leaders is shown through the responsiveness to

122

the aspirations of these men all the way through the
period of World Fellowship develOpment. This sensitivity
may be illustrated by many acts including recognition of
Oda's "Call from the Orient" in 1955 alerting the

church to the fact that its branches overseas were coming

64 the inclusion of international representatives

of age,
in the General Conference and fellowship consultations,
the desire for face-to-face contact in different parts
of the world, the willingness to expend substantial sums
of money to make the meetings possible, the acceptance
by the bishops of overseas supervisory responsibilities
at great inconvenience and expense in remote corners of
the world, the establishment of criteria for advancement
in conference status,--all of these and more attest to
the parent church's commitment to the development of the
overseas churches. The determination to reflect this
commitment in major modifications of the church's polity,
which at certain points limit the independent action of
the North American church, is substantial evidence of
this commitment.
Purpose ("%ploitation of the
EnVironment )

The confessional stance of the World Fellowship

movement is clearly a call to evangelization of the world.

The deliberate choice of this transcendent objective has

 

64Asia Report, p. 102.

123

been reviewed above. It is a remarkable statement

coming from a relatively small denomination of 100,000
members worldwide which has not traditionally had a
-phenomenal growth record. At one point Lamson calculated
that if each Free Methodist were to win one new convert
per year and every new convert would do the same, the
entire population of the globe could be evangelized in

65 He admitted that this was a utopian

fourteen years.
view but he also used it to illustrate the potential of
mobilizing a small dedicated force to change the world.
The organizational changes were seen not only as
a response to changing situations in the total overseas
environment-~both political and ecclesiastical--but they
constituted a design for mobilization of the denomination
as a worldwide system for the purpose of changing the
world redemptively through propagation of the Christian

message and (significantly) the distribution of its

benefits.

Commitment

 

The closing statement of the Preamble seals the
preceding verbs ”preserve and pass on," "insure" and
”prepare the way" with a firm declaration of establish-
ment. This has been mentioned as an example typical of

affective attachment to values where there is nearly

 

65The Free Methgdist, January 9, 1962, p. 22.

124

always an accompanying desire to perpetuate and propa-
gate the values held dear.

But perhaps the most important significance of
this section is its insistence on orderly transmission
of authority. In other words, the framers of this
constitution as a body, acting on previously established
constitutional authority now (among other things) make
provision for transfer of that authority to other
ecclesiastical units with powers like unto its own

(see Discipline, para. 16.5). James F. Gregory,

editor of the Free Methodist magazine, shows this

 

concern with orderly action as he reassures his
readership (and perhaps himself) in an editorial of
March 20, 1962: "As it has been in the past, the changes
will be made slowly, as funds and leaders are available,

66 Another revealing aSpect

and as new situations arise."
of the affection for constitutional procedure is the
opting for a constitutional mechanism to hold the world
organization together as Opposed to extending the
hierarchy upward by one echelon. Discussion in cor-
respondence and on the General Conference floor betrayed
a general distrust of what was termed a "super-church."

The General Conference reporter Of 1960 records first

stunned silence followed by hot debate over the issue

 

66The Free Methodist, March 20, 1962, p. 3.

 

125

of a World Assembly.67

Recognizing the trend of the
debate, the secretary of the North American panel of the
World Planning Council introduced a substitute motion
recommending establishment of a World Fellowship and
further study of the structure of a "World Council of

Free Methodism."68

This approach was approved. The
reaction of the General Conference delegates at this
point is highly significant for it showed the parameters
of the will of the assembly with respect to both the
form and Speed of the proposed changes. The organiza-
tional form adopted by the General Conference of 1964
faithfully reflected the concerns of its predecessor
body.

On the basis of the discussion Of the structure
and processes presented in this chapter, a tentative
summary Of major elements of the value system having to
do with relationships with the overseas branches may be
drawn up. The qualifier "tentative" is used deliberately
here because, in a sense, the analyses of the cases to

follow function as correctives and supplements to the

findings of this chapter.

 

67The Free Methodist, July 5, 1960, pp. 8, 1o.

 

68Same reference as footnote 63. These reports
are written by a General Conference reporter who tries
to catch the flavor of the sessions and transmit it to
the general constituency. The ad 299 vocabulary in
these reports is not always conEIStent with the formal
documents.

126

AS indicated earlier (p. 115) the value inferences

from the material in this chapter are of two kinds: (1)

those derived from the formal structural outcomes in the

organization and (2) those of a different order perhaps

making themselves felt more directly in the area of

administrative policy.

The first set of values as they appear from the

formal structural changes and the processes associated

with those changes may be stated as follows:

1.

The Free Methodist Church maintains a strong
sense of identity with New Testament Christianity
including its objective of world evangelization.
This objective is reflected faithfully through
the characteristics Of the Wesleyan revival
movement including the twin elements of holy
living and social concern. The Free Methodist
Church has a desire to transmit this tradition
longitudinally in time and geographically

throughout its worldwide system.

The early concerns of the World Fellowship move-
ment indicate an awareness that these doctrinal
and ecclesiastical emphases will be culturally
conditioned as to expression in different parts
of the world but affirms that they will be

essentially discoverable and identifiable.

127

3. In the matter of change Free Methodism shows an

attachment to both orderliness and flexibility.

4. The recognition of the integrity of the Church
"here" and "there" reflects both doctrinal and
democratic biases which require a willingness to
listen to the overseas areas and to learn from

them.

5. Organizational form is tertiary after both pur—
pose and the principle Of orderly change but there
is a distinct mistrust Of an over-arching world
organization in the "super-church" sense which
seems to mark a definite parameter in that

direction.

6. A clear message in the "Preamble" is that the
Free Methodist Church, in spite of denominational
assertiveness, is nonsectarian; that it sees
itself as an integral part of the larger Church

of Christ in the world.

These six points are considered to be a very
conservative compilation deduced from formal organiza-
tional changes in structure. A supplemental set of
inferences is now drawn from consideration of another
order of events in the chapter which did not result in
fundamental ecclesiastical changes of the same order as

those first considered on the framework of "Basic

128

Principles of Free Methodism." As an example of the
reasoning behind this differentiation, the World Fellow-
ship concept compelled substantial rearrangement Of
structure while the historical impact of the conservatism
of 1964 did not--although the latter exerted substantial
influence on the overseas areas through the influence it
appears to have exercised on the World Fellowship.

Two significant points of importance for value
deduction are (l) the representation maneuver discussed
on pages 75 and 76 and (2) the conservative turn of
American society in the mid-19608. It will be recalled
that, in theory, the overseas conferences not in either
of the other two General Conferences (Japan and Egypt)
are members of the North American General Conference.
They have the same rights of representation based on
population and therefore were the overseas conferences
to have the financial ability to pay expenses nearly half
of the delegates to the North American conference would
be from overseas. Even dependent as they are on aid for
travel expenses, so that generally two representatives
from each conference have been brought to the United
States for the general conference sittings since 1960,
the overseas bloc has formed a participating force in
deliberations and has been given credit (rightly or
wrongly) for deciding some elections of bishOps. Nor-

mally, in the formation of the Board of Administration,

129

the interim body of General Conference, there have been
eighteen administrative districts of which the overseas
conferences which are members of the North American
General Conference form one. This allows the overseas
areas two members on the Board of Administration. In
1974 the original resolution on boundaries of adminis-
trative districts gave eighteen districts with the over-
seas district omitted. This was modified informally so
that the overseas district was restored as district 19.
The uneasiness over representation of the overseas areas
in the North American General Conference seems to be
articulated on two issues: (1) that most of the business
handled in the Board of Administration has to do with
the American church and (2) that the overseas areas do
not contribute to the administrative expenses, i.e. to
the UWMC budget.

The counter arguments marshaled to effect amend-
ment of the resolution drOpping the overseas district

before it got to the floor were the following:

1. The adverse protocol effect of withdrawing a
privilege,
2. The value of the experience of participating in

the highest councils of the church, and

3. The "free seat" principle that, in the church,

representation does not rest on ability to pay.

130

This exchange suggests that there is some
ambivalence over the issue of participation of overseas
representatives in the North America General Conference.
More extensive investigation would need to be made before
firm assertions could be advanced on this issue. Three

tentative hypotheses on values may be expressed however:69

1. There appears to be a feeling that the affairs of
a national church (United States and Canada
included) should be mainly in the hands of those
who are at home in that society and, therefore,
the presence Of foreign nationals in the North
American conference sessions requires the

exercise of a certain degree of tolerance.

2. There is a substantial commitment to the overseas
churches, recognizably enough so as to make the

protocol argument effective.

3. Tolerance of the present ambiguities is pre-
dicated on the eventual resolution of the
situation by the formation of overseas general

conferences.

The second important element discussed in this

chapter which did not effect major structural change

 

69These hypotheses are constructed from the spe-
cific situation and from the observations and conver—
sations of the writer at three general conferences, 1964,
1969 and 1974.

131

in the ecclesiastical structure but which contributed to

a major shift in administration is the conservative turn
of American society in the mid-19605. Suggested
relationships in this chapter (Pp. 101-04) indicate that
the Free Methodist church reflected the national mood,
particularly in terms of a new awareness of urgent problems
in its own society. A unified budget was drafted which
effected a new allocation of resources returning more

into the home base program. The Women's Missionary
Society, traditionally a foreign missions promoter for
seventy-five years, changed to a dual emphasis—-foreign
missions 229 "coffee cup evangelism" at home. The decline
of interest in the World Fellowship has been detailed in
the chapter (pp. 100, ff.). This is more likely correctly
seen as a shift in rank ordering of values within the
value system rather than a rejection/acceptance movement.
It seems clear, however, that the attention of the North
American church has generally turned from the cross-
cultural dimensions of the church around the world and

is now focused more on situations and needs in its own
immediate environment.

The Commission on Missions and
the value System

 

In the earlier discussion of the Commission on
Missions the differences in philosophies were explained

mainly as functions of the philOSOphies of the reSpective

132

incumbents of the office of General Missionary Secretary.
It is true that the composition of the Commission, change-
overs of personnel and relative infrequency of meetings
tend to magnify the influence of the Missionary Secretary
in setting the course for the Commission. For the period
1960 to the present there have been two missionary
secretaries--Byron S. Lamson holding office from 1944

to 1964 and Charles Kirkpatrick taking office in 1964.

In the earlier section it was shown that there is a
fundamental difference of approach with respect to
relationships with the overseas conferences. Lamson
favored a more integrated approach emphasizing fusion

of the field mission as much as possible into the
national church structure. Kirkpatrick, in contrast

to this, has tended to develOp a relationship of part-
nership, maintaining at the same time close coordination
with the national churches and the integrity of separate
existence and initiative for the field missions.

A more detailed consideration of the extent of
reflection of the denominational value system by the
Commission on Missions and/or the missionary secretaries
must be reserved for the following chapters but in order
to properly assess the change in emphasis after 1964 and
its values implications it is first essential to appreciate
how the creation of the World Fellowship and the organi-

zational changes surrounding it affected the role of the

133

Commission on Missions. Kirkpatrick in the interview of
December 19, 1974 (see pp. 112-13 above) showed an aware—
ness Of this aSpect of things in speaking of the split
responsibility for church development in which the
General Church through the World Fellowship and the
bishops takes over the major role. This leaves to the
Commission on Missions the areas of missionary personnel
and finance and the development of new work up through
the level of provisional conference status. Full con-
ferences and overseas general conferences are related

to the Commission through the field mission and may have
liaison committees composed of missionaries and nationals
to request finance or personnel from the Commission.

When compared to the fact that, prior to the formation

of the World Fellowship, the Commission handled virtually
all overseas relations it may readily be seen that there
has been a radical reduction of scope with a resultant
effect on the range of objectives covered by the Com-
mission on Missions. According to its own statement of
purpose it is an agency of the North American General
Conference created expressly to carry the gospel to the
world through social work (education and medical service)
and direct evangelism. Its powers include surveying
unevangelized areas, evangelization, and establishment
of a national church plus the relationships to newly

created conferences as outlined above. Seen against

134

this organizational change it is not surprising that
Kirkpatrick sees his mandate as tending toward a primary
concern with recruitment, direction and care of the
missionary staff--his agents in the field—-while the
functions of church develOpment and the fellowship
aspects of the international relationships are handled
through other channels, e.g. the General Church including
the bishops and the World Fellowship.

Any attempt to deduce values from the organiza-
tional impact of this change would probably be improper
since there is some reason to suspect that the exact
results were unanticipated. At the same time it is clear
that the modification in the role of the Commission on
Missions has a bearing on its actions in the cases to
be considered. It is on this assumption that this brief
discussion has been included here.

This chapter has given an overview of the church
organization and an account of certain major aspects of
its organizational behavior having to do with the over-
seas branches. From the outcomes of the structural
modifications and from other indicators of a slightly
different order, sets of value statements have been
deduced reflecting the preferences by which the Free
Methodist Church in North America guides its relation-
ships with the overseas branches. To a large extent

this is also a shared value system through the formal

135

channels and informal contacts described. The cases
will explore concrete situations which will relate in

one way or another to this value system.

Note: The material in this chapter with the exception of
page 130 was submitted to Bishop Emeritus Leslie R. Marston
who contributed greatly to the formation of the World
Fellowship and served as its first president. The same
material was read by Dr. Byron S. Lamson and Dr. Charles
Kirkpatrick, missionary secretaries over the period dis-
cussed. All three expressed their general approval of

the discussion as a fair representation of events and, in

the case Of the missionary secretaries, their respective
positions.

Chapter 4

THE BURUNDI CASE

At the beginning Of this first of the three cases
to be examined in this study, it seems appropriate to
review briefly the design of the study in a few intro—
ductory remarks. The study as a whole involves identifi-
cation and description of probable causalities Operating
in cross-cultural conflict situations between a protestant
mission agency and autonomous churches overseas. One
theoretical assumption of the study is that both parties
in the conflict interactions are related to a shared
denominational value system. Since both parties are
also Operating in an open system it is assumed that
issues and inputs through the course of the conflict
episode are generated from two kinds of sources--the
shared value system and extraneous variables from the
nonchurch environment. Chapter 3 explores and attempts
to map the value system of the denomination particularly
with respect to those elements considered dynamic in
cross-cultural relationships. The individual cases

provide a comparative aspect as they examine conflict

136

137

situations in disparate environments but still related
to the denominational value system. In Chapter 3 it is
seen that while the denominational value system for
historical reasons (called macrosystem of values in

the research model) reflects the strong imprint of the
parent body, the World Fellowship era in the early 19605
modified and dissiminated that value system until it
became much more a shared system.

The cases will explore the conflict situations
with a view to identifying value inputs from the macro
value system as well as extraneous inputs from the
general environment. Bachrach and Baratz point out the
importance of the broadest possible consideration of
the variables operating in Specific cases of conflict.1
They also emphasize that these variables must be related
to the organizational "mobilization of bias," a term
borrowed from Schattschneider2 and roughly equivalent
to ”value system." In each of the case studies presented
here there is an alternation movement in which the con-
flict episode is analyzed in terms of values applied to

it by the respective parties and then, from these

 

lPeter Bachrach and Morton S. Baratz, Power
and Poverty: Theory and Practice (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1970), p. 8.

 

2E. E. Schattschneider, The Semi-Sovereign People
(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1960), p. 71.

 

138

values, a reflective process designed to lead to a
deeper understanding of the conflict encounter. In the
present case both the Pondy model (Chapter 2, p. 42)
and the Bachrach-Baratz power system model (Chapter 2,
p. 43) will be used in the analysis. The Pondy model
will also furnish the basic framework for the material.
The adaptation of his sequence to the treatment of this

case yields the following general outline:
l. Antecedents of the encounter.

2. Latent conflict including probable environmental

effects tending toward awareness.

3. Perceived conflict--a survey of the field Of n
dynamic factors involved in the develOping aware-

ness and articulation of the issues.

4. Manifest conflict--a description of the strate-
gies, mechanisms and power factors involved in

the encounter.
5. Conflict aftermath-~an evaluation of the outcome.

Pondy emphasizes that these stages are not
clearly discrete categories but that they flow in
sequence, each stage gradually giving way to the suc-
ceeding one. This will be reflected in the application
to the case where certain elements will seem to fall in

the gray areas between stages. In any event the

139

importance of Pondy's model lies in its sequential
description of the conflict cycle and in his classifi-
cation Of variables acting at the different stages.

The case will be followed by a commentary on the
episode as a whole emphasizing the probable causalities

active in the encounter.

RESPONDENTS AND SOURCES

While the names of those consulted in the recon-
struction of the encounter described in the Burundi case
cannot be given, a brief description may add significance
to the material. Two senior Burundian pastors, early
converts whose terms of service and experience with
missionaries covers nearly the whole span of the history
of the mission, were consulted as well as a younger
Burundian layman who acted as secretary of the conference
during some of the discussions. Missionaries of gen-
erally three classes furnished material; one a senior
missionary who served from the mid 19403 to the mid-19603
in Burundi, four who are currently in service with
experience ranging from twelve to over twenty years,
and one young missionary who has just completed one
tour of duty. These three classes of missionaries
generally assisted on three dimensions of the encounter——
background, their perspective on the conflict episode

in progress, and conflict aftermath respectively. The

140

Missionary Secretary was queried extensively as well as
the bishop who participated in some of the crucial
sessions. Other sources from the archives of the
General Missionary Board and external reading are indi-
cated in the text.

The method of querying the respondents cited in
the above is discussed in Chapter 1 under methodology,

page 17.
ANTECEDENTS OF THE BURUNDI CASE

A somewhat more in-depth review of the Burundi
culture will be given as part of the concluding comments
on this case. An excellent introduction to the country
is provided in the words of Patrick Melady, United States
Ambassador to Burundi from November 1969 to June 1972:

Burundi is a small landlocked central African
republic of 10,739 sq. miles. Slightly larger than
the state of Maryland, it has a pOpulation of 3 1/2
million. The capital, Bujumbura, is located on the
northern shores of Lake Tanganyika. Formerly a
Trusteeship Territory administered by Belgium,
Burundi attained its independence in 1962.

The history of Burundi has been closely related
to that of Rwanda. From 1885 to 1916, these two
areas were known as Ruanda-Urundi and were German
colonies. Belgium acquired them first as a League
of Nations Mandate and later as a United Nations
Trust Territory.

For centuries three ethnic groups lived in
these two two areas.

The Bahutu--commonly referred to as Hutu-~are
a short stocky people of Bantu descent. They con-
stitute about 85 percent of the pOpulation in both
countries. The Watutsi, or Tutsi, are tall Hamitic
people who probably came to Central Africa from
Ethiopia. They make up about 14 percent of the
population. The third community of one percent are
the Batwa (Twa) peOples of pygmy stock.

141

The Hutus and Tutsis are the two communities
of political importance. For over four hundred
years the Tutsi tribe ruled the Hutus in a system
very similar to European feudal society. The Tutsis
took services, goods, and obedience from the Hutus,
who in turn could use the land; they were protected
from invaders by the Tutsis who were warriors.

The Tutsis and Hutus Share a common language,
Kirundi. The educated of both groups normally also
Speak French.

When Rwanda became independent in 1962, the
Hutus came into control of the political structure
after a bloody uprising against Tutsi domination.

In Burundi, the Tutsi community, 14 percent of the
population remained in control of the power structure.

Burundi became independent first as a monarchy
in 1962. A republic was proclaimed in 1966.

Burundi is known for its scenic beauty. It is
also known for its poverty. It is one of the poorest
countries in the world, with an average per capita
cash income of $15 a year.3

Into this country in 1935 came Free Methodist
misSionarieS moving northward from their established
field in South Africa. The work soon expanded to Ruanda
and was administered as a unit. The founder of the Free
Methodist work in Burundi was a devout and far-Sighted
man, J. W. Haley, whose emphasis on development Of a
national church from the very beginning of missionary
activity has had considerable influence on the missionary
philosophy of the denomination. One of his principal
convictions was that the church Should be self—supporting

from its inception, that African converts were working

 

3Thomas Patrick Melady, Burundi, The Tragic Years
(Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1971), pp. IX and 49.

 

r O.
1;)
H
9?

BYOLC.
3&5 E
S: “.1

Int;
“at"

a:.:

Obk

142

for God and their own people, not the mission.4 While
avoiding some of the dependence syndrome this policy
has also perpetuated a continual contrast between the
standard of living of expatriate missionaries and
national church workers.

The provisional conference organized a decade
after the founding of the work continued as a Shadow
organization Operating under the strong tutelage of the
missionary field committee until October 1961 when a
full conference constitution was drafted. This consti-
tution was a direct outgrowth of the World Fellowship
movement described in Chapter 3. One reason for this
is that just prior to its writing, in September 1961,
two young missionaries and two African pastors from
Burundi attended the first Africa Fellowship conference
at Lundi, Rhodesia, along with delegates from four
other African fields and a North American delegation.5
The church leaders from North America came to Burundi
from the Fellowship Conference in order to attend the
Ruanda-Urundi annual conference which coincided with
the 25-year anniversary celebration marking the first

quarter-century of the Free Methodist Church in Ruanda

 

4Lamson, Tide (see Chap. 3, p. ) pp. 21, 22.

5The researcher was one of the missionaries from
Burundi at the Fellowship Conference and, upon return to
Burundi, participated in the drafting of the full con—
ference constitution.

143

and Burundi. On the political scene in Burundi there
was intense activity as a number of parties prepared to
make a bid for power with independence approaching on
June 30, 1962. It is to be expected that the granting
of full conference status at this time, along with the
celebration of the 25-year anniversary, the ordination
of ten pastors, and the first election of African district
superintendents all coincided well with the independence
spirit in the country. (That this association was made
will be discussed later in the commentary on this case.)
The new constitution provided for full ecclesi-
astical recognition of the conference, incorporation of
the conference and registration with the government,
transfer of title of all mission stations to the new
corporation with a lease in perpetuity to the mission
covering missionary residences and related buildings,
and transfer of institutional control (schools, hospitals,
dispensaries) to the conference. Missionary participation
and involvement were provided for by: (l) guaranteed
representation on the Church Council--a combination
conference board Of administration and church/mission
liaison committee, (2) a system of dual officerships——
co-chairmen, co-secretaries, and co-treasurers of the
Council. Missionary ministers were encouraged to
transfer their membership from Canada or the United

States to the new conference. According to the

144

Discipline, as in any other full conference, missionary
pastors would be sent to work by the stationing com-
mittee. Lay missionaries, under the new constitution,
would be assigned by the Council. The field mission

as an organized group would function mainly with regard
to missionary needs—~housing, support, equipment, fur-
loughs, and the like. Funds and personnel for conference
work would be requested through the joint committee,

the Church Council. The missionary co-chairman became
the liaison between the conference and the field mission
as well as between the conference and the mission board.

The first conference structure encompassed both
Ruanda and Urundi with provision for separate corpor-
ations under the respective independent governments.

In 1963 this was considered impractical and the con-
ference was divided into two national conferences.
Nearly identical structures were retained for each and,
in fact, the 1961 constitution continued in force in
the respective countries for a number of years after
the separation with reSpect to the general order of
administration.

Even a superficial analysis of these events
shows that the reorganization effecting such a major
change in decision-making—-from a dominant field mission
to a national church organization--was a dramatic

occurrence. The sense of history was strengthened by

145

the coincidence of the event with the political indepen-
dence period. This was reinforced by some of the oratory
and expressions of the North American leaders present

for the occasion as they reflected the thinking of the
WOrld Fellowship movement with its emphasis on maturity
in the overseas areas. It Should be noted, however,

that in the discussions surrounding the new constitution
in 1961 there was extensive questioning by the Africans
in regard to the perpetuity clause leasing the missionary
residences back to the mission "as long as missionaries
are On the field"--a phrase constructed by the mission—
aries and North American leaders which relayed their
feelings of insecurity regarding the independence period
just ahead. Eventually the point was accepted as pre-
sented. The pattern Of organization contained in this
constitution continued essentially unchanged for eight

years--until the approval of its successor on May 3, 1969.
LATENT AND PERCEIVED CONFLICT

The period 1961-1965 Spans two stages in Pondy's
mode1--1atent conflict and perceived conflict. There is
strong indication that the political events and general
climate of this period were very influential in the con-
flict situation, particularly in its emergence into
awareness and its eventual articulation. Nor was this

influence solely on one Side of the encounter (the

146

nationals) because missionaries, and through them
mission executives and church leaders in the homeland,
were intensely preoccupied with the uncertainties of
the total independence picture. It is interesting that,
after nearly fifteen years, four veteran missionary
reSpondents referred in vivid terms to this aspect of
the situation. A senior missionary who worked in
Burundi from the early days (not one of the four cited
above) stated his conviction that many of the issues
which emerged later had been undercurrents of dissatis-
faction from the mid-1940s but that prior to the 1958-
1960 era (1958 when the Belgians took numbers of
Burundians to the World Exposition in Brussels and
1960, the Lumumba period in neighboring Congo) Open
expression of such sentiments was not tolerated by the
colonial regime. He mentions such questions as: Why
should a national pastor doing essentially the same
work as a missionary not be furnished a house by the
mission?

A review of the political history of the first
few years of independence (granted June 30, 1962) is
highly instructive. The four hundred year suppression
of the Hutus by the Tutsi minority has been mentioned.
The departure of Belgian rule left in its place an
uneasily posed constitutional monarchy maintaining its

position mainly by playing faction against faction, not

147

only by balancing Hutu against Tutsi but also by bestow—
ing privilege selectively on the various power groups
within the Tutsi structure. The events in Rwanda,
where the Hutu majority, beginning in November 1959
and continuing past independence to 1963, had massacred,
maimed and driven out hundreds of thousands of Tutsis
thus establishing Hutu control, had made pluralistic
possibilities in Burundi very precarious. From 1962
to 1966 there were varying degrees of Hutu/Tutsi par-
ticipation in government even though in the same period
two prime ministers were assassinated (one the king's
son and one a Hutu) and a third seriously wounded in an
attempt on his life. Melady recounts how by early 1965
the Hutus had secured twenty-three of thirty-three seats
in the national assembly. The Hutus attempted a coup
d'etat in October 1965. This was repulsed and eighty-
six Hutu Officials were executed.6
Taking into consideration that protestant

missions were assigned predominantly Hutu areas in

which to work7 and an estimate that the Free Methodist

 

6This information is condensed from Melady,
Burundi, and John B. Webster,"The Political Development
of Rwanda and Burundi"(Occasiona1 paper No. 16, The
Program of East African Studies, Maxwell Graduate School
of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University,
1966), p. 83. (Mimeographed.)

7Melady, Burundi, p. 7.

148

constituency is 98 percent Hutu,8 a picture begins to
emerge of a suppressed people receiving a very rapid
political education with the accompanying stresses and
aspirations common to this kind of situation. Melady
states that, "In the first years of independence, some
African leaders were critical of missionaries" particu-
larly with regard to their predominant association with
the Hutu majority.9 He also mentions the constraint
imposed upon diplomats due to the jealousy with which
newly independent nations guard their political inde-

10 These scattered observations are recorded

pendence.
here simply to give something of a feel of the climate
of tension and suspicion that pervaded this period in
Burundi politics.

A more specific influence is mentioned by a
Burundian national who was conference secretary during
some of the conflictual sessions. He states that in
1965 and 1966 there was considerable socialist sentiment
among certain segments of the national leadership and

that a number of protestants were among them. Their

desire was to see a "nationalization of the major means

 

8Estimate by a protestant missionary working
in Burundi from 1943 to 1966.

9Melady, Burundi, p. 56.

10Ibid., p. 22.

149

of production" and, he states, certain ones wanted to
see this ideology applied to the church.11 Webster
mentions the "leftist Tutsis" noting that the King's
expulsion of the Chinese diplomats in January 1965
isolated them from their presumed source of support.12
Missionaries cited the influence of comparisons
with other protestant groups and the analogy of the
colonial regime. The latter referred to the fact that
at independence the Belgian government turned over
unconditionally the public buildings, port, airport,
and other improvements. In the later conflict encounters
African Spokesmen would refer to the examples Of Roman
Catholic priests, black and white, who Shared housing.
The Church Missionary Society (Great Britain) gave a
large apartment building to the national church to be
used or rented for the support of the church. The
Burundian lay reSpondent states that this latter gift
(CMS) "ate at the hearts of the Methodist Christians"
who had nothing. A missionary mentions references
by nationals to the fact that two neighboring groups

do not have the "perpetuity lease clause" required by

the Free Methodist board.

 

11Letter of March 21, 1975.

12Webster, Political Development, p. 83.

 

150

In trying to uncover latent conflict elements
a very careful study of the evidence is necessary. It
will be seen later in the treatment of the manifest
conflict dimension that a major issue is the matter of
control. This will appear in four guises: prOperty
jurisdiction, missionary representation on the Church
Council, handling of funds from the mission board, and,
an issue emerging in the course of the interaction, the
matter of assignment of missionary personnel to work.
Much Of the affective focus from the African side seemed
to center on the issue of missionary houses and property
control. A Burundian reflecting back on this period
mentions the symbolic importance Of property and refers
to the constitutional solution (the perpetuity lease)
as constituting a "nominal title to property" for the
conference. The situation was exacerbated by the fact

that:

l. Missionary houses were occasionally unoccupied
for years at a time (This is mentioned repeatedly

by Africans.).

2. African workers moved in from another locality

often lacked housing.

3. It was at the point of housing that the dif-
ferential in wealth and standard of living

Often became most painfully obvious.

151

The provision reserving missionary housing was seen
as an inconsistency when viewed against the brotherhood
and sharing-in-ministry concepts of the church. In
support of the above the following quotations may be
lifted from the encounter between the General Missionary
Secretary and the Burundi Church Council in November
1966 in Bujumbura:

Burundi member (not identified), Speaking on
use of mission residences: "From the time [we] became
a full conference . . . [I want to know if] there's a dif-
ference between African workers and missionaries." And:

Sometimes there are houses that Sit for two or
three years closed up and there might be a worker
that could work in that church but he doesn't have
a place to live.

Then on the matter of jurisdiction and the shift
of authority presumed to have been brought about by the
establishment of a full conference:

. . . with reference to the things which are admin-
istered by the conference we said that we were
afraid of the government of the state and what per-
haps might happen . . . . because we were here long
ago, and were led by the missionaries . . . that
was called a mission. The church in the eyes of
the state was really the missionary; he stood for
the church. But now we are a full conference and
recognized as such in the country and so now all

Of this is called the church. That includes our
legal representative and our incorporation with

the government and all of it. It's not the
mission but the church . . . . We don't make any
difference between Africans and missionaries,

white or black, but they're all just workers of

the conference . . . . this shows some fear on
your part, fear of us.

152

From these fragments of the discussion it may be
suspected that there was a major discrepancy between the
expectations aroused by the granting of a full conference
and its actual performance. A missionary who worked
for over twenty years in Burundi remarked that "In the
national mind it did not make sense to have national
independence on one hand and ecclesiastical colonialism
on the other."13

This section has reviewed two stages of Pondy's
model, latent conflict developing into perceived and felt
conflict. The nature of the case itself and the evidence
make it impossible to make a clearcut distinction between
these two phases. It is clear that issues and aspir-
ations, perhaps suppressed or not yet articulated, began
to sharpen with the encouragement of the independence
environment and began to focus on specific relationships
between the national church and the mission in both
dimensions, at the field mission level and with head-
quarters in America. These tensions developed into
the situation covered in the next stage in the conflict

cycle.
MANIFEST CONFLICT

In this section there is heavy reliance on docu-

ments and letters. In the interest of brevity selections

 

13Letter of March 19, 1975.

153

will be made of the paragraphs and statements bearing

most directly on the conflict situation.

The first

draft Of the revised constitution of June 27, 1966 will

be shown in the second column contrasted against the

corresponding passage in the 1961 constitution in order

to highlight significant changes.

Where possible

changes will be indicated by underlining in the 1961

column and the new wording will be given in the 1966

column:

1961 Constitution

I. Beginnings: --an intro-
ductory paragraph referring
to the founding of the work

and containing the statement:

“Long ago the missionaries
were those who always led
the church; but now they
wish to share with the
people of the country the
work of spreading the
GOSpel of Christ in Ruanda
and Burundi."

III. Rules Governing the
Church: reference to the
General Conference of
America

IV. Incorporation: four
legal representatives.

V. Property and Houses:

A. The conference of the
Free Methodist Church of
Burundi incorporated under
the government shall con-
trol all properties,
including real estate and
buildings belonging to the
church, and shall have

 

1966 -- First draft

I. omitted: reason--
redundant, reference to
Rwanda objectionable.

III. "America" deleted.

IV. --one legal represen-
tative and his assis-
tant

V.

permission to use all build-

ings, schools and hospitals
and dispensaries which
formerly were owned by the
Free Methodist Mission,
and all buildings which
shall be constructed in the
future. This real estate
and these houses are here
that they may be used by
the conference in spreading
the Gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ, in preaching
the Gospel and in treating
the sick and in teaching.

B. The Burundi Free
Methodist Church incorpor-
ated under the government
shall also own the houses
in which the missionaries
live and the other build;
ings used by them, as well
as those that Shall be
built in the future; pp;
the conference Shall lease
Shem in perpetuity to the
General Missionary Board
53—America and the Free
MethodiSt Church so that
they may use them fOr the
missionaries to live in
tfiém.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VI. B. The Church Council
shall coordinate the work
Of the conference and that
of the church together
with that of the General
Missionary Board and the
General Conference of
America, insofar as they do
not violate the’book'of
Di§cipline.

 

1. Members of the Church
Council: They shall be
chosen by the annual con-
ference as follows:

154

 

changed to "controlled"

changed to "shall be"

replaced by "those who
work for the Burundi
conference"

replaced by "but the
conference has authority
to give houses to its
workers who come from
other countries, whether
they are new arrivals or
those who have served
for years, so that they
may use the houses while
they are here."

omitted: considered re—
dundant (similar state-
ment left in in para. 2
above).

155

One_pastor and one layman
from each district, and’one
miSsionapy from each dis-
tfict, as long as mission-
afies areihere, one medical
missionary andfione edu-
catiOnal misSionary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Officers: There Shall
be tWOpresidents, one
miSsionary as long as
miSsionariEs areihere, and
one natiOnal, who are named
py the Church Council and
approved’by the conference.
These two Shall divide the
ypik in presidihg over tHE
Council when it meets and
the shall Share the work
§pringthe entire year.

The Church CounciI Shall
choose two secretaries,

one natiOnEl and one mis—
siOnary, as long as the
missionaries remain here.
IEVShall name two treasurers,
one miSsionary as’long as
the missionaries are here,
andione natiOnaI'bOth of
wfiOm ShaII’be approvedby
the conférence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VI. B-4, 1c The Church
Council shall appoint all
missionaries, except
pastors, who shall be
appointed by the stationing
committee of the conference.

 

VI. B-4, 2 The funds from
the General Missionary
Board of America for the
missionaries' salaries

and travel and for
théir‘houses shall be con-
trolled by the missionary
committee, because there
are funds sent by their
churches for the support
of their ambassadors, and

 

 

replaced by: "a district
superintendent and a lay-
man from each district, an
educational representative
and a medical representa—
tive, the legal representa-
tive of the church and the
legal representative of

the missionaries.

replaced by: There shall
be a president and vice-
president named by the
Council and approved by

the annual conference.
These shall serve for one
year. The Church Council
shall choose one secretary
and one treasurer. All
Officers must be members

of the Free Methodist
Church and must be approved
by the annual conference.
Any missionary chosen as

an Officer or member Of the
Church Council must be a
member of the Free Metho-
dist Church of Burundi.

replaced by "workers"

omitted

*Statement added: The
travel funds called
Aggressive Evangelism
shall be used by workers
of the conference who are

156

they shall give their engaged in the work of
reports to the General spreading the Gospel.
Missionary Board in
America.*

VI. C. The Executive Com-
mittee of the Church

 

 

 

 

Council

1. Members: The two presi- replaced by: The presi-
dents of the Church Council, dent of the Church Council,
one secretapy, two treasur- the secretary and the

are and the Iegal represen- treasurer, the legal rep-
tative (a nationai). resentative of the church

 

(a national).
VI. D-4 Annual Conference

a) Finance Statement added: The
legal representative of
the Church shall have
power of attorney over all
bank accounts of the con—
ference and of the Church
Council.

 

The substantial changes reflected by this con-
stitutional revision may be summarized as follows:

Section V., A.: The change from "owned" to
"controlled" may be a rejection of the principle of
foreign ownership of prOperty. This interpretation is
reinforced by the further change in the same paragraph
where the earlier statement on categories of real estate
says that they "are here that they may be used" (thus
limiting the definition to purpose only and leaving the
question of ownership or control open) to "shall be"

(a clear allocation of agency to the conference).

157

Section V., B: The change represents a repudi-
ation Of the lease in perpetuity on missionary houses
and, further, replaces the word "missionaries" with
the more general term "workers" without specifying that
these "workers" would be sent by the General Missionary
Board. The use of this term indicates a desire to place
missionaries and national workers on a common plane.

A subsidiary issue reflected in this section relates to
a desire by the conference to start a new high school.
The conference legal representative had suggested
recruiting foreign staff independently of the mission
and, hence, there appears this effort at broadening

the options on use of missionary housing.

Section VI., B-l, B—3, and B-4c/2: The new
structure reduced guaranteed missionary representation
on the Council from six to one (the legal representative
of the mission), and on the Council Executive Committee
to none. The right to appoint missionaries is retained
under the generic term "workers." The Single line of
Officers proposed places funds from the General Missionary
Board in the hands of one treasurer (not Specified as
to nationality but restricted to members of the Free
Methodist Church in Burundi, i.e. to nationals or to
missionaries who have transferred their membership
either tO the conference as pastors or to a local church

as laymen).

158

Section VI., B-4, 2 places evangelistic travel
funds (money for visiting churches and promoting church
work) under the control of the conference. (Tradi-
tionally the mission provided travel funds for its mis—
sionaries for these purposes but very little through
conference channels for national leaders.) The comment
in the covering letter sent by the missionary co-chairman
Of the Council states in this regard:

This change has been initiated in reSponse to a
feeling that the present arrangement brings
pressure to choose missionary superintendents
because they alone have adequate funds to care
for their districts. Another complaint has been
that in some cases Agressive Evangelism funds
have lain idle for lack of evangelistic personnel
and the work has suffered.

Considerable detail has been presented in the
description of this document but its importance as an
articulation of African sentiments in regard to mission/
church relations at that time can hardly be over-estimated.
An analysis of the encounter between the conference
leaders and the General Missionary Secretary, a meeting
held in Bujumbura, Burundi in November 1966, as well as
subsequent exchanges, will illustrate how tenaciously
the Africans held to the basic positions expressed in
the constitutional revision. The typescript of this
cross-cultural exchange of views is a valuable indicator

of the reSpective points of view in this conflict

situation. The typescript taken from a tape of the

159

proceedings runs to twelve single-spaced pages and
therefore must be reduced to some extent for presen-
tation here. On the other hand, the more important
passages (included those on p. 151) are reproduced
nearly intact in order to put them in perspective and
to convey something of the emotional climate of the
encounter.

On that occasion the General Missionary Secretary
began by explaining that some of the changes in the.con-
stitution could not be approved because they were in

violation of the Discipline (which the African leaders

 

had had in their possession in Kirundi, their national
dialect, for about five years) and the policies of the
General Missionary Board. He continued by stating that
the relationship of the full conferences overseas is
both like and unlike the relationships of American
conferences to the General Conference; ecclesiastically
it is the same but in matters of missionary personnel
or financial aid the conferences Of mission origin are
related through the field mission and the General
.Missionary Board. He made a distinction between
ecclesiastical and mission administration:

The bishops that come to hold your conference

will take care of the conference business accord-

ing to the Discipline; they will help you with

the ordination Of your ministers; they will give

counsel and guidance as to your conference busi-

ness; they will give you assistance as to the

appointment of pastors; but they have nothing
to do with the matter of personnel or finance for

 

160

the particular mission field. This is handled by
the General Missionary Board. The Discipline . . .
says that there should be a liaison committee or
council made up of missionaries and nationals and
they make the request through the mission to the
General Missionary Board in all of the full con-
ferences around the world. (document, p. l)

The Missionary Secretary presented the board's
position that the lease on the missionary houses (men-
tioned in the first constitution but never given as a
separate document) was necessary for the board to be
able to fulfill its contractual obligations to its
employees.

At this point there was a question from one of
the African members (unfortunately these are not
identified in the typescript and sometimes the inter-
preter rephrases the African statements, which were all
made in Kirundi, in the third person-~"he says . . . "
or "they are saying . . . "): "From the time [we]
became a full conference, whether there's a difference
between workers who are the African workers and the
missionaries. I don't understand that." (document, p. 2)

To this the Missionary Secretary replied that
missionaries have a dual relationship and while related
by their work, and sometimes by formal membership, to
the conference, they must, however, abide by the policies
Of the General Missionary Board.

(From this point on, in order to get the move—

ment of the conversation the symbols MS, Missionary

161

Secretary, and C, African Council members Speaking
through an interpreter, will be used.)

C. Let's talk about property before we talk about
houses. By whom are the properties administered,
by the Conference or by the missionary board?

MS. The answer to your question is not a simple
one, and I have to ask you a question. There is
no question about the property that has to do with
the church. I would have to ask you whether or
not you are prepared to administer the properties
of the medical institutions and their upkeep.
Either from the standpoint of finance or from
qualified personnel who understand what the needs
of a hospital might be. We are not raising the
question in this amendment, however, at these
points, but it does point out that there is a dif—
ference in types of property represented in the
article. But we are raising the question at the
point Of missionary housing because the conference
was to give a lease to the mission for these houses
even though they had control over the houses, and
your amendment does not provide for any of this.

C. . . . all these houses—-schools, churches,
hospitals, and the missionaries houses--are on one
property. There isn't a boundary line between the
two. Here certain ones shall live and here other
ones shall be. He sees just one property and the
whole property is property of the Free Methodist
Church. He didn't know that there were some places
that were under separate incorporation for the
missionaries. He doesn't think that they have
taken this agreement out that they would let the
missionaries use the houses.

MS. It's out, though.

C. (trans. using third person) They have never said
that the missionaries wouldn't be able to live in
those houses and they want that other missionaries
will come to live in these houses.

MS. Under properties you have changed the matter
Of mission houses . . . so that the matter of any
lease [is] completely deleted. You changed the
name from missionaries to workers. You say you
will give the houses to workers. They could be
outside the Free Methodist Church. Another
country.

162

C. You think we don't want missionaries, but that
isn't what we think at all . . . . nobody, even
peOple here in the government, could forbid the
church to give these houses to the missionaries.

MS. This answers one part of your problem. I
know now that you meant missionaries rather than
just workers. The second point is . . . that we
have to make sure that we have houses available
when our missionaries are sent out. The second
part is the transfer of responsibility.

C. The Missionary Board cannot give permission to
the conference to govern these houses, is that it?

MS. As long as we have missionaries here.

C. He says that there is one thing that has caused
doubts in his mind here and that is the word
workers. Because we can't call missionaries
workers, then what will we call them?

MS. [After referring to need for clarity in respect
to missionaries from GMB] You might decide to employ
workers from some other country, not Free Methodist,
and give them a house that was built by the General

Missionary Board of the Free Methodist Church.

C. [After asserting no basic change of philosophy]
Back to this word missionary and workers. Mis-
sionaries could come not only from the Free Methodist
Church but other churches as well, there could be
missionaries come.

MS. Let me say this. You in your article say that
you will give a lease to the General Missionary
Board of the Free Methodist Church for missionaries
to live in. Now you don't say that. You say
workers. You say nothing about the GMB.

C. Is the constitution something that cannot be
changed? Is it like God, it never changes?

MS. The constitution can be changed and there are
some changes that you are making which will be all
right. I am only saying that you cannot make
changes that are in violation of the Discipline

or that will change the policies Of the General
Missionary Board. You can try but the bishops
would not receive them nor would the General
Conference approve them.

 

163

C. It isn't that we want to take the missionaries
out of the houses. We still want them. We want
many more of them. The thing that was hard was
perhaps our Kirundi but I still don't think that we
need to be mistaken on it. We have missionaries
from all different churches. We've got them from
the Church of England and the Baptists and SO forth.
You're all missionaries. So what does it matter
they come from England, Denmark, and everywhere?

SO that's why we said workers, said workers who come
from other countries. Perhaps sometime we'll find
someone, a very wise man that will come from India,
a real expert, and so we ask you for him and you
give him to us. And he would come as a worker.

Or maybe there would be someone from Rhodesia, an
African who is an expert and we would ask for him
to come and be a worker for us or maybe from
Formosa we could get a Free Methodist to come and
work here. He'd come and you'd give him to us to
work for us. That's not the point. Let's find a
word that we can use here instead of worker, find
a word that we need to say this. There's another
word we hear constantly, Americans, Americans,
Americans. Why don't we just say evangelists or
those who come to preach the gospel.

MS. I think that we are missing the main point

of the problem . . . . we as a General Missionary
Board have a definite responsibility to those
missionaries who are employed by us for housing .
. . . it is a part of their employment. It is not
a matter alone of words whether they are workers
or missionaries, it's the fact that you have left
out any reference to the General Missionary Board.

C. In the words of the new constitution, has it
been changed. It's difficult for a person to admit
his mistakes. Nobody likes to admit his mistakes
and perhaps for an important person, a leader, to
admit it would be perhaps more difficult than for
an ordinary person. But for those of us who have
translated this it's true that we did make a mis-
take in not putting in the word missionaries here.
We do admit that this one thing was a mistake, and
as it was written here about the houses and keeping
them up and so forth and how they should be used,
it doesn't mean that we have refused that we should
have missionaries and give them permission to use
the houses and this doesn't mean that we are wanting
to have the houses Of the missionaries so that we
can live in them. You folks are used to this word,
to being called missionaries, and to the other,

 

164

the General Missionary Board. You don't like it
that we haven't included this here. So first you
must forgive us that we have forgotten to put in
that name. It looks as if he has come to point out
this mistake especially to us because we haven't
gotten this word missionaries in here. In thinking
of it and preparing it, this isn't what we were
thinking of, the point we're talking to. We are not
arguing about this point, about using the word
missionary or General Missionary Board. [We]

could put this word back in again. If there aren't
any other things or any other reasons, we don't want
to run the missionaries off or anything like this
so I don't see why we shouldn't be able to put this
word back in. Then with reference to things which
are administered by the conference we said that we
were afraid of the government of the state and what
perhaps might happen and that exactly, because we
were here long ago and were led by the missionaries
and that was called a mission. The church in the
eyes of the state was really the missionary, he
stood for the church. But now we are a full con-
ference and recognized as such in the country and
so now all of this is called the church. That
includes our legal representative and our incorpor-
ation with the government and all of it. It's not
the mission but the church. Perhaps we have
deceived ourselves in thinking that we are all just
workers of the church and call ourselves not mis-
sionaries and other workers but just workers of the
church. We don't make any difference between
Africans and missionaries, white or black, but
they're all just workers of the conference. He
thinks that this Shows some fear on your part, fear
of us. Is there really a difference between the
workers who work for the conference here in Burundi.
But don't think that we had something against the
missionaries when we translated it this way as
workers. That's why they used this word workers,
because we're all workers of the conference and if
there were houses that were sitting empty and they
were needed for a worker of the conference they
could be used. Sometimes there are houses that sit
for two or three years closed up and there might be
a worker that could work in that church but he
doesn't have a place to live. So they say this
house was given for the use of certain ones and so
it will not be available for use until they appear,
maybe it will be four or five years before they come.
SO this is why we brought this forward to show you

165

what we think and you tell us what you think. TO
say that we are trying to chase off the white folks
[and take] the missionaries' houses from them, this
isn't what we want.

MS. I don't think that I wish to express lack of
confidence in the church--that they did not want
missionaries or workers. I am sure that without
the amendment if there were houses that were no
longer needed because we were not able to send
missionaries or missionaries were not needed that
the request for the use of these houses would be
considered. You must have confidence in the Mis-
sionary Board, too. What I want to avoid is this,
that then if there were workers that were here in
this country using the houses and then if we sent
somebody out to the field and there were no houses
available, what would we do? You might say build
more. But we might not have the money and we would
not want to put anyone out, nor could we.

C. This would be the work of the Church Council
then to talk about it and when they saw that there
was a need for a house for a worker then to find a
place for their worker to go to so that the house
would be free.

MS. The Church Council does not know the business of
the General Missionary Board. It is not possible

for us even to send all of our business about per-
sonnel to the mission that they can keep you
informed. Maybe one day we have no nurse available
and the next day we have a nurse available, so it's
difficult for us to turn that responsibility over.

C. I know that we can't know everything concerning
this. When we got a full conference it seemed often
that we were thrown into things that we couldn't
understand and it was difficult for you to explain
to us. It was like a person that was in the fire.
You wanted to pull us out of the fire and then
afterwards it seemed like you wanted to throw us
back in. We're glad that you gave us permission to
be a full conference and that we can work together
in spreading the gospel in this way. But there is
one word here in this constitution it seems that
there is something that we have not kept to. I
think we have gone beyond it. I think that mis—
sionaries in Rwanda and Burundi came to Spread the
gospel and establish a strong church of God's peOple.
I think that the church has grown for some years

and prepared the peOple of this country to be its

166

leaders and it is self-supporting. The time has
come that it can . . . be a full conference among
the other conferences Of the Free Methodist Church
of America. Though the missionaries were those

who always led the church but now they wished to
Share with the people of the country the work of
spreading the gospel of Christ in Rwanda and
Burundi. This in just a few words is an introduc—
tion to the constitution. It says now they wish

to share with the people of the country the work of
spreading the gospel. Because we are a full con-
ference now we are not able to have a house and give
it to the worker we wish to whether he is an African
or missionary. Two examples and then I will sit
down. If the conference sees that there is worker
needed at Muyebe, if the conference which is led by
the bishop chooses a worker to go there to work and
that worker goes and finds there is a house, can't
he live in that house which was occupied by a
missionary before, just because he is an African?

If the conference here in Burundi sees that at
Rwintare they need a director for the school and
there is a house empty, there is no white person

in it, couldn't the conference which is led by the
bishop give that house to the school director so

he could live there until it was needed for another
worker? When it means that they wish to share the
work with the people does it mean that there is
certain work for the missionary and certain other
works for the Africans? When we are talking like
this we are talking of two things, conference and
mission. [If we] want that the gospel shall be
preached in this country we must be one church

and work together. There's no African that will
want to take a house that the missionaries are
living in. We do have wisdom and we know that we
are still in need of missionaries. But we cannot
be happy to see a great big house that is sitting
empty for years and we have a pastor that is living
in just a little house when the big house is empty.
What hurts us is this word that we say we want to
share in the work of spreading the gospel. It isn't
that we don't want missionaries but we want to be
one church and work together in spreading the gospel.
If there is anyone who wants to spoil the work and
do harm to the conference, the conference led by the
bishop would have power to stOp him, to put a stOp
to it. This is what we wanted to say to you. We
were . . . agreed to put this word about missionaries
back in again but we wanted to tell you all the
thoughts that we had in our minds and we will again
talk about it when the bishop comes later.

,3]?

 

167

MS. It's probably because I can't Speak Kirundi
that I don't make myself understood. You say that
you need missionaries and I am sure that this is
right, but I must ask you why you need missionaries.
Do you need missionaries to do the work that you are
doing as pastors and workers or do you need mis—
sionaries to do a work of training or medical work
for which some of you are not qualified to do?

When you are becoming a full conference there are
several things that are emphasized. It is not that
you have self-government only, that you work toward
self-support, that you can carry on your work indepen—
dent of the mission, and the support of the mission.
As is mentioned in your article of introduction or
the beginning. It is also a matter Of propagation
SO that you can see your work grow. There is no
question about houses if missionaries are no longer
needed, but I can say that if the authority is

given by which the bishop appoints workers to all
houses that are empty then there iS no place for the
missionary. It is not necessary that we agree on a
particular paragraph in these amendments. I want

to help you so that the amendments you present will
be approved by the bishop and you are at liberty to
talk with the bishop. I talked with the Board of
Bishops before I came and what I am saying to you

is what they will say to you . . . .

C. This word has really gone quite far, it has
grown quite large in proportion. Just one con-
clusion now, this is a conclusion that we have
left. [I] want to say three things. [I] want to
talk now about the responsibility that you are
giving to the one whom you have brought up and
nourished, and so forth. Sometimes you can give
responsibility to someone because he has grown up
and he's able to take it. Or perhaps there are
other reasons for not giving him responsibility.

I think you understand this. Regarding houses, I
have one example that I would like to give. First
Of all there are Catholic missionaries. I don't
know how they live together. We see that there are
white fathers and black fathers living together in
the same house. Although they don't have the same
sort of setup as we have, still they are missionaries
and they are living together. When you gave this
permission it was at the time of independence and
you must ask if those who gave independence to the
country when they left did they not also leave
things in the country, houses and so forth. Of
course you know that there is still a sharing of
responsibility and work between the two countries,

168

ours and the Belgians. [They] have workers and

. . . they will be responsible for upkeep on the
houses, they will have to reroof and all this work.
You say are you able to take care of the upkeep on
houses and do you have workers to put into them?
It's true that we have work for all--for missionaries
and for Africans. What we want to talk about now
is sharing the work together. We are still in need
of missionaries, pastors, teachers, and nurses, and
there are places for them to live although you seem
to have doubts about it. There's just one word
more that I want to add to this. IS what you say
that the houses which they live in must not be under
the authority of the conferences; these houses must
be under the authority of the General Missionary
Board? Because you say that the General Missionary
Board would not give permission to others to have
authority over these houses . . . . the conference
does not have permission to give these houses as it
wishes, they do not belong to the conference. It
is the General Missionary Board then that does
govern the houses.

MS. Let me . . . [I] would like to answer what has
been said. I don't like to have words put in my
mouth because I am not saying some of the things
that you say I say. There are other points and we
don't want to get hung up at this particular point.
Let us go back to the article as it was originally
written. It said that we would give control or
deeds to all of the houses which the missionaries
live in. We have done this. The conference was
to give us a lease for the missionaries to live in
these houses as long as they were here in this
country. This hasn't been done. Now you want to
delete this responsibility. We do not think this
is right. Let me say something further. What you
are requesting in this amendment is something that
is not requested by any other conference, full con-
ference or general conference. If you have in the
government someone who comes to our country as an
ambassador or consul, your government provides for
the housing in our country. They either buy
property or rent property. The Belgian government
provides for the ambassador who comes here, he
either buys or rents prOperty. When they appoint
them this is part of the agreement. This is part
of our agreement with our missionaries, that we
provide housing for them. This is our responsi-
bility. If there is no housing available we
either have to build housing or provide housing

or not send them. Maybe that explains it.

169

C. [We are] not saying that we want to take the
houses away from the missionaries. You misconstrued
what we said. Your promise was to give them houses
and our promise is to receive them into our country.
Now this is not the question . . . . what will we

do when we see a house sitting empty for two years
and we have a worker we can put in it? Shall we

put him out in the bush somewhere and let him live,
or can he have the house to use?

MS. (aside to translator) They ought to have as
much confidence in the mission as they expected us
to have in them when we gave them ownership of the
property. To say that if there was a house that
was not in use that the mission would request per-
mission for their use so that they could use it.

C. Thank you. That's what we want to know. It
will be quite soon that you will hear about this now.
We'll ask you soon.

MS. You must understand, however, the availability
of this house is not based on the fact that you see
a house empty and say I want to put somebody in there.

C. We understand that. We aren't children. We
understand that.

MS. All right, all right, okay. Let's go on to
something else . . . . In the formation of a full
conference and its relationship to the General
Missionary Board, there has to be proper represen-
tation of both nationals and missionaries to make
up the Council or liaison committee as outlined in
the Discipline. By making no reference to the
missionafies you are not really sharing with the
Missionary Board, and you will need a balance of
nationals and missionaries as it refers to the
personnel and finance and business with the Mis-
sionary Board . . . . You must remember in this
matter of your conference where you still have
missionaries with you that while we have transferred
from the mission to a full conference, that the
missionaries are small in number compared to your
conference. It is only proper that they Should be
represented and they can only give their best ser-
vice by doing SO. Therefore we would feel that the
original article which allows for two presidents
and two secretaries and two treasurers is proper
while you have missionaries here. I would also
suggest that this carry through to the executive
committee. This is really all I have to say.

 

rs:
‘ly'.’

 

170

C. . . . we just didn't make any difference what
they were. It could be either missionary or African.
If it was a missionary and we chose them that was
all right, there would be no hard feelings about it.
And if it was an African and we chose them, there
would be no hard feelings. And so I don't quite
know what they mean that we should have two.

MS. Well, your committee is small with the mission
as well as with the conference. If you have no
missionary representation on your executive council
this could be difficult to carry on your work, and
because you have a small committee it could be that
one is going to be left off. Either the African
will be left off or the missionary will be left off
because you only have one. You need them both work-
ing as one, not one working as two, but two working
as one. This is just my suggestion to help you.

The discussion presented in this typescript
centered very heavily on the matter of missionary
housing. Each party supported his position with a
well thought out rationale with the Missionary Secretary
referring frequently to authority (the Book of Discipline)
and the combination of authority and precedent repre-
sented by GMB policy. The Burundian leaders appealed
to the concept of Christian brotherhood and egalitar-
ianism. On the issue of missionary representation the
Missionary Secretary seemed to be concerned mainly
with missionary input into the decision-making process
while the Africans protested that their terminology was
"color-blind" and did not at all rule out an adequate
missionary involvement. Hints of the possibility of

recruiting expatriate workers outside of the organization

(i.e. from other church sources) came out in the

171

discussions. There was constant protestation that there
was no intention to force out the missionaries but

about equal emphasis on the irritation caused by empty
houses left unused for periods up to several years. A
hint Of the acute consciousness of economic disparity
and its relation of protocol is carried by the reference
to "big" and "little" houses (p. 166, last 15 lines).
The explicit references to color, "white" and "black"
are indicative Of the strength of affective involvement.
The implicit accusation of racism is reinforced by
reference to "white" and "black" Catholic fathers living
together. The remark about the colonial turnover of
property seems to indicate that the Africans considered
the granting of the full conference as an ecclesiastical
event quite analogous to the attainment of independence.
This aspect will be discussed more fully in the comments
on the Burundian value system.

In any case, within a span of six months the
issues were rather clearly drawn. The minutes Of the
Council meeting in which the Missionary Secretary's dis-
cussion occurred (November 17, 1966) record the issues
succinctly under three headings: Missionary housing,
members of the Church Council, and officers of the
Council. '

An important chronological cross-reference at

this point has to do with the document "Guidelines for

3“}

172

Constitutions" (see Chapter 3, p. 111), a paper circu-
lated by Bishop Kendall and commented on by the Missionary
Secretary who advocated emphasis of the concepts of part—
nership and cooperation over that of "integration."
These comments were made just five weeks before the
visit of the Missionary Secretary to Burundi and, while
it was impossible to locate the "Guidelines" document,
there is good reason to believe that its modified form
after the comments by the Missionary Secretary had con—
siderable influence on the second draft of the Burundi
constitution as will be explained below.

On July 24, 1967 a second draft of the consti-
tution was submitted for consideration by the GMB. A
substantial change in style and organization of the
document is immediately apparent. This is explained by
a comment in the covering letter by the missionary who
was secretary of the Council at that time in which
reference is made to the fact that "The latter [the
constitution] is pretty much as BiShOp Kendall drew it
up." The new format of the constitution, presumably
following the bishop's model, contains this statement
immediately after the introductory portions: "The
following are deemed necessary in this constitution in
addition to the Free Methodist Discipline in Burundi."
This statement emphasizes (1) that the Free Methodist

Church in Burundi is primarily guided by the shared

173

"Basic Principles of Free Methodism" in the form develOped
through the World Fellowship period and common to any
Free Methodist Church in the world and (2) that the
remainder of the constitution is an effort to define the
special character of the conference in a country where
a sizable staff of missionaries is still functioning as
an auxiliary to the conference.

In the same covering letter referred to just above
the matter of stationing of unordained missionaries by
the Council is brought up as being contrary to a para-

graph in the Missionary Manual (p. 28, NO. 7 in the

 

Manual) which states that a missionary has a right to
vote on his own appointment. This comment seems to
have reinforced a latent concern of the Missionary
Secretary (Chapter 3, p. 111) and to have stimulated
the addition of this issue to the conflict situation.
The 1967 draft of the constitution contains a
clear trust clause whereby "The missionary residences
and small buildings adjoined thereto Shall be held in
trust by the conference of the Burundi Free Methodist
Church 'for the use of, and controlled [sic] by, the
missionaries sent from the General Missionary Board.'
When missionaries are no longer here these residences
shall be used as directed by the Burundi Annual Con-

ference of the Free Methodist Church." (II,2)

.335!

 

174

The matter of missionary representation on the
Council was accepted in a manner guaranteeing approxi-
mately one-third missionaries. (II, 3c)

On the matter of Council officers, the Single
line was retained by the conference virtually unchanged
including the stipulation that any missionary chosen as
an Officer must be a member of the Free Methodist Church
in Burundi.

The matter of missionary stationing remained the
same under the "worker" clause (II, 3f, 3). The execu—
tive committee of the Council was expanded to include
the Mission Superintendent and "at least one other
missionary when available."

Section II, 5b contains a subtle change which
may or may not be significant in that what was in the
first draft an explanatory statement on missionary funds
now is a separate sentence which could indicate that
the missionaries are now seen more as agents of the
GMB: "They shall make their report to the General
Missionary Board."

The legal representative's power of attorney
over all conference and Council bank accounts was
retained.

A preliminary reaction to this constitution is
given in a letter from the General Missionary Secretary

(August 7, 1967) in reSponse to the covering letter from

175

the missionary who was Council secretary. In the letter
assurance is given that the constitution will be care-
fully reviewed, that a single African treasurer will

not be approved as long as GMB funds are involved and
that the matter Of appointment of unordained missionaries
by the Council would be carefully considered.

The official response to the conference is con-
tained in an undated document (presumed to have been
drawn up by the Executive Committee of the Commission
on Missions in late August 1967 as suggested in the
letter cited above of August 7, 1967.

Apart from numerous editorial changes the sub-
stantial objections were relatively few but focused on
the remaining positions stipulated by GMB and unconceded
by the conference.

On the single line of officers the matter was
allowed to stand with the exception Of treasurer where
the suggested change prescribed striking "a treasurer"
and adding "two treasurers, a missionary and a national"
(No. 6 in the recommendations).

Standing committees (school, medical, evangel-
istic) must be one-third missionaries nominated by the
field mission or, if this condition is impractical, at
least one-third of the members shall be designated by
the mission as representatives of the General Missionary

Board.

176

The word "national" is to be inserted before the
statement on appointment of "workers" and then a para-
graph is to be added: "In accordance with the Mission
Manual it is necessary that unordained missionaries be
appointed by the Mission and approved by the Council."

At this point in the history of the conflict
situation an interesting thing takes place; there is a
hiatus or moratorium in the process which lasts for
nearly two years. After receiving the above communi-
cation the Africans Simply took no action. The next
reference encountered in regard to the constitution is
found in the conference minutes of March 22, 1969 where
the action is recorded (No. 58): "On motion the con-
stitution will be re-submitted to GMB."

The sparse language of the motion conceals a
rising level of tension manifested in the conference.
March 22, 1969 was Saturday and the evening sitting Of
conference continued until 2:00 A.M. Sunday morning.
Much Of the evening was taken up with a confrontation
over many of the same issues and in much the same tone
as that of November 1966 with the Missionary Secretary.
The bish0p who presided at this sitting recalls the
major issues as missionary housing (particularly houses
left empty for an extended period of time) and allo-

cation of funds from GMB (including the matter of travel

[‘4 f'u

177

4 He remembers it

funds for African superintendents).1
as a "tense" sitting and describes the missionaries as
"really let down and disappointed" adding that they
"seemed to be afraid it was the beginning of more
serious trouble." The documents of that period clearly
reflect a shaken missionary staff. In the minutes of
the field mission of March 20, 1969 there is a recom—
mendation for fully nationalizing three stations. On
March 22, 1969 a ten—year plan for nationalizing the
stations is joined to a recommendation for scholarships,
i.e. leadership development moving in concert with the
nationalization plan. (It should be noted that these
meetings were held at mealtimes between the formal
conference sittings.) In a covering letter written by
the missionary co-chairman of the Council the decision
to nationalize is explained: "This decision was taken
early in the conference but later develOpments seem to
confirm the foregoing and perhaps will demand its
acceleration."15 He continues: "The discussion of the
constitution last night ended up in deadlock of the
pattern that is familiar to you." In his letter of
March 23 the missionary superintendent points out the

discouragement brought about by the smallness of the

 

14Letter of March 28, 1975.

15Bates, letter of March 23, 1969.

178

missionary staff and the pressure of the Africans on

unoccupied properties suggesting this as a major moti-

vation for the nationalization move. He also cites a

maneuver by the African majority in the Council to leave

the Bujumbura station unstaffed by missionaries which
prompted an immediate recommendation by the missionaries
to turn over this station including the residences.

On the matter Of the constitution he comments wryly:
Bishop Boyd has joined the club of Free Methodist
Church officials that have come to explain the
revised constitution to the church here. He did
a masterful job Of defending the G.M.B.'s position
on the matter of mission residences. And he did
it in his usual calm, sweet spirit. But after
nearly 3 hours of discussion on the item one felt
that the position Of the Church had not moved any
nearer to the position of the G.M.B.

I'm sure that you understand when I say that the

events that took place last night do not make us

too optimistic about a long tenure of missionary

service with the Church here.16

On March 28 the Missionary Secretary wrote two

letters, one to the field mission and one to Church Coun-
cil. The letter to the Council is dealt with below but
the contents and subsequent exchanges with the field mis-
sion are given here in order to add this perspective to the
GMB/conference conflict. In effect the Missionary
Secretary was faced with two critical situations, on

the one hand an increasingly intransigent group of

African leaders and, on the other, a discouraged group

 

16Ensign, letter of March 23, 1969.

179

of missionaries about to cave in under the local pressure

and dismal outlook with regard to prospects for missionary

reinforcements. The letter to the missionaries asked

seven questions and requested a prompt response. The

questions are sufficiently informative with reSpect to

what they and the forthcoming responses reveal to be

included here:

1.

Do you feel that the missionaries can fully
know the stations which can be turned over to
the nationals without disruptions and adverse
results, or will your implementation of this
proposal become a matter of expediency?

If you are able to know which stations should be
turned over, will you be able to manage this
ten-year phase-out plan once it is initiated?

How many of you who are now serving in Burundi
as missionaries are prepared to stay there until
this program is completed?

DO you believe that we can obtain missionaries
for Burundi if we are only recruiting for the
church and leave it to the church to appoint
them as they see fit and oftentimes overrule
the mission recommendation?

Are you prepared to face the fact that if the
church is nationalized and not indigenized, that
when they do not have all of the funds or per-
sonnel that they need, they may well turn to
another church and mission and we will lose com-
pletely the Burundi Free Methodist Church?

Will the tensions within the church be less under
a program of nationalization when they have more
authority and more status and more power?

Is not one of the reasons for the loss of member-
ships this year due to more concern with machinery
and organization and status and nationalism than
with the job of evangelism?

180

The executive committee of the missionaries met
on April 11 to consider the communications from the
Missionary Secretary. The decision was taken that after
translation of the letter to the Council (see p. 178)
sufficient copies would be made for all members of the
conference. Excerpts from his letter to the missionaries,
particularly the parts on prospective candidates and his
reservations on the appointment of new missionaries into
such an unsettled situation, were to be shared with the
African conference delegates as well. The missionaries
then met as a group on April 17 to compose their joint
response to the seven questions.

To question number one the missionaries replied
that their action was one of expediency expressing the
conviction that "If we had enough missionaries to staff
our work, 90% of the problems of empty residences and
unmanned stations would not have arisen." In answer to
question two they admitted that the shortage of personnel
made a ten-year plan virtually unmanageable. On
question three,

This question is equivalent to asking whether we
are willing to go down with the ship. Our ten-year
plan was not an ideal plan but was proposed because
we saw no other way out of our dilemma. We are
merely cutting the work down to fit our staff. At

present it appears that a one-year plan is more
realistic . . .

 

113:1

181

To question four,

We never had conflicts with the Church Council about
appointments until the regulation came from the
Board that the mission had to make recommendations
to the Church Council and then the Council resented
it because they felt we were trying to dictate to
them. A recommendation is not a law and by defi-
nition may be overridden by the Council. But if
this is a regulation rather than a recommendation,
then the General MiSSionary Board must have some
new basis or understanding with the African church
about missionary appointments.

 

In response to question five,
. . . we are already facing this problem. There have
been threats by some of the leaders in the church
(especially the younger revolutionary group) to
bring in other personnel to fill in the vacancies.
On question six, the missionaries foresaw a
realignment of tensions, Africans with Africans vieing
for power and status with each other. Further, "If the
GMB refuses to consider sending more personnel and the
Burundi Conference does not guarantee missionary resi-
dences, it seems it will be very difficult for the rest
of us to stay." The reply to question seven lays the
membership loss to other general factors mostly external
to the conflict situation.
The emergency nature of the situation in the
View Of the missionaries is pointed up by their action
to authorize the mission treasurer to withhold all
conference funds for the second quarter until there is

a "workable agreement between the Church Council and

the General Missionary Board."

182

Now to return to the African side of things, as

was mentioned above, the developments at conference time

prompted the Missionary Secretary to write the letter

of March 28, 1969 to the Burundi Church Council contain-

ing these elements:

1.

The fact that important personnel decisions were
coming up in April regarding appointment of

missionaries to Burundi;

A review of the authority of the GMB with reSpect
to the overseas conferences as distinct from

the ecclesiastical authority of the bishop;

A reminder that the original constitution of
1961 was still in effect and that, while the
titles to property were turned to the conference,
the leases on missionary dwellings had not been

forthcoming;

The name of an American couple with attractive

credentials being considered for appointment;

The stipulation that the appointment of these
missionaries depended on a firm lease reserving

the missionary residences;

A protest over the appointment of two missionary
couples, on the field or close to return, by
the Council without consultation with the

missionaries;

183

7. Closed by requesting action by the Council to
clear up relationships in these two areas
(missionary residences and appointment Of
missionaries) before the April meeting of the

Commission on Missions (date not given).

The few weeks between the reception of the
Missionary Secretary's letter and the letter addressed
to him by the Council on May 21, 1969 are probably the
most critical of the entire episode in terms of a
possible breakdown of relationships. Documentation
is very scarce but this was a period of great anger
and activity in the ranks of the national leaders.

The conference legal representative had been very
active in the syndical movement in the country.

There was intense political sensitivity which led up
to the execution of sixty-seven (figures vary widely
on this) Hutu leaders in December of that year for
allegedly trying to overthrow the government. This
researcher was in Burundi in 1969 and heard from an
informant who attended one of the meetings of the
younger conference leaders that they were actively
considering an open break with the mission during this
period. (Interestingly enough, one who urged coming
to terms with the mission was the legal representative's

wife!)

184

A Church Council meeting was scheduled for
April 19 at Kibuye, the hospital location. A carload
of African delegates, among them the strongest African
voices in the Council, skidded on a Slippery hill and
hit a tree head-on. There were no serious injuries
but the Council meeting was postponed.

The Church Council did convene on May 3, 1969
and approved a constitution meeting all the major con-
ditions laid down by the GMB. The covering letter of
May 21 from the Council to the Missionary Secretary is
significant on two counts: (1) It represents a complete
capitulation from the African side on the formal issues
and (2) it shows that the essential issues remained very
much alive. This ambivalence can be shown by juxtaposing
various statements from this one letter:

First there is the introduction:

Regarding the rules and regulations, there is
nothing else we need to say, for last night we
adopted the new Constitution and signed it as

you asked us to.

Then the issues:

Regarding a perpetual lease Regarding the prOperties
for the houses of the and houses, there has
missionaries, we have given never been a day when we
it fully as we have written refused the missionaries
in paragraph four above, to control these houses
that all the houses mission- and the buildings adjoin-
aries are living [in] will ing them.
be governed by them as they However, we ask you to
wish until they leave the consider the houses
country of Burundi. which have been empty
a long time, and will
eventually have grass
growing in them. Houses

 

185

like that, we are not
happy to leave that way;
we would like our confer-
ence to be able to use
them . . . . The proper—
ties and houses the mis-
sionaries are not living
in should be governed by
our Conference as it is
written in the Free
Methodist Discipline of
Burundi (p. 124, No. 5,
Sec. A).

 

(The reference in the Kirundi Discipline is to
the section which Specifies that all titles shall be
made over to the national corporation.) This is followed
in the letter by a statement that missionaries were
never appointed without consultation ("We were not
pleased that they told you about this as if they were
accusing us of not listening to their advice . . . , but
it was not that way."). It was further stated that not
only missionaries but anyone appointed by the Council
has the right to express his thoughts. The letter also
contains an acceptance of the proffered missionary
appointees and requests additional personnel: two
teachers for the home economics school, two nurses, a
youth worker and three secondary school teachers. A
request for scholarships in five fields of study was
added. The Missionary Secretary is begged to "get rid
of those thoughts to the effect that it would be diffi—

cult for you to send more missionaries to Burundi."

186

In a sense the letter represents the Conflict
Aftermath.

The constitution approved by the Burundi Church
Council on May 3, 1969 was approved by General Conference
in June 1969. Its final form embodied nearly verbatim
the recommendations of the August 1967 communication.

Perhaps the concluding note is a letter of
February 9, 1970 to the Burundi Annual Conference in
session announcing the appointment of the promised
couple, the appointment of a new doctor, and the pro-

cessing of a new nurse for appointment to the field.
COMMENTARY
The commentary on this conflict episode will

include three sections elaborating on:

1. The cultural and political input from the

Burundian environment;

2. The varying perceptions and insights of the

North Americans involved;

3. The power relationships and formal strategies

Operating in the conflict situation.

Cultural and Political Input from
tHE’Burundian Environment

1. The symbolism of the granting Of a full

conference. The drafting of the new constitution, the

1b.
"(4.

 

187

ordination of the first ten African pastors, the 25th
anniversary celebration, the oratory of the bishop imbued
with the World Fellowship ideal-~all these contributed
to the impression that this was a "rite de passage,"

a maturity ritual, in the eyes of the African community.
This is borne out by numerous references to "full con-
ference" in the November 1966 encounter with the Mis-
sionary Secretary where the term is associated with
maturity (" . . . the church has grown for some years
and prepared the people of this country to be its
leaders . . . . , the responsibility that you are giving
to one whom you have brought up and nourished, and so
forth. Sometimes you can give responsibility to someone
because he has grown up and he's able to take it.").

The insistence on a perpetual lease on missionary
residences seemed to give rise to a sense of inconsis-
tency: "It was like a person that was in the fire.

You wanted to pull us out of the fire and then after-
wards it seemed like you wanted to throw us back in."
The obvious parallel here is between conferring indepen-
dence and then compromising it by a restrictive lease.
An accompanying confusion seems to have been caused by
the continuing separate existence of the field mission--
at least to the extent where it must have certain
guarantees. This feeling was related to the initial

full conference constitution drafted in 1961 whereby

0|

va‘

188

missionaries would participate in the decision-making
process within the conference organization and subject
to its authority in matters of assignment to work. This
preliminary impression appeared to be contradicted by
the emerging consciousness of the continuing Special
relationships of the missionaries. The frustration

over this issue is expressed repeatedly in the delib-
erate use by the Africans of the term "workers," their
comments on making no differentiation between black and
white, and the like. The mission had appeared to abdi-
cate its place of authority and then, through its Special
relationship to the sending agency in America, to pull
back from this position and reassert its presence and
influence in disturbing ways. For the Africans, expec—

tations and reality did not line up.

2. The patron/dependent relationship. For at
least 400 years Burundi has maintained and polished a
highly SOphisticated hierarchical protocol system very
similar to the EurOpean feudalism of the Middle Ages.
Ethel Albert, anthropologist, who lived for a year in
the back-country of Burundi, states:

To his patron, a man could tell all his troubles
so that the superior would help him.

Normally, one would hope that the superior would
take seriously the ideal performance of his role.

189

He is a man who Observes carefully the supplicant
and gives to him when he is satisfied of his
devotion . . .
In another article Albert observes:
The grant of material goods formed the basis of what
was in principle a personal relationship involving
mutual esteem, affection and concern. Those who
received were the personal followers of those who
gave, and they made gifts in return of beer, goods,
and services. 3
In other words, both parties gained by an appropriate
exchange of goods. In the case under consideration the
question seems to be: Were the properties or control
given with the full conference or not? ("By whom is
the property administered?" or "IS the constitution . .
like God, it never changes?") Was sovereignty transferred

or not? This problem is related to the following con-

siderations on:

3. Vertical relationships. This is very similar
to the patron/dependent relationship just considered but
it needs separate definition here. Smets, Belgian anthro-

pologist, visiting Burundi in 1943, remarked upon the

 

l7Ethel M. Albert, "Une Etude de Valeurs en
Urundi," Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines, Vol. 2 (1960),
p. 154.

18Ethel M. Albert, "Socio-Political Organization
and Receptivity to Change: Some Differences Between
Ruanda and Urundi," Southwestern Journal of Anthropology,
V01. 16 (Spring 1960), p0 SI.

n U
.,.'?'

 

190

primacy of vertical over horizontal relationships.19

Albert Observed that "while there is a term and a role
model for equals, normal thinking is done in terms of

"20 Albert also concluded that

superiors and inferiors.
the exchange.up and down the hierarchical ladder resulted
in a combination of economic and political power because
the relationships surrounding grants of material goods
were defined in terms of personal loyalty or, in the
ideal expression, in kinship terms.21 To apply these
insights to the case at hand, there may well have been

a frustration over the symbolic lack of trust repre-
sented by the perpetuity lease as well as a sense of
betrayal in that the "inferiors" (with respect to the
powerful church in America) had paid up in token gifts
(their devotion and loyalty to the denominational
identity) but the "superiors" were now reneging on the
bargain. There is some support for this conclusion in
the protestations of maturity, the repeated professions

of a desire to have missionaries and even, on the one

occasion, an accusation of "fear of us" directed against

 

19Georges Smets, "The Structure of the Barundi
Community," MAN, Vol. 46 (Royal Anthropological Institute
of Great Britain and Ireland, 1946), p. 16.

20Albert, "Valeurs," p. 155.

21Albert, "Socio-Political Organization," p. 51.

191

the Missionary Secretary. The references to the former
dominance of the mission and to the missionaries as
spokesmen for the church with emphasis on the change
in status ("But now we are a full conference and recog-
nized as such in the country . . . ") associated with
the incorporation of the conference indicate some ten-
dency to see the situation as a role-reversal on a
vertical axis--i.e. that whereas in the past the field
mission was on top, now the conference is on top, and,
by inference, someone has to be "under." A Murundi
respondent reflecting on this case writes,

Does the Church have authority over them [the

missionaries] when they are in Africa or do they

remain solely under the control of the General

Conference? Sometimes a missionary is returned

home without consultation with the Church or,

again, another is called without the Church's

knowledge. The limits of power between the Church

and the Mission are not well defined.22

4. The symbolism of land. As mentioned earlier

the property issue may be seen as a focus for the control
aspect of the conflict. On the other hand, there appears
to be more to this than simply a convenient issue on
which to take a stand. While formal ownership of land
in Burundi did not ante-date the colonial era the

granting of rights of cultivation or pasture by the

chiefs were passed from generation to generation and

 

22Letter of March 21, 1975.

192

:jealously guarded. It is perhaps surprising that,
vvithout a history Of formal land ownership, the Burundians
should be such a land-bound people. This may be par-
‘tially explained by the Bantu concept of communal
:relationship to the land, communal in the sense that
asociety not only consists of the living but of the
cieparted dead, and, to a lesser degree, those not yet
loorn. Because of this the land, its fertility and ties
'to the ancestral spirits, looms large in the Burundi
ivorld-view. (It should be noted at this point that
Inission properties were held by lease-title and not
Iby outright ownership.) A Burundian speaks to the
jproperty issue in which he appears to use "rights" and
"ownership" interchangeably:
This question appeared so difficult because the
leaders of the national church and the missionaries
did not understand each other very well on the
principle of property rights in the African world
and in the western world. It is also true that
there was an underlying symbolic importance. And
this symbolism centered on the right to ownership.
In effect, prOperty is part of the human condition
in Africa and in Burundi in particular. It is
only an animal that possesses nothing. Man ii!
but he not only ii; he has also. Therefore a
black Church that has rights over nothing is a
Church which only half lives. That is to say
that "who has nothing i§_not."23
The same philOSOphy is encountered in Barundi proverbs:

"Urugo rubi ruruta uruboho," A poor house is worth

more than a meal. Another states: "Itungu ry'umuntu

 

23Letter of March 21, 1975.

193

aryihebuye yafuye," One doesn't abandon his property
without dying.24 The latter saying may apply also to
the fact that at the granting of the full conference
the field mission appeared to "die" but then, over time,
in the view of the Africans, it began not only to reclaim
its property but, by virtue of its special relationship
to the source of supply, also its influence and power.
Albert observed that the receptivity to an inno-
vation involving displacement of a familiar cultural item
may be expected to vary inversely with the intensity and
centrality of the value or item to be replaced.25 This
suggests that, consciously or unconsciously, the formal
treatment of property rights from the western point of
view may have constituted an aversive kind of challenge
to a central and deeply ingrained sub-system of values

built around land.

5. The political input. Reference to the chrono-
logical chart (See p. 194) gives an overview of the
intense political struggle going on in Burundi from
1958 to the present. Beginning at about that time,
accelerated contacts with the outside world, awareness

Of the independence struggle in Congo two years in

 

24Bernard Zuure, L'Ame du Murundi (Paris: Gabriel
Buchesne et ses fils, 1932i, pp. 167, 168.

 

25Albert, "Socio-Political Organization."

194

 

 

Conference: Political Scene:

mid-October l96l--full con- October 30, 1961--Prince
ference constitution draft- Rwagasore, prime minister
ed, 25th anniversary of designate assassinated.
F.M. work in Rwanda & ‘ June 30, l962--National
Burundi Independence.

January 15, l965--Ngenda-
ndumwe, Hutu prime minis-
ter assassinated.

End of January 1965-~Red
Chinese delegation given
48 hours to leave.

Early 1965, Hutus win 23/33
seats in net. assembly

October l96S--Prime Minis-
ter Biha wounded in
assassination attempt.

December l965--86 Hutu
officials executed.

June l966--First draft
revised constitution July 8, 1966-~Charles
Ndizeye overthrows father,
is declared king.
November l966--Missionary
Secretary's encounter,
Bujumbura

November 28, 1966--Col.
Micombero declares a
republic.

July l967--second draft of
constitution

March l969--Bishop Boyd en-
counter in annual conf.

March 29, 1969-~1etter from
MS to Burundi Council

May 3, 1969--new constitu-
tion approved by Council

May 21, l969--letter from
the Council to MS.

June 1969--constitution is
approved by Gen. Conf.
December 1969-~26 Hutu
leaders executed.
February 9, l970--letter of
MS to Bur. conf. listing
new appointees.
Figure 6

Chronology

195

advance of its own, the political propaganda of vying
leaders-~all these tended to sensitize a feudal society
and to give encouragement to the aspirations of the Hutu
majority. They learned quickly and suffered for their
precociousness. The latest chapter in this struggle

was the genocidal massacre of an estimated 300,000 Hutu
after an abortive coup attempt in 1972. The precise
influence of this developing political self-consciousness
is hard to assess accurately but it is clear that this
dimension of the situation is an important one. The
encounter with the Missionary Secretary in November 1966
evoked the image of the former colonial power who had
bequeathed real estate to the new nation. The initial
impetus of the World Fellowship as a response to
nationalism and drives for independence all over the
world made this analogy a natural one. Its importance
will be considered further in the analysis of the power
factors.

Perceptions of the North
Americans InvOIVed

 

 

Four missionaries actually in service on the
Burundi field and with service records of from twelve
to over twenty years were queried on various aspects
of this conflict as described on page 27 of Chapter 1.
All agreed emphatically that the climate of inde-

pendence had a major influence on the interaction

196

and all agreed that the Burundi church maintained a

more or less constant monitoring of neighboring church
groups with respect to their mission/church relations
and amount of material aid. There was general awareness
of cross-cultural communication problems even though all
of the missionaries contacted speak Kirundi fluently.
While all stated that there were cross-cultural tensions
there seemed to be no consensus as to their nature.

One suggested "generationism in the third culture"

among the missionaries as a possible contributing
factor-—the fact that some were new, some were "exper-
ienced" and some were "Old timers" having matured under
the colonial regime. (It is not clear how this is
intended to apply as the missionary group appeared to
Show a large degree Of unanimity under the pressures

of the conflict situation.) Another spoke of "misunder-
standings" over houses and a third mentioned the

"family dimension" of ownership as over against the

more individualistic western concept. This latter
respondent added that he still hears the parent-
inheritance analogy in which the parent is judged more
or less worthy by what he provides. The missionaries
were unanimous in concluding that the issues are still
there and that they will recur. Frustrations with
having missionaries in superior roles, recognition of

the mere formality of Council approval of missionary

197

assignments under the present system, dissatisfaction
with houses left empty, economic inequalities-~all are
listed as latent complaints, not far beneath the surface.
One missionary suspects that the Africans are minimizing
minor differences in order to concentrate on more pro-
ductive issues. A veteran missionary now retired con-
siders that the massacre of Hutu leadership in 1972

has curtailed free expression of militance for the
present but that with the rise of another generation

in a decade the situation will resume. On the possi-
bility Of organizational breakdown two missionaries

feel that this was a real possibility, i.e. that severing
of relations was seriously considered by the nationals.
On the other side, one missionary states, "I don't really
think there was. They knew . . . they couldn't go it
alone." A fourth considers that "The Church pulled back
rather than allow a breakdown. When they realized where
the mission stood they respected this stand in order to
insure the continued presence of missionaries."

The Missionary Secretary sees the colonial turn-
over analogy as setting a precedent of "something for
nothing” and is convinced that, in the church situation,
even the independence and nationalistic sentiments were
subordinate to desires of certain leaders for personal
gain in control and material benefits. He is aware of

the possible influence of a neighboring mission which

198

turned over complete authority and underwrote the
salaries of the higher church officers. He tends to
discount cross-cultural elements and see this as a
simple control struggle. In his view a confusion in
the minds of the Africans between the ecclesiastical
authority of the bishops and the administrative authority
of the GMB may have complicated things. The Secretary
does not expect these same issues to recur feeling that
clarification has achieved a moderation of attitudes.
He states, however, that "There was a point where I
felt there could be a complete breakdown."

The bishop involved in the 1969 encounter does
not count the cross-cultural communication problem as
a major factor. He expects that these issues will
likely come up again sometime as they are common issues
on many mission fields.

Overall, while none of the westerners seemed to
have reflected in any ordered way on possible cultural
factors influencing the conflict situation, the mission-
aries seem much more aware that the sources of the con-
flict are still there, though presently latent in form,

and that these will certainly emerge at a later time.

Persistence of the Issues
An assessment of the persistence of the issues

after the affair may be had from two sources:

199

l. A young missionary who spent three years from
1971-1974 in Burundi was queried specifically on the
issues and any reading on attitudes which he might have
from casual contacts with African leaders. His response
on this is most emphatic:

I have got the feeling from direct Observation of
reactions in discussions that the leaders in the
church feel that there is simply no use in trying
to discuss certain matters . . . at this time.

My underscoring of the last three words indicates
that the issues are by no means dead. I would say
that the Africans have a sense of resignation for
the present because it is not worthwhile to pursue
the question. Especially is this true, I think,
in the matter of stationing the missionaries.

 

On the subject Of attitudes to the resolution of
the issues in the constitutional conflict he registers
the feeling that the Africans feel the "co-officership"
on the treasurer position is meaningless for them. He
does feel there is a "growing understanding and appre-
ciation for each other on our field" and expresses the
hope that "with the upcoming leadership of the new
recruits among our missionaries, the day will come when

the issues can be satisfactorily resolved."26

2. As a second source on the persistence of the
conflict issues two senior Burundian pastors, now in
their sixties and among the early converts of the

missionaries, were asked the same questions as those

 

26Letter Of April 11, 1975.

200

presented to the missionaries. While the answers
returned do not follow strictly the order of the
questions a few pungent comments will serve to illustrate
that the issues of the constitutional conflict are still
very fresh in his thinking. After commenting on the
forbidding of missionary houses to African workers,
even when they stood empty for long periods of time and
even where the African was a direct replacement for a
missionary, one disposes of the jurisdictional matter
on properties and houses with the comment: "Do you not
find it strange that buildings of the conference Of
Burundi are in Burundi and yet are ruled from America?"
On the subject of priorities (presumably this
relates to the deployment of missionary personnel) he
speaks of the prestige of the Free Methodist work (its
long history and relatively large size) and then regrets
that there is no high school which belongs uniquely to
the Free Methodist conference. He notes that they (the
Africans) have not even spoken of this desire for the
past year because nothing was coming of it (literally:
"we were not able to bring it to pass"). He asserts,
"These things still trouble us citizens thoroughly."
With regard to the co-treasurers he states: "As
I see it this should be changed because it has no mean-
ing. I see that we elect two but only one functions

(the missionary). This bothers us greatly."

201

He mentions the disparity in economic resources
between missionary superintendents and African superin-
tendents with respect to developing their districts.
Here he seems to be making a more general statement but
his comment would relate specifically to the issue of
travel funds in the constitutional conflict.

Then, in conclusion:

You asked me if there are things we saw in other
conferences which made us troublesome over that
constitution; look yourself at other conferences:

Is there not even one high school which they have?

Is it not known that they have some university-

level schools?

Are there no new buildings? How many years have
passed in Burundi without even one building being
added [in our work]? 27
The things which I remember clearly are these . . .

The second pastor reflects almost identical con-
cerns with the additional complaint that there is a
fundamental lack of trust between Africans and mis—
sionaries and between Africans and the mission board.

He scores the field mission for lack of consultation

on such disparate matters as candidates for scholarships
and use of finance from America and seems to feel that
missionaries cite the constitution to quell discussion
on sensitive tOpics such as use of houses or finance.

He also states that there is a gap between the per—

ceptions of those at higher levels of church leadership

and what goes on at field level: "Those on the other

 

27Letter of March 18, 1975.

202

side [of the ocean] think that we are one but we do not

see this when we are with the missionaries."28
Perhaps the first comment that should be made is

that in answering, the first pastor re-phrased the

question from "that which you tried to do through the

constitution" to "which made us troublesome over that

constitution" indicating that the Africans were not

unaware of the stir they were causing through the changes

they were introducing. The comments and tone Of both

men's responses point up the fact that the issues of

the conflict episode under examination still constitute

a latent conflict situation oriented toward some future

time. Some Of the comments, particularly those by

first senior pastor cited, shed additional light back

on the conflict situation itself. The strong aspiration

for a high school suggests a specific motivation for

the Africans' intransigence on the matter of missionary

stationing. (The Missionary Secretary mentions that

he remembered part of the discussion as having to do

with the assignment of a literature missionary to the

girls home economics school as principal. --Letter of

February 25, 1975) In this light it would appear that

the missionary appointment issue was really an attempt

by the Africans to bend the field mission to their

 

28Letter of April 17, 1975.

203

priorities, in this case a high school and a very dear
priority in their thinking. Hence, even after capitu-
lating on the matter of missionary residences in the
1967 draft, they still attempted to salvage this pre-
rogative.

The Power Relationships and
FormaI'Strategies

 

 

Apart from using some of the general insights on
the influence of the environment on management style
(Chapter 2, Farmer and Richman, p. 37; Negandhi, p. 37;
and Estefan, p. 38) and references to values studies,
the two most useful models for analyzing this conflict
situation are Pondy's Conflict Episode model (p. 42) which
has provided the general organization for the material on
this case) and the Political System model of Bachrach
and Baratz (p. 15). In fact the two models may be
combined so that Pondy's model covers the development
of a conflict situation up to the point of manifest
conflict which corresponds to the point on the Bachrach-
Baratz model labeled "Persons and Groups seeking re-
allocation of values." The presentation of the case
itself has been designed to cover the evolution of the
situation mainly from the Burundian point of view on
the basis of the evidence available. This perspective
facilitates use of the combined model as described above.

In looking at the power factors operative in the arena

204

Of manifest conflict the issues themselves may be tempo—
rarily laid aside and the positions of the two parties
appear to be these: In terms of the Bachrach-Baratz
model the national conference, seeking a re-allocation
of values, challenged the authority of the General
Missionary Board on the basis of two sources of power,
(1) the egalitarian brotherhood concept learned from
Christian teaching and brought into prominence by the
World Fellowship movement (This element is drawn from
the Shared value system of the denomination.) and (2)
the sense Of national autonomy generated by the inde-
pendence movement within the country (an element drawn
from sources external to the church Situation). Con—
tributing to the articulation and affective dimensions
of this input were longstanding cultural inputs.

On the side of the mission board (identified on
the Bachrach-Baratz model as "Persons and groups com-
mitted to existing values") the Missionary Secretary
based his stand (drawn from the Shared pool of denomi—

national values) on the Book of Discipline and precedent

 

in terms of administrative policy governing mission
affairs and relationships with regard to the overseas
conferences. The Secretary also pointed out that the
structure placed in the hands of the General Missionary
Board not only certain definite policies and procedures

but, in addition to these, virtually complete control

205

of the "channel of policy choices" so that not only
must those in favor of a re-allocation win approval at
stage one in the face-to-face encounter but they must
also win at every subsequent stage (in this case, review
of the constitution by the General Missionary Board for
recommendation to the General Conference and then
approval by General Conference).
Considered in strictly formal terms this model
leaves little doubt as to who dominated the power system.
It is clear from his statements that the Mis-
sionary Secretary was subject to other contingencies
independent Of the shared value system and these, Spe-
cifically, were related to his perception Of missionary
morale and personnel problems. In commenting on his
change of administrative style with respect to that of
his predecessor and his more positive emphasis on the
distinct role of the field mission, the Missionary
Secretary observed (letter of April 2, 1975);
I think the change that came into my thinking was
not so much from being able to objectively study
what had taken place but rather from a very
practical standpoint we ran head on into some
rather serious interpersonal and morale problems.
It became apparent that the integrated fusion
approach was much too idealistic.
Auxiliary inputs noted in the foregoing dis-

cussion of the case also include the more individualistic

‘Western approach on the side of the GMB.

206

If the commentary on this case is summarized in
terms of the Bachrach-Baratz model (see Chapter 1, p. 15),
the map of the conflict situation results in the arrange-
ment in Figure 7 (p. 207).

Much Of the description of this episode has
centered on the power-influence interaction area.
Stage one in the channel of policy decisions refers
to GMB review of the constitutional changes; stage two
to approval by General Conference. By revealing his
power in the channel of policy decisions area the
Missionary Secretary attempted to bring about modifi-
cations in the issue flow before it reached stage one
where formal rebuff was inevitable. In actual fact,
the first draft was turned back at stage one. The
first draft represented a largely unconditioned expres-
sion of the will of the African conference. The
November 1966 encounter occurred in the period imme-
diately after this rebuff in a time of reaction on the
Africans' part to this rejection of their aspirations.
Draft two was modified to some extent by the inter-
actions but was again turned back at stage one along
‘with specific instructions for its modification in
order to make it acceptable. This was followed by a
moratorium of nearly two years followed by a decision
to re-submit draft two unchanged. This action instigated

a new initiative on the part of the Missionary Secretary

 

 

 

1207

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:~ m P:
g 0 Sources of power and m
g 8 c7: legitimation in the SH ,
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1
group com— group seek-
mitted to ing
existing <[____H__Ppwer:influ§pce____*_re-allocation
allocation interaction Of values
of values (Africans)
(GMB) lissue
\\ flow
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\ \
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\ stage m
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stage .3
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-a
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o O
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Figure 7

Charting on the Bachrach/Baratz Political System Model

208

who then applied a threat of applied sanctions (sus-
pension of new missionary appointments pending a clear
lease on the residences and other conditions) along with
inducements (information on a new missionary couple
available for appointment and suggestion of further
possible appointments) in order to encourage a positive
response. A constitution was then drawn following the
prescribed model including all the stipulations neces-
sary for approval. This was duly approved in June 1969.
The clear understanding on the part of the Africans of
the sanction/inducement mechanism is attested to by the
letter from the Council to the Missionary Secretary of
May 21, 1969 collecting on the personnel promises and
adding on a few additional requests for scholarships.
Bachrach and Baratz caution against a mis-
evaluation of the power balance in such episodes:
It is Often inferred that because a group is
unorganized, inarticulate, and lacks effective
access to key centers of decision-making, it is
totally powerless in every sense of the word.
The inference would be totally incorrect. An
investigation might well reveal that decision-
makers alter their policy choices out of deference
to the supposedly powerless group, in anticipation
that failure to do so would bring on severe depri-
vations, e.g. riots, boycotts, and so on. Here
is a situation in which policy-makers' recognition
of the possibility of future sanctions (pptential

power) results in "exercise" of power in the
present.29

 

29Bachrach and Baratz, Power and Poverty, p. 26.

 

209

While the Burundi conference and its Council
was far from unorganized or inarticulate it is clear
from the analysis that it did not have effective access
to key centers for decision-making in the formal structure.
At the very least its access was very restricted. On
the other hand, to say it was powerless would be in
error. It forced a very thorough and long-term airing
of the issues; it demanded and received attention from
the higher echelons of the church; and history Shows
that its plaints were not totally over-ridden. The
missionary apartments in Bujumbura were turned over to
the Conference in 1969. The letter from the Missionary
Secretary of February 9, 1970 to the Conference lists
not only clearance of the promised appointees but
announces others as well.

If both missionaries and nationals are to be
believed, what was achieved was not a resolution but

rather a stay of conflict and a modus vivendi consti-

 

tuting a field of latent conflict reserved for some
future episode. This, too, recommends caution in the

assessment of power factors.

Chapter 5
THE BRAZIL CASE
OVERVIEW

The case to be considered here concerns what may
be seen most broadly as adjustments in the complex of
relationships between the General Missionary Board and
interacting Free Methodist church bodies in Brazil cover-
ing a period of approximately ten years. Out of this
most general statement of the problem emerges a more
specific issue, the allocation of institutional control
with regard to the Free Methodist seminary in Sao Paulo,
Brazil. The issue manifests itself around two foci
which represent the major interest areas of this case:

(1) the constitution of the seminary, a document deter-
mining the extent of participation in its governance by
each Of the parties involved; and (2) the specific
problem of introducing a Brazilian national (ethnically
a Japanese Nikkei, or immigrant) into a position of
administrative leadership in the seminary.

Apart from the intrinsic interest of the conflict

situation, part of the rationale for the inclusion of

210

211

this case in the overall study is that the presentation
of an "untidy" case has its own illustrative value both
in demonstrating the complexity of relationships which
conflict episodes may involve and in pointing up the
range of applicability of constructs such as the Pondy
model (p. 42) in accommodating conflict episodes where
there is inter-relatedness without direct causation.

In the case at hand the total time period covered may
be visualized as a series of conflict situations Of
descending order of generality where each is in a sense
related to the former and yet is not directly caused by
it. The significance of this aspect of the case for
the Pondy model will be discussed in the commentary
section on this case.

The organization of the material for the two
main issues in this case utilizes the Pondy levels of
conflict in the general outline. The two issues are
treated generally as separate conflict episodes. At
appropriate points relationships between the two will

be indicated.

SOURCES

The material included in the development of

this case study came from essentially three sources:

1. An examination of general historical sources

of the period under study;

212

2. An analysis and correlation of documents in the

GMB archives; and

3. Consultations with participants and Observers
with varying kinds of exposures to the two

conflict interactions.

In all, five missionary respondents supplied information
and individual perspectives on the events being

examined. Two Brazilian nationals, both Japanese, and
the Missionary Secretary contributed their recollections
and insights on the case. While names are not used in
the presentation of the material, where possible the
class identity of the sources is indicated in the text.
Deliberate imprecision is employed in the designation

of certain official titles in order to preserve anonymity

where it appears advisable.

BACKGROUND

Beginning and Early Progress
Of the Work

 

 

The Free Methodist work in Brazil is centered
in the Sao Paulo area. Sao Paulo is Brazil's largest
city with a population of 6 million in 1970, over half
of the country's industrial production, and its Second
highest per capita income. Japanese missionaries from
the Free Methodist Church in Japan moved into the area

beginning in 1928 and others continued to join them on

213

into the late 1930s. The first American missionary was
assigned in 1946. In 1953 a hundred-acre campus was pur-
chased for a seminary at Mairapora outside of Sao Paulo.
In 1955 a constitution for the South American Provisional
Conference was approved including three sections of work:
the Japanese churches, the Brazilian sector (Portuguese
speaking) and the work in Paraguay. Seminary classes
Opened in 1956 with construction partially completed on
the new campus.1 By 1960 the student body had grown to
twenty-four but there was agitation by the students for

a move to urban Sao Paulo in order to have jobs and min-
istry opportunities not available to them in the rural
setting. Through the years 1961-62 the pressure for the
move Spread through the conference; enrollment dropped to
eighteen; conference leaders discouraged new candidates
from enrolling so that after graduation, with no new
recruits, the enrollment stood at four. Late in 1962 the
Conference Board Of Administration appointed a study com—
mittee on relocating the seminary. The move was recomr
mended by the committee and approved by the conference

in January 1963 on an experimental basis. Student
enrollment for the first semester rose to twenty, then

to thirty-seven for the second semester. By 1965,

 

1Lamson, Venture, p. 249.

214

including extension registrants and those taking courses

by correspondence, the enrollment had risen to 199.2

Inter-group Relationships in
the Church in Brazil

 

 

The Japanese missionaries from Japan worked
mainly with the substantial Japanese immigrant community
in Sao Paulo and established churches in that group.

With the coming of American missionaries attention

turned to the Latin Portuguese-speaking Brazilian pOpu—
lation. In this way the two ethnic groups were brought
under the aegis of one conference in which the Japanese
leadership was dominant.3 The Japanese sector remained
very traditionalist, insisting on worship in the Japanese
language even to the point of risking alienation of

their own young people, products of a Portuguese-language
school system. This traditionalist position weakened
Japanese commitment to a seminary program led by
Portuguese-speaking missionaries and conducted in
Portuguese. According to a missionary close to the
situation there was a complex of communication and

valuational problems:

 

2Information compiled from an undated briefing
(paper in GMB files entitled "Development of Seminary
Program and Problem from Beginning," probably produced
in June 1965.

3Letter of General Missionary Secretary,
IFebruary 25, 1975.

215

l. The Nikkei conference Speaks almost entirely
Japanese while Brazilians and missionaries speak

Portuguese.

2. The relative disinterest in the seminary on the

part of the Nikkei leadership has been mentioned.

3. Some missionaries largely involved with evangel—
istic work in the Brazilian sector were also

cool toward the seminary as a priority project.

The Political Situation

 

Two missionary respondents, one with nearly
thirty years experience in Latin America, commented
specifically on the relevance of the political situation
surrounding the coup d'etat of 1964 to the case under
consideration. Some of the salient features of that
period are presented here.

Among the sources consulted with a view to
getting perspective on the coup d'etat Of 1964 the work
of Octavio Ianni, professor of sociology at the Uni-
versity of Sao Paulo and lecturer at Columbia University
in 1967, seems to offer the best documented and balanced

analysis of what took place.5

 

4Letter of February 19, 1975.

5Unless otherwise indicated the material on this
subject will be taken from Octavio Ianni, Crisis in
Brazil (New York: Columbia University Press, 1970).

216

Ianni sees three successive economic models
operating in modern Brazilian history:

1. Exportation of tropical products, importation
Of manufactured goods. (1900-1930)

2. Substitution for manufactured imports by
local production.

Coup d'état of l964-—transition to associate
model

3. Result: "Implicit in the combination and
regrouping of Brazilian and foreign firms is

the formulation of a new concept of economic,

political, cultural, and military interdepen-

dence between Latin America and the United

States." (p. 8)

In short, Ianni sees the era from the 19208 to
the 19503 as a period of creation of a new national con—
sciousness but then in the coup of 1964 Brazil was
thrown back into the internationalist model based on
integration into the world capitalist system and
dependence on foreign capital (pp. 9, 123).

The years 1960-1964 were filled with "possibili-
ties and dilemmas" including the decoration of "Che"
Guevara, the activism of student groups and organized
labor, the "obstinate" continuation of relations with
Cuba, several attempted coups d'état and increasing
direct military involvement in government (p. 121).

The economy was out of control with 1750 percent

inflation in eleven years (p. 57).

217

The military saw the situation just before the
coup as an imminent Communist take-over: "The ignominy
of a Communist-inspired union dictatorship is without
doubt hovering over the Brazilian nation."6

Ianni sees the coup as a capitulation to United
States interests and perspectives:

I maintain . . . that a colonial-fascist regime
was inaugurated in Brazil in 1964, a regime
defined by submission to the politico-military
principles of a geopolitical system developed
according to Washington's perspective in the
first phase of the cold war. (p. 202)

Whatever interpretation is put on the Situation,
the results of the 1964 coup have been increased depen-

dence on foreign capital and a tying of the Brazilian

economy into the dollar bloc.

Field Mission/National Church

 

The first six months of 1965 found the missionary
group in Brazil struggling to find its place with respect
to the impending organization of a full conference.
(Actually, during this period, the decision was crystal-
lized to form two conferences corresponding to the two
ethnic groups found in the Free Methodist work.) The
autonomy implicit in the full conference concept seemed

to leave no place for the missionaries, at least unless

 

6Confidential document delivered by General of
the Army Pery Constant Bevilacqua, Armed Forces Chief of
Staff, to the President of the Republic on March 31,
1964 (eve of the coup). Quoted in Ianni, p. 139.

218

they were willing to transfer their membership to the
conference on the same basis as nationals. In a dis-
cussion between the General Missionary Secretary and the
Area Secretary for Latin America on February 3, 1965 the
following highly indicative questions were considered
under the title "Role of the missionary in [an] indigenous
country":

1. Should the missionary quit and come home?

2. Should he continue to work there as a missionary
co-laborer with the nationals?

3. Should he separate himself completely from them
and work in another area?

4. [Should he] join the conference, become subser-
vient and become a pastor like any national?7

Some statements from a covering letter from the
field mission executive committee reflect their pre-
occupation with these problems:8

The enclosed recommendation [for special furlough
for one of the ordained missionaries] is not a spur-
of—the-moment decision but rather the culmination Of
many months of personal and collective wrestling
with this problem and of honest inquiry into the
perplexing question of how the Brazil mission and
particularly the evangelistic missionaries should
relate themselves to the newly emerging Brazilian
national church and what posture we should take
toward this church under the present uncertain and
nebulous circumstances in which we find ourselves.

The Brazilian conference is completely self—
governing, nearly self—supporting (95%) but as yet
has not caught a vision for its own self-propagation.
This is due largely to its preoccupation with
organization (formulating a new constitution, etc.)

 

7GMB archives.

8Letter of March 31, 1965.

219

and getting the "feel" of its newly earned autonomy.
This is quite natural and not at all strange that
its attention is absorbed more with its organization
than with evangelism.

. . . it has attained great degree of
autonomy and complete independence from the mission
on the field and the GMB, and is now related
directly to the General Conference of North
America.

It is har for the emerging adolescent church
to have respect for its parent at this time because
it is so enthralled with its newly acquired freedom
and its own rebellious spirit is too much a part
of it yet.

The letter Of response by the General Missionary
Secretary could not be located but his hand-written notes
on the above letter reflect a reaction to the statement
on relationships wherein the GMB is by-passed: "The GMB
i5 part of that General Conference!" In a later
reference to the letter presumably drafted from the
notes cited just above the Missionary Secretary calls

the missionaries' attention to the Discipline, para-

 

graph 141.9 B (1964) which delineates the relationships
of full conferences and general conferences of mission
origin as being to the Commission on Missions and
through the field mission. Reference is also made

to the liaison committee of missionaries and national
leaders.9 It is likely the direct response by the
Missionary Secretary to the field executive committee

was made in early April.

 

9Letter of June 28, 1965.

220

Other documents confirm the agitation among the
missionaries over their role in the emerging situation.
A young evangelistic missionary prepared a study paper
at the request of the Area Secretary with the title,
"The Role of the Missionary on the Field in Relation
to the National Church Conference and the Commission

10 The study paper deals with two styles

on Missions."
Of mission/church field relationships--integrative
(fusion) and cooperative. One of the problems seen
in the "cooperative" model espoused by the paper is the
Situation where missionaries are divided among them—
selves as to philosophy between these two alternative
modes of operation:

How is it possible for the mission to maintain

program if there is philoSOphical and organiza-

tional division? It behooves the GMB, National

Churches and the World Fellowship to resolve

this problem.

In looking back to this period the General

Missionary Secretary comments on the frustration over
attempts to implement the "total integration" policy

and the serious morale problems it created among the

missionary staff. He states:

 

10March 26, 1965, copy sent to the General
Missionary Secretary on April 7, 1965.

221

The morale problem was with the mission since they
were all opposed to the constitution that was pro-
posed. It meant that they no longer had any
recourse as to what they did or how they were to
operate in the program. 1

The relevance of this Situation among the mis-

sionaries will be explored in the further develOpment of
the case but it is appropriate to underscore at this
point that the missionaries as a group were not in a
condition to give clear guidance or advice to the
emerging national church at that time. Not only was

the missionary group discouraged but, from the internal
evidence, there was substantial division among them as
to what alternative to choose in relating to the con-
ference or what to recommend. This situation contributed
to a decline of communication at a critical point in
field mission/national church relations. In a letter

of March 27, 1965 from the Brazil mission executive
committee this Situation is described:

The nationals have not come up with a program
for using the evangelistic missionary nor have they
approached him about helping them.

The mission, on the other hand, feels very
reluctant about taking the initiative in asking
the nationals if and how they would like to utilize
the talents of the evangelistic missionaries for
fear that their reaction may be very superficial
and unnatural because it is not based on a "felt
need." ‘

At this point another dimension of the latent

conflict situation should be mentioned as relating both

11Letter of February 25, 1975.

222

to the missionary's role and the political attitudes in
the country. In the Latin America Fellowship Conference
held in January 1962 a number of Significant statements
were made bearing on missionary service in the national
church. At that conference a national delegate from
Brazil stated that

. . . when missionaries start work with an
abundance of equipment--audio-visual aids espe-
cially--some provision should be made for the
national worker that follows. Too Often he is
left without much of this sort of assistance.

Another problem is that the missionary has
his support from the mission, his standard of
living is above that of the average church
member and little effort is made to teach
tithing. This puts the national worker in a
difficult position as his support must come
from the people untrained in the stewardship of
their possessions.

The Findings Committee at that conference empha-
sized the need for the church in Latin America to involve
itself in the class struggle for social justice.13 A

14 The matter

trace of anti-North Americanism was noted.
of the differential in living standards between mis-
sionaries and nationals was also in the missionaries'
thinking in 1965 as may be seen in a statement in the
study paper on the role of the missionary (see above

p. 220, footnote 10) in which the author is criticizing

the "integration" approach:

 

12Lamson, Tide, p. 73.

13Ibid., p. 76. 14Ibid., p. 77.

223

. . . his [the missionary's] salary comes from
abroad and is higher than that of the national
brethren in the same conference. His manner of
living and his privileges set him apart . . . and
likely this partial effort to integrate will
create discontent and ill feelings.

The missionary represents a competitor--a
foreign competitor with financial power.

This section under the title "background" has
covered the level called "latent conflict" in Pondy's
model in that the local ground of the conflict with
respect to what appear to be the major variables has
been described, both in terms of its history and the
interrelationships of groups in Brazil. Pondy allows
for environmental effects which impinge on this level
and, in this section, the political climate surrounding
the 1964 coup and the state of uncertainty in the mis-
sionary group have been described. The situation among
the missionaries seems poised on the boundary between
"latent conflict" and "felt" or "perceived" conflict.
(Pondy's model indicates that movement from latent to
felt conflict is generally due to organizational and
extra-organizational tensions.) On the one hand, some
of the missionary letters of this time indicate more of
a sense of alienation than of conflict--tending to cate—
gorize this period of disorientation as predominantly
still in the "latent" category. On the other hand, the
analysis of organizational alternatives in the study

paper on the role of the missionary with respect to

224

the two alternative models, "integration" and "cooper-
ation," shows a rather well-defined perception and
feeling of conflict. This is indicated by the frequent
use of conflict-related terms such as "frustrating,"
"day of reckoning," and "competitor."

PERCEIVED CONFLICT MOVING INTO MANIFEST CONFLICT:
THE SEMINARY CONSTITUTION

In January 1964 a seminary constitution was pre—
sented to and approved by the Brazil annual conference
(formally a provisional conference) in which it was
stated that the seminary is "maintained and directed by
the annual conference of the Free Methodist Church of
Brazil to which it belongs." According to this document
the board of directors would consist of five members
elected by the annual conference on a system of rotating
terms. At the first election one missionary was elected
to the board. Under this constitution the board of
directors were given the power to elect the president,
dean and treasurer, hire all professors, approve the
budget, fix salaries, generally direct the school and
report yearly to the annual conference. The mission
(either field mission or General Missionary Board) is
mentioned only once in the constitution, under the
section on finance in a serial list of sources of funds:
"by subsidies from the Mission." Provisions for amend—

ment of the constitution included only reference to

225

proposals by the board of directors ratified by the
annual conference. This constitution assumed full
national control of the seminary.

In an undated document from the mission archives
giving a chronology of the develOpment of the seminary
from 1956 to 1965, a comment on the above action notes:
"The seminary now belongs to the Free Methodist Church
of Brazil and is governed by the Board of Directors."

In June 1965, reflecting the proposed division
into two separate conferences, the board of directors
of the Free Methodist Corporation in Brazil was expanded
to include five members from each of the conferences
(Brazilian and Nikkei). In the undated document cited
in the paragraph just above it is stated that this cor-
poration will oversee general interests of the Brazil
Free Methodist Church such as the seminary although,
while this group will be the final authority, the
seminary will be governed by its board of directors.

The concluding statement of the document (presumably
written in summer 1965) under the section title "Present
Situation" says: "1. The institution (seminary) belongs
to the national church. 2. The seminary property in
Mairipora belongs to the mission."

Since the document referred to (from which the
immediate foregoing statements have been taken) is entitled

"Development of Seminary Program and Problem from

226

Beginning" and ends with the statement on the "present
situation" emphasizing the matter of institutional
ownership, it may be concluded that it represents per-
ceived conflict (usually achieved according to Pondy's
model by "suppression and attention-focus mechanisms")
moving rapidly toward manifest conflict as GMB prepares
to respond to the situation.

Eighteen months elapsed (from January 1964 when
the first draft seminary constitution was presented and
approved by the Brazil annual conference to summer 1965)
before GMB or the General Missionary Secretary appears
to take notice of develOpments in regard to the seminary.
This slowness may be accounted for by the fact that the
General Conference of the denomination was held in Winona
Lake in June 1964 and, in that year, there was a change
of General Missionary Secretaries. Dr. Charles Kirkpatrick
was chosen from a conference administrative post on the
west coast. It is likely that the first several months
were spent in assimilation of the details of administer-
ing a world-wide program. In view of this it is not
altogether surprising that it was not until in spring
1965 after conversations with his area secretary
(February 3, 1965) and the reports from the field in
March and April (referred to above in the section on
field mission/national church relations) that the
Missionary Secretary began to devote special attention

to the problem.

227

Evidence which will be presented in the commen-
tary section also suggests that in the first six months
of the eighteen—month period, under the outgoing secre-
tary, this first seminary constitution was not considered
to be counter to GMB policy. This observation suggests
that the problem was, to some extent, both a cause and
a function of a change in GMB policy introduced by the
new secretary.

In summer 1965 the Missionary Secretary accom—
panied by an experienced lay member of the Commission
on Missions flew to Sao Paulo to meet with the Board of
Directors (also called Board of Administration and
Administrative Board) of the South America Conference.
The Missionary Secretary remembers the meeting as
achieving a resblution of the problem:

They agreed that the seminary would be under the
direction of the mission board as long as it was
supported with personnel and finance. I think
the time is approaching when we may be able to
disengage ourselves and we can count on their
being able to carry on effectively.15

The meeting in Sao Paulo was followed by a
letter of September 17, 1965 from the Missionary
Secretary addressed to the President of the Adminis—

trative Board of the South American Conference summar-

izing the outcome of the meeting and requesting that

 

15Letter of February 25, 1975.

228

the letter be circulated to members of the Board who

were not present at the time that the seminary consti-

tution was discussed.

The policy content of the letter is sufficiently

important to warrant a summary here:

1.

The seminary constitution is assumed to have
originated on the assumption that promotion to
full conference status automatically led to

turnover of all institutions.

In this regard (a) it is asserted that such
turnover is by no means automatic; (b) that

GMB has jurisdiction over approval of such
institutional constitutions; (c) that insti-
tutional control is related directly to pro-
vision of finance and personnel; (d) precedents
from other situations in unnamed fields are

referred to.

Participation in the Board of Directors of the
seminary: A board of seven is suggested with
two from each conference in Brazil and three

representing GMB.

Governance: The key point is that the president
shall be nominated by the Board of Directors

subject to the approval of GMB.

229

5. A promise is given that when the conference can
provide a majority of support and teaching staff,
consideration will be given to turning over

jurisdiction to the Brazilian church.

6. Property: It was agreed that proceeds from the
sale of the Mairipora seminary property will be
used for the seminary in Sao Paulo, for building,
land and the missionary residences of those who

are teaching in the seminary.

7. A last statement affirms that the General Mis-
sionary Board is willing to allocate some of its
funds in the budget for the seminary for a
national professor who assumes an administra-

tive position.

From September 17, 1965 there is a hiatus of
information until June 23, 1966 when a revised consti-
tution of the Brazil seminary incorporating the sug-
gestions in the policy letter was sent to the field by
the General Missionary Secretary. In his letter he
states that this constitution was prepared at the
request of the "board of trustees," presumably the
board of directors of the seminary. It had been
approved in advance by the Commission on Missions on
April 27, 1966. This constitution stated in article 2:

"The Seminary is maintained and directed by a Board of

230

Directors representing the General Missionary Board of
the Free Methodist Church and the two Brazil conferences."
The provision for election of the president includes
"subject to approval of the General Missionary Board"
and contains the further stipulation that GMB may nomi-
nate the president. The Board of Directors would report
annually to the Brazil annual conferences and the General
Missionary Board. Amendments to the constitution are to
be proposed by the Board of Directors and approved by
the General Missionary Board.

According to the record and subsequent history
this development seems to have marked the end to this
aspect of manifest conflict. The Missionary Secretary
states that he feels that the seminary problems have
been resolved.16

The commentary at the conclusion of this case
will have two parts one of which will be devoted to the
conflict discussion just concluded and another which
will treat the related conflict episode to be explored
below.

APPOINTMENT OF A NATIONAL AS
SEMINARY ADMINISTRATOR
This case may be related to the foregoing one as

an exercise of some part of the control in seminary

 

16Letter of February 25, 1975.

231

affairs achieved by GMB through the interaction described
above. The issue concerns the re-introduction of a
Brazilian national (ethnically a Nikkei Japanese) into

an administrative position at the Sao Paulo seminary.
More specifically, GMB, in line with its policy of
nationalizing the seminary staff as rapidly as feasible,
gave its support to the acceptance of this person into

an administrative role in the seminary while national

and field missionary leaders resisted the procedure for

reasons which will be given below.

Background

 

The administrator in question first came to the
United States in 1959 to study in an American seminary
where the Free Methodist church has an affiliation and
then went on to complete his doctoral studies in eastern
United States at a more liberal theological school.17
While at the latter institution the subject was considered
to have adopted vocabulary and doctrine of the neo-ortho-
dox school of theology which was at variance with the
doctrinal position of the Free Methodist Church. Two
of the sources report that he was aware of this problem

and, for that reason, wished to take a position at

one of the denominational colleges so that he would

 

17The information in this section is compiled
from the GMB archives and from other sources familiar
with the case.

232

have opportunity for dialogue with other professors of
religion. He felt that this would help him to evaluate
and consolidate his own theological position. Things
went so far in this direction that a contract had been
prepared at one of the Free Methodist colleges when it
became necessary for him to return to Brazil. There

is some lack of clarity on this point as to who was
pushing him to return to Brazil. One source cites the
Missionary Secretary of that time and another states
that it was the Nikkei conference in Brazil of which

the subject was a member. (It is likely that these
parties were in communication and, therefore, both views
may be to some extent correct.) In any case the subject
returned to Brazil in 1964 and taught part-time at the
seminary from 1964 until 1968, serving as dean for part
of this period. From January 1965 he was also pastor

of a Nissei (second generation Japanese) church.

During the years 1964—1968 a number of problems
surrounding this person began to surface. It was
alleged that his preaching and teaching betrayed a
strong neo-orthodox bent. His concern with the social
implications of the gospel in a time of extreme political
sensitivity caused him to be identified with some of
the more leftist Christian positions. The university
students as a class were very involved in social activism.

The United Methodist seminary in Sao Paulo had to

233

close for a period due to student unrest. The Free
Methodist seminary had many students from other denomi—
nations, among them a number from the Presbyterian church.
One Presbyterian student who graduated from the Free
Methodist seminary in 1967 took a church in his own
denomination, was accused of political activism and
arrested. Another Presbyterian graduate was criticized
within his own group over neo—orthodox doctrines. The
missionary who was seminary president took a six-month
leave from late 1967 to spring 1968. During his absence
some of the above incidents took place. It was also

at this time that the subject was in charge of the

school as dean, the second-ranking administrator. One
source reports complaints at this time by missionaries
and nationals regarding unorthodox teaching adding

that "In all of this, the Free Methodist Seminary was
receiving a bad name in the evangelical community and
most of the outside criticism was leveled at the teaching
and influence of [the subject]." Another source comments
that this situation "tended to heighten the conflict
situation between himself and the missionaries and
probably, to some extent, with the national church as
well." The latter source also cites an ultra-conserva-
tive church group who had students in the seminary and

who were very critical of the subject's influence.

234

At this point another aspect of the circumstances
in Brazil should be introduced, a factor which served to
amplify the influence of outside critics of the seminary
and of the subject as connected with it. In 1964 talks
were initiated by the president of the seminary with
other evangelical groups with a view to forming a union
seminary. The concept was approved in principle by the
Brazil annual conference in January 1965. Throughout
1965 the talks progressed to the point of drawing up a
joint statement of faith and a two-phased plan including
affiliation as a first step leading on to a full union
seminary. One source comments on the negotiations over
the union seminary saying that strong opposition came
from the missionaries of one group involved principally
because of the subject's theological position.

Another dimension of the situation involves a
dispute between the subject and the missionary superin-
tendent on doctrinal grounds. This conflict became so
acute that one source comments that there were points
where it appeared one or the other would have to be
withdrawn from the situation.

It must be kept in mind that many of these events
and ongoing situations were contemporaneous with the
profound sense of discouragement and disorientation
among the missionaries described above in connection

with the constitutional affair and the establishment

235

of the full annual conference. As a whole it is clear
that this was a period of great tension and polarization
among the various groups on the scene.

On the return of the missionary seminary president
in spring 1968 the situation was considered to be of
sufficient gravity as to entail the possible loss of the
subject to the Free Methodist work. As a result arrange-
ments were made from the field in cooperation with the
General Missionary Secretary to bring the subject to the
United States for employment in one of the denominational
schools. A source in Brazil at that time notes: "It
was hoped that this would relieve the problem in Brazil
and at the same time give him an opportunity to change
his views with the hope that he could be saved to the
work of the Free Methodist Church."18

Accordingly this project was carried out as a
joint project of the GMB and the employing college.

The subject remained in the United States until June 1971
when he returned to Brazil. It is at this point that

the actual conflict situation begins. The following,
including some carry-over from the constitutional
episode, may be cited as major factors in this area

of latent conflict which have been covered in the

foregoing discussion:

 

18Letter of March 13, 1975.

236

l. The allocation of control and initiative

determined by the seminary constitution.

2. The complex of relationships between the Nikkei
and Brazilian conferences, the seminary and

the missionaries.

3. The residue of suspicion built up in the years
1964-1968 with regard to the subject including

pressure from outside groups.

Other elements will come into focus as the
situation is developed.

Before going on to the next section it should be
noted that the subject's service in the American college
was much appreciated; he was very pOpular, made friends
and spent a very congenial three years. The subject's
reactions of this period show a high esteem for his col-
leagues in the college religion department and a great
appreciation for the Opportunities for dialogue and
reflection on his own theological and intellectual
development. During his stay a wave of spiritual
renewal spread across evangelical campuses in the
United States. The General Missionary Secretary
comments on the effects on the subject:

. . . there came into the life of [the subject] a
real spiritual renewal as he went through this
revival that started at Asbury and spread to

Greenville and other colleges. In fact he went
down to Asbury and witnessed as to what God had

237
done in his life and I would say that this, along 19
With the dialogue, made his return more acceptable.
Credence in this event established firm and con-
tinuing support from the side of GMB and, for that
reason, is important to the discussion that follows.

The Level of Perceived
and Felt Conflict

 

 

This part of the account begins with preparations
for the subject's return to Brazil in summer 1971 after
his sojourn in the United States. At this point the
movement takes on something of the character of an
organizational minuet, a reaction sequence involving
the parties in the field of conflict.

Before the annual conference in January 1971 the
subject wrote to the Nikkei conference of which he was a
member stating that he had assurance from GMB that when
he returned to Brazil he would be provided a mission
residence in which to live, a reasonable salary, help
with his children's education and perhaps some help on
transportation. In a letter of January 11, 1971 the
Missionary Secretary wrote to the field indicating his
desire to conserve the talents of the subject for the
seminary, his willingness to supplement the seminary
budget adequately in order to pay him "a salary com-

parable with a missionary" and his feeling that

 

19Letter of February 25, 1975.

238

a house being used by missionaries should be made
available to the subject. Whatever the exact language
used in communicating with the subject, sources close
to the situation agree that the subject was returning
to Brazil under the clear impression that he was an
employee of the General Missionary Board on much the
same basis as regular missionaries rather than as an
employee of the Brazil seminary. Missionaries on the
field felt that the seminary board in Brazil was being
asked to ratify a unilateral agreement reached between
the subject and GMB in the United States. They pointed
out that this contravened established field policy in
the employment of nationals (letter of GMB of January 18,
l97l--the day after annual conference closed). Something
of the climate of the discussions in the conference
sessions is revealed in the report of the presiding
bishop:
The most time-consuming and touchiest subject we
got on was that of the seminary and particularly
[subject's] returning to Brazil to assume responsi—
bilities with the seminary. There are many of the
Japanese who still question his theological views.
They are very much aware of the criticism that was
leveled at him by other missionary groups in the
country.20

At this time it appears the Japanese nationals

were preoccupied with the theological question and

 

20Bishop's report on the conference held
January 13-17, 1971.

239

criticisms from the outside while missionaries were
upset by what appeared to be an inconsistent policy
commitment by GMB.

In response to this situation the General Mis-
sionary Secretary replied with two letters, one to the
subject (February 5, 1971) and, on the same data, one
to the missionary superintendent in Brazil. To the
subject he addressed a clarification stating that the
GMB is only in a position to recommend to the board of
directors of the seminary and not to employ directly.
He adds, further:

As I mentioned to you before, the Missionary Board
will do all it can to encourage both the seminary
and the Nikkei conference of which you are a member

to work on adequate and fair arrangements on salary
and housing.

In the letter to the field mission the Secretary
assures the missionaries that he has written to the
subject making clarifications and indicating clearly
that his housing and salary are not to be cared for by
GMB nor is he an employee of the mission. The Secretary
accepted major responsibility for the misunderstanding:

It was unfortunate that we used the term
"mission support" in discussing [subject's] salary.
. . . The GMB is merely recommending that [i.e.
that the Nikkei conference provide housing] as a
step toward the national leadership and nationali-
zation of the seminary in 1980 or whenever.

I should reiterate the fact that it is better
if we have confidence in [subject] as the Com-
mission and I do. It is important that we bring
him in the front door of the seminary rather than
appoint him pastor and bring him in the back door.

240

A straightforward support by the mission of [subject]
will do more to help him find his place in the
future of the Brazil Free Methodist Church and in
the Free Methodist seminary than anything else we
can do.

In the same letter the matter of precedents is
discussed and it is agreed that employment should be
through the seminary as an institution on terms pre-
scribed by it.21 The Secretary concludes:

Let me repeat again my full endorsement of [subject]
theologically and spiritually and the hope that he
will find a meaningful place of service among his
own people, church and seminary.

A missionary source in Brazil at that time recalls
this letter as an admission of much of what the subject
had written to his conference and a tacit confirmation
of GMB's position that he should be put in as president
of the seminary.22

At this point the communication problem between
GMB and the missionary field leaders seemed to stabilize.
In a letter from the field a missionary spokesman wrote:

It is good that we can be so open and frank in

discussing these things and thus understand each

other better. Lack of communication causes many
misunderstandings. . . . It seems very evident

 

21The missionaries' objections on the employment
issue centered around the problems this could present in
regard to other nationals working in the seminary (their
pay scale) and morale problems for others working in the
churches on local support.

22The matter of the subject being introduced as
president was first introduced in correspondence in 1966
but was not explicit in the 1971 discussions.

241

that [the subject] certainly misunderstood you
from the things he said in his letter to you and
from the letter which he sent to the Nikkei
conference.

I think that you and I are in basic agreement
regarding [subject] and his return to his own
country: (1) That he is coming next June, (2)

That we must do everything we can to help him fit
in to his proper place in the Free Methodist Church
of Brazil, (3) That he has had a wonderful trans-
formation spiritually and is re—thinking his
theology, (4) That he should be supported ade-
quately by the national church as well as the
church here is able, on the basis of his training
in harmony with what other nationals are getting

in other seminaries, (5) That the Nikkei conference
should take part of the reSponsibility for his sup-
port and the seminary a part, (6) That he will
probably become one of the outstanding leaders in
the church and seminary here.23

The same communication observes: "It is very,
very (extremely) unfortunate that [the subject] misunder—
stood your discussion with him regarding his support and
wrote that letter to the Nikkei conference . . . . "

The missionary notes that on the basis of that under-
standing the conference had made no provision for the
subject outside of one—half of his transportation. Some
indication of the state of tension surrounding these
matters is given in the missionary's language as he
continues:

It is extremely unfortunate that [the subject] mis-

understood you regarding his being promised the

house where [missionaries] now live . . . . this

seems to be spread through the Nikkei conference.

. . . pressure could really become extreme down

here and make it really hard for the missionaries
if this is not cared for at once.

 

23Letter to the General Missionary Secretary,
February 19, 1971.

242

A seminary board of directors meeting was set
for February 26, 1971. One national member from each
of the conferences was absent leaving three missionaries
and two nationals in attendance. The result was that
the issue of employment of the subject was postponed
until the following meeting scheduled for March 16.

On March 5, 1971 the Director of Personnel at
GMB, a former missionary in Brazil, wrote a letter to
the field strongly endorsing the subject's orthodoxy
(on the basis of some published articles) and commitment
to the Free Methodist Church. In this letter he brings
up the matter of outside influences and their bearing
on the situation:

I keep wondering too if part of our problem during
the present time is not to protect our image with
such groups as Word of Life Fellowship, Oriental
Missionary Society, and so forth. My question
would be just how much have these organizations
contributed to us anyway, and why should we be

so careful lest we offend them?

In a letter of March 17, 1971 from the missionary
spokesman on the field, it is emphasized that the mis—
sionaries are not now opposing the subject's return,
that they are assured of his orthodoxy, and that they
are promoting his case with the national leaders. He
responds to the allegations that the field mission is
unduly influenced by neighboring evangelical groups:

Another thing that we ought to understand is that
we are not trying to satisfy the OMS or Word of
Life or the Nazarenes regarding [the subject],

except as it might influence the forming of a
union seminary sometime in the future.

243

From his point of View the locus of the problem
had shifted somewhat:

. . the real problem is with our own members in
the Nikkei and the Brazilian conferences. In
spite of all the missionaries are doing to assure
them that [the subject] has changed, one of the
members of the Board of Directors of the seminary
has said, "I'll believe it when I see it."

The reason for postponement of the Board of
Directors meeting from February 26 to March 16 seems
to have been because the absence of two national members
gave a composition of three missionaries and two nationals.
"I believe they were afraid in the February meeting that

the missionaries might want to force something upon them

against their wishes."24 In the letter of March 17 the

missionary leader continues at length in reporting the
outcome of the March 16 seminary board meeting and in
trying to put the total situation in perspective for
the Missionary Secretary:

The national church is beginning to take on more
and more responsibility for the leading of the
church. They feel this is Brazil, the church is
Brazilian and they are not happy to have North
Americans telling them what to do. This is good.
It demonstrated that the national church is
beginning to take hold on its own, but it steps
on the toes of the mission quite often.

This is getting to be a rather touchy thing here
now.
The writer of the letter reports that at the

seminary board meeting he had presented the proposal

 

24Letter of March 17, 1971 cited above.

244

that the subject be received immediately as a full pro-
fessor, that he be given salary and housing equal to any
Brazilian with his level of training.

Discussion continued for three hours without
arriving at any definite conclusion. The directors
cannot understand why a Brazilian should go through
[the mission field leader] . . . . Why wouldn't a
Brazilian go directly to his Brazilian brethren
if he wished to return and work with the Brazilians?

Then [it was] moved . . . that I be instructed
to write to [the subject] and the Missionary Secre-
tary asking them to make their specific requests
directly to the Board of Directors so that they
would have something more definite to decide upon.
I am sure it is a move to have Brazilians deal
directly with Brazilians and not go through an
outsider.

It is interesting that in this letter relating
to a very specific situation the question of the seminary,
its control and organizational relatedness is also raised:

Ever since my return to Brazil last June the
question has been asked repeatedly: "Is the Free
Methodist Church in Brazil a servant of the semi-
nary; are they two completely separate entities;
or is the seminary a part of the Free Methodist
Church in Brazil?" These nationals want the semi-
nary to be their seminary . . . . I am afraid that
in the past there has been too much of the dif-
ferent entities involved operating separately:

the GMB having a program, the mission here another,
the Seminary operating as a separate body, and the
two conferences going their separate ways with

no real sense of objective or oneness.

As a result of the request by the seminary board
of directors reported in the above letter, the General
Missionary Secretary wrote directly to them on March 30,
1971 giving the position of GMB with respect to the

subject's return to Brazil and his employment.

245

In his letter he attempted to do several things:

1. He clarified the relationship of partnership in

the matter of managing institutions;

2. He indicated that the extent of GMB financial
commitment with the subject consisted of only
one-half of his transportation to the United

States and one—half of his return passage;

3. He made explicit the policy that GMB does not
employ nationals and send them back to their

home countries as missionaries;

4. He referred the matter of employment to the
seminary board of directors with strong
encouragement that they study the question

and arrange for the subject's adequate support;

5. He expressed the willingness of the GMB to con-
sider a modest increase in subsidy to the

seminary if such were necessary.

In conclusion the Secretary treated directly the
question of seminary ownership and control:

The question I think has been asked whether or not
the seminary is a part of the Free Methodist

Church in Brazil. The answer is that the seminary
cannot be necessarily a complete part of the Free
Methodist Church in Brazil until the Free Methodist
Church in Brazil is able on its own to adminis-
trate, staff and finance the program. It is my
feeling that the sooner we include more of your

own people on the staff of the seminary, the more
quickly can the total administration and control of
the seminary be turned over to the Free Methodist
Church in Brazil.

246

Apparently in the interim between March 16 and

May 13, 1971 the subject, in accord with the seminary
board's request, addressed himself directly to them and
received a reply of which the content is not clearly
indicated. Some of the content of this exchange may be
inferred from a letter of May 13, 1971 from the mis-
sionary spokesman in Brazil to the subject in which he
refers to this exchange of correspondence as mainly
concerned with financial questions and which he con-
siders to be somewhat beside the point as far as the
seminary board was concerned. The missionary points out
the concern of the seminary board with doctrinal matters
and the fact that the subject's reply did not address
itself to that problem at all:

. . . when they received the letter from you it

referred only to finance, not as to whether you

would be received into the seminary as a pro-

fessor, nor did it open the way to discuss your

doctrinal position as they had wanted. It was

purely a request for a "contract signed by the

president of the Board and by you" and the

financial remuneration which you expected to

receive. It made them feel that all you were

interested in was a contract and a good salary.

Instead of discussing with you the things they

really wanted to discuss they simply answered

your questions regarding finance and let it go

at that.

The letter concludes with two suggestions which

the writer felt would help clear things up: (1) a

letter regarding the subject's doctrinal position and

(2) a more realistic financial request.

247

The subject arrived in Brazil and reported three

major impressions:

l. The theological misunderstanding has been

cleared away.

2. The board of trustees had been dominated by
a single opinion.

3. He did not feel he had the full support of

. . . 25
the miSSionaries.

The financial dimensions of the problem now come
into sharper focus. The subject took a position with
an American corporation as an interpreter and agreed to
teach three hours per week at the seminary. The subject
had apparently talked in terms of $550 per month. A
missionary source on the field reported, "We have not
lost him entirely but . . . he is just too expensive
for us."

On November 27, 1971 a meeting was held at GMB
headquarters in the United States at which the subject
was present (having made a business trip to the United
States for his employing firm in Brazil) and in which
the financial situation regarding the subject's involve-
ment full time at the seminary was discussed. At the

time of the meeting the subject was earning $200 per

 

25Letter of July 20, 1971 to the Personnel
Secretary of the GMB.

248

month from the conference, $100 from part-time teaching
at the seminary, some income from teaching in other
institutions, and a salary as interpreter with a cor-
poration. After this meeting the Missionary Secretary
wrote requesting the seminary board to work out a new
pay scale for presentation to the 1972 annual con—

ference.26 The response from the field27

questioned
the ability of the seminary board to come up with an
adequate salary scale for the subject and still maintain
a balanced scale for the other national employees. The
missionary in Brazil notes an apparent discrepancy in
the estimate of the subject's requirements as reported
from headquarters in the United States and what he was
hearing on the field. His conclusion was that he was
willing to settle for part-time employment of the subject
for the present. To this, the Missionary Secretary
replied that the subject, in addition to needing $550
per month to live on, had other debts and obligations
which required considerably more.28

As was noted earlier (footnote 22, p. 240)

explicit references connecting the subject with the

role of seminary president are absent in the 1971

 

26Letter of November 29, 1971.

27Letter of December 12, 1971.

28Letter of December 29, 1971.

249

exchanges of correspondence. (The matter had been dis—
cussed as an eventual possibility in 1966.) There are
some indications, however, that this was an implicit
factor in the issue. One example of this is that in
November 1971 the Missionary Secretary suggested to
the missionary incumbent as seminary president that he
continue for one year while the subject cleared up his
debts in preparation for coming into the school in an
administrative position.

Events at the time of the annual conferences of
January 1972 are reported by the headquarters executive
sent to preside in place of the bishop. The subject's
relationship with the seminary was discussed at a meet-
ing of the missionaries during the executive's visit.
At that meeting it was proposed that the subject be
suggested as a possibility for the position of president
with a package of financial support coming from a pas-
toral position and seminary "honoraria" (presumably to
avoid involvement with a strict salary structure). This
proposal was presented informally to the subject with
the suggestion that, on this basis, he would be able
to terminate his secular employment at the end of 1972.
The subject reacted affirmatively to this arrangement
commenting that his principal concern all along had
been the lack of confidence shown in him. A few days

later, at conference, the subject transferred his

250

membership from the Nikkei to the Brazilian conference
which permitted him to take a pastorate in the main
church in that conference.29
In November 1972 the Missionary Secretary and the
Area Secretary visited Brazil for consultations. The
matter of seminary president was discussed with mis—
sionaries and national leaders. The conclusion reached
was that, in view of budgeting and housing considerations,
it would be best for the subject to be installed as
president in January 1974 at which time he would begin
to receive a partial salary from the seminary and would
move into the seminary residence. After talking the
matter over with the subject and after a review of
seminary finance the decision was reached that the
transition in mid-1973 might be possible.
On December 1, 1972 the missionary field superin-

tendent reported that the seminary board of directors
had unanimously elected the subject as president, to
take office immediately in an official sense but that
he would begin receiving salary as of July 1, 1973.
The letter concludes:

I talked with [subject] this morning and he said he

is pleased and relieved to know this decision has

been made. There was a good spirit in the meeting
last night.

 

29This information is compiled from the report
of the executive sent to hold the annual conferences.

251

The subject's election was confirmed by GMB

in January 1973.

COMMENTARY

The ordered presentation of a conflict case
assumes an implicit or explicit model making certain
assumptions about the variables on each side of the
conflict encounter at a rationally fixed level of
abstraction. The emphasis on the significance of dates
in coordinating the events of this interaction indi-
cates an attempt to arrive at a dynamic as Opposed to
a static conception of the case. The number of inter-
related groups in the field situation as well as the
cross-cultural aspects contribute to the complexity of
the case. The reference to the "minuet" movement (p. 237)
of the parties at various points recognizes the presence
of reaction processes in which the behavior field of
each respective party is changed by the other in such
a way as to stimulate another move, thus producing an
alternating effect.

At the level of abstraction applied to this case

major variables on the Brazil side are:
l. The political situation;

2. The ethnic and cultural distinctions of the

groups in Brazil;

252

3. Definition of mission/church relations on the

field;
4. Other evangelical groups.

These elements are almost equally applicable to the two
conflict episodes contained in this case. On the side
of the mission board the dominant force bearing on the
constitutional issue appears to have been the concern
over missionary morale while the issue of acceptance of
a national as administrator in the seminary seems to
have related mainly to long-range objectives of the
mission board in planning for nationalization of leader-
ship.

The lack of discreteness in levels of conflict
makes the Pondy model a loose fit at certain points.
There is also difficulty in defining the first stage
on the Pondy model, "aftermath of preceding conflict
episode," so this level is absorbed into the latent
conflict category in the organization of the material.
In view of the number of interacting parties and the
number of variables, the Pondy model proves surprisingly
adequate as will be seen when the two encounters are
mapped onto it. Before presenting the model, summaries
of the major variables and their effects are given in

the interest of perspective.

253

The Political Climate

 

The period covered by this case was charged with
activism and nationalistic sentiment in many sectors of
Brazilian society. Missionaries were conscious of the
pressures of anti-Americanism, polarization of right and
left, and general tensions with the national church. A
Japanese who was in Brazil at that time and active in
the Free Methodist Church there comments:

I recall that in the late fifties and early sixties

a revolutionary and nationalistic mood was very

strong in Brazil. I have no doubt that that

climate also influenced the attitude of the

national churches toward foreign control.30
The coup d'etat of April 1, 1964 seemed to mark a turning
point in attitudes toward foreigners. The Japanese
source cited above continues:

The coup of 1964 was a counter-revolution, that is,

pro-American. The situation of Americans in

general and of missionaries in particular improved

a great deal after that coup.
Missionaries were immediately aware of this change as
well. One notes, "This whole situation calmed down
considerably after the revolution of 1964."31

The first seminary constitution assuming full

national control was presented in January 1964, four

months before the coup. The subject of the second

 

30Letter of May 10, 1975.

31Letter of February 19, 1975.

254

episode returned to Brazil in summer 1964 just after the
coup for four years of service before being brought to
the United States.

The conclusion seems to be warranted that the
political situation had a diffuse but very real effect
on the conflict episodes, quite immediately on the first
and more remotely on the second.

The Inter-group Situation
in Brazil

The situation in the Brazilian church in which
two diverse groups, the Japanese Nikkei and the Brazilian
latins, are included under one denominational name and
related to a shared institution (the seminary) provides
in itself a complex conflict field. The traditionalist
Japanese Nikkei value the preservation of their language
and culture very highly, even to the point of risking
alienation of their own young people. The older Japanese
.have remained oriented toward their mother churches in
Japan and tend not to recognize the leadership of
.American missionaries. The younger Japanese with a
Portuguese-language education are more identified with
:Brazilian culture and goals. In replying to a question
(M1 the relative sensitivity of the two groups to the
Exilitical climate the Japanese source cited in footnote
.30 stated: "Yes, they relate to political climate, but

zuyt all equally. The second generation relate more than

255

the first generation and the more educated more than
less educated." A missionary comments that there is

"a very serious cultural and communication gap between
the missionaries and the Japanese as well as between the
Brazilians and the Japanese."32 He comments further

on the frustration of missionaries in trying to under—
stand the Japanese mind, concluding that there was a
"communication problem and perhaps, to some extent, a
conflict situation between missionaries and the leader—

ship of the Nikkei conference."

Church/Mission Relations

 

The third major variable emerging on the Brazil
side of the interaction concerned the matter of policy
concerned with church/mission relations. It was not
until October 1967 that a firm policy statement on this
subject, including the matter of defining procedures for
institutional control, was approved by the General
Missionary Board under the title "Guidelines for Con-
stitutions." The review of the World Fellowship era
covered in Chapter 3 of this dissertation reveals a
strong emphasis on national church autonomy with field

missions largely subsumed or integrated under the

 

32Letter of February 19, 1975.

256

national church organization. With the organizational
changes brought about in the General Missionary Board
by the formal recognition of the World Fellowship and
the employment of a new General Missionary Secretary,
both in 1964, a new policy of "partnership" or "cooper—
ation" began to replace the former one of "fusion" or
"integration." The partnership approach became gradually
more explicit over the years after 1964 as the new
missionary secretary gained experience and began to
make his policies felt. This background is necessary
in order to understand some of the confusion in both
missionary and national ranks in Brazil at the time of
this case. A letter of July 2, 1963 from the Executive
Secretary of the World Fellowship (who had been a mis—
sionary in Brazil) to the president of the Brazil semi-
nary (a missionary) is representative of the pre-l964
thinking. The letter replies to questions from the
seminary president as to which official body has final
authority over the seminary. In the reply the Executive
Secretary states that " . . . we have prepared a con-
stitution of the Free Methodist Seminary in Brazil"--
indicating participation in its drafting (i.e. of the
first seminary constitution). His position is clear:

One thing seemed to be very evident. The South

American conference is not at all happy to have

the Seminary operated by the mission. If the

mission operated the seminary we will not have

the c00peration of the church there . . . .

This institution must be theirs if we want
their support.

257

He notes that the constitution has not yet been approved
but affirms the principle that the seminary is in the
hands of the annual conference:

To sum it all up--a seminary program in Brazil

must be carried on by the nationals and not by

the mission. The mission will cooperate but the

national church must take all the leadership.
This document confirms a direct World Fellowship input
into that first draft seminary constitution but, perhaps
more important, it indicates the contrast in policy
between pre- and post-1964.

The Japanese source cited in footnote 30 confirms
this input along with nationalistic sentiment:

I think that the establishment of the autonomous
Brazilian and Nikkei conferences as well as the
first draft of the seminary constitution were in
some sense an expression of the nationalistic mood
of the country. I think, to a certain extent, the
emphasis of the World Fellowship on autonomy had
an influence here.

It appears that the issue of seminary control
was in a sense a result of an a priori change of policy
at mission headquarters (i.e. had there been no change
of policy the constitution would have been accepted)
and at the same time a major motivating factor in the

firming up of the new policy (viz. the concern over

missionary morale).

Other Evangelical Groups
At various points in the episodes concern is

shown over the effect certain actions or situations will

258

have on neighboring evangelical groups in Brazil--either
those who were involved in the union seminary discussions
or those who sent numbers of students to the Free Metho-
dist seminary. This concern included both doctrinal

and economic aspects, economic in that the numbers of
non-Free Methodist students contributed to the financial
viability of the institution. It seems that the mis-
sionaries and the Nikkei leaders were much more concerned
about this dimension than either the Brazilian latins

or GMB. This aspect became very acute in the second
issue of accepting the returning national with a contro-

versial record into the seminary program.

Missionary Morale

 

On the side of the General Missionary Board a
major motivation for the "partnership" policy was a
concern for missionary morale. This included a growing
conviction that the integration or fusion policy promoted
in the World Fellowship era, the early 19605, was too
idealistic and that missionaries could not cope with the
levels of frustration that it would entail. The Mis-
sionary Secretary comments on the Brazil situation:
"The program that was followed here was one of total
integration . . . . It created serious morale problems
. . . with the mission." When queried on other possible

reasons for GMB's reaction to full national control of

259

the seminary the Missionary Secretary answered categori-
cally, "No! The problem arose from morale among the
missionaries."33
Throughout the conflict over appointment of the
national to a seminary position the Missionary Secretary
held firmly to an affirmation of the subject's value as
a vital part of the objective of eventual nationalization
of the seminary. To the missionaries this was presented
as a concrete example of indigenous mission policy; to
the nationals it was held out as a first step, a gesture
in the direction of full eventual nationalization of
the seminary.
At this point it is useful to try to map the two
episodes onto the Pondy model. Pondy sees conflict as
a dynamic process34 which can be analyzed into a pattern
of stages typically found in the development of a con-
flict episode. Beginning each conflict episode are
conflict potentials, residues of past experience which
affect behavior in the present situation. The conditions
present during the episode which serve as underlying

sources of conflict are called latent conflict. Accord-

ing to Pondy three basic types of conflict may emerge

 

33Letter of February 25, 1975.

34Louis R. Pondy, "Organizational Conflict:
Concepts and Models," Administrative Science Quarterly,
‘V01. 12, No. 2 (September, I967), pp. 296F320.

260

from the latent conflict situation: (1) competition for
scarce resources; (2) drives for autonomy; (3) divergence
of subunit goals. The succeeding level in the develOpment
of a conflict episode includes two categories, perceived
and felt conflict, dealing respectively with awareness
and hostility. At this level suppression mechanisms

may work to block out awareness of mild or less-threaten-
ing conflicts while the attention-focus mechanism tends
to select a specific problem or issue for treatment.

The assumption is that most organizations have more
conflicts than can be dealt with so, at this level,

some are pushed out of awareness and some are selected
for attention. Organizational and extra-organizational
tensions impinge on the area of felt conflict where
conflict may be personalized and where either demands
from within the organization or pressures from without
:may develop anxieties in the individuals involved leading
to personality involvement in the interaction. Most
conflict resolution programs are applied at the inter-
face between felt conflict and manifest conflict and
between perceived conflict and manifest conflict. The
.last element is the aftermath which may be evaluated

(as good or bad according to its effect on productivity,
stability or adaptability in the organization. Conflict
Inust.be appreciated as a key variable in the organiza-

tion's feedback 100ps.

261

With this brief review of Pondy's analysis in
mind the major variables of the two episodes included
in this case may be mapped onto his model as shown on
page 262.

The variables have been sufficiently discussed
in the general presentation and in the commentary section
but a few further comments may be made on the charting
of the episodes on the Pondy model.

With regard to the constitution issue it was
noted that the category "aftermath of preceding conflict
episodes" was absorbed upward into the latent conflict
position. One reason for this action is that to ade-
quately research the "aftermath" area would require
prohibitively detailed data and analysis. Another
reason, particularly applicable in this case, is that
with emerging organizational units such as new national
churches in relationship to a mission the conflict
sequence must start somewhere. This means that at some
point backward in a particular inter-group or inter-
organizational relationship there will be no aftermath
of preceding conflict. On the constitutional figure
the inputs into latent conflict are well defined.9 At
the "felt conflict" point the effects of nationalism
and the confusion caused in both national and missionary
groups by the fundamental change in policy on mission/

church relationships were documented. As to perceived

262

 

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264

conflict it is clear that the first draft seminary con-
stitution, when GMB took notice of it, focused attention
on the issue of allocation of control. The point of
entrance of the inputs from "strategic considerations"
and "conflict resolution mechanisms" is probably more
appropriately placed on the line between perceived

and manifest conflict rather than with reference to
manifest conflict only. This positioning depends, of
course, on the definition of manifest conflict.

The history of the two conflict episodes covered
in this case establishes clearly that the initiative in
resolving the conflict rested predominantly with the
General Missionary Secretary. In the seminary consti-
tutional issue the trip to Brazil provided face-to-face
confrontation over the problem. The cost and time
devoted to the trip were in themselves an expression
of commitment to a solution. The follow-up letter was
an astute move in consolidating a verbal agreement
(especially by its insistence on distribution to all
board members, including those not present for the dis-
cussions) and served the further purpose of clarifying
the separate points at issue. The letter contained a
tactful combination of inducements and implied sanctions
(see pp. 228 and 229 for a summary of the contents).
GMB's position was supported by precedent and the

linking of control to support and staffing. As to

265

tact, the problem embodied in the seminary constitution
was considered to be a very natural misunderstanding of
the implications of full conference status--thus pro-
viding a face-saving way out for the national leaders.
Missionary representation on the board of directors was
suggested at less than a majority (3 of 7). The promise
was given that the turnover of the institution would be
considered when the national church could provide a
"majority" of support and staff (with the implied under-
standing that GMB support and personnel would also be
contingent on participation in control). Part of the
proceeds from the sale of the Mairapora property are
committed to the establishment of the seminary in Sao
Paulo. Willingness to help finance hiring of a national
professor was also expressed. All of this added up to
an agreement from the nationals' side. The Missionary
Secretary remembers the reaction of two national leaders
at that meeting in Brazil: " . . . both said we are in
no position to take over the seminary for ten years--
which was very prophetic."35
The second episode introduces a quite different
set of variables at the latent conflict level. GMB's
support of the subject as a candidate for an administra-
tive role in the seminary rested on assurance of his

spiritual renewal and his orthodoxy (as shown by articles

 

BSInterview of May 16, 1975.

266

which he had published), and on a policy of introducing
national leadership as rapidly as feasible. The groups
in Brazil were influenced by a number of factors in the
local situation. At the next level differing perceptions
began to surface and some cultural divisions on the
field. The attention-focus mechanism is clearly the
imminent return of the subject to Brazil. A number of
resolution mechanisms come into play in the settling of
this problem: The seminary constitution gave GMB the
right to involve itself in the matter. Informal channels
and meetings were used along with voluminous correSpon-
dence. The informal understandings exacerbated the
problem at some points, through lack of precision and
resentments on the field. The mission hierarchy was
used to bring missionaries to a place of acceptance.
Assistance was offered on the financial implications.

To the nationals the rationale was given that employment
of the subject was a legitimate opening for nationalistic
ambitions.

From the Missionary Secretary's side the issue
over employment of a national was an exercise in patient
pressure-~on both missionaries and nationals. It is
interesting to note that his position on "majority" of
support and teaching staff (September 17, 1965, see

p. 229) becomes "is able on its own to administrate,

 

staff and finance the program" (March 30, 197l--italics

added).

267

The evidence of cultural independence brought
out by the insistence of the seminary board of directors
on dealing directly with the Missionary Secretary and
the subject, and their fear of being over-ridden by the
missionaries, is an interesting point. The continuing
frustration over the question of ownership, control
and accountability of the seminary has some implications
with respect to the constitutional issue--both in shedding
light on their emotional attachment in the earlier inter-
action and with regard to conflict aftermath, suggesting
the possibility of another confrontation some time in
the future. The Missionary Secretary has given tacit
recognition to this possibility in his allowing for a
re-negotiation of the issue sometime in the future when
nationals can contribute more fully to support and staff.
This provision is an excellent example of preemptive
nondecision making, in the terms of Bachrach and Baratz

(see discussion on the Burundi case, pp. 204-09).

Chapter 6

THE INDIA CASE

The India case has to do with a conflict situ-
ation between the India Annual Conference of the Free
Methodist Church and the General Missionary Board over
the design of a self-support plan for the India con-
ference. The case clearly concerns "means" values (see
p. 47) as there seems to have been no disagreement over the
desirability of financial independence for the India
Church. When the action is expressed in terms of the
Bachrach/Baratz model (Fig. 7, p. 207), it is particu-
larly interesting to note that there is a reversal of
role in the early stages; i.e. at the outset the GMB,
through what appears to be a unilateral cut of 10 percent
in support for national personnel, takes the role of
party seeking a re-allocation of resources. Very shortly
thereafter, the India Conference seizes the initiative
with a counter-plan proposing 20 percent per year cuts
combined with supplementary proposals to help the Indian
personnel affected toward self-employment. The conflict

episode generated by the interactions over the issue

268

269

involved in the difference between these two positions
provides the subject of this case.

In reconstructing the events and processes of
the case, letters and documents from the archives of the
General Missionary Board are supplemented by information
and perspectives from two Free Methodist missionaries of
long service in India and two nationals who are members
of the Free Methodist Church in India. The Missionary
Secretary who was in office at the time of the inter—
action provided his recollections of his assessment of

the situation and the reasons for the actions taken.

BACKGROUND

The very size of the nation of India combined
with its great political, religious and linguistic
diversity makes it very difficult to assess environ-
mental inputs into any situation. For this reason it
must be stated that the variables selected from the
environment are advanced with a certain degree of
caution. On the other hand, the participants in the
conflict episode as well as the respondents consulted
reflect a unanimity in awareness of general influences
from the national climate (e.g. sentiment for economic
independence). That awareness seems to call for a
brief survey of the environmental dimension of the

conflict situation.

270

The theme of nationalism and/or cultural inde-
pendence will be explored at two levels: on the
national plane and in Maharashtra State where the
Free Methodist work is centered.

After independence in 1947 the ruling Congress
Party addressed itself to the task of develOping a
national identity out of the massive diversity found
among the 400 million people in the country. A backward
look over twenty-five years of Indian independence marks
the period 1951-1962 as a time of growth and consoli-
dation of the Indian democracy.1 Jayaprakash Narayan,
Indian intellectual and patriot who had been active in
the independence struggle, wrote in 1962:

The question of national integration has been much
to the fore in recent months. It is one of the
highest aspirations-~if not the highest--of the
Indian people to become an integrated and strong
nation. This aspiration was expressed most
authoritatively at the National Integration
Conference held last September-October 1961 in
New Delhi. There is a strong feeling in the
country that our very future as a people would

be brought into question if this task of nation-

making were not properly and speedily fulfilled.2

This expression of sentiment by Jayaprakash coin-

cides historically with the conflict episode which is

 

lTwenty Five Years of Indian Independence, pre-
pared by Indian Oxygen, Ltd., no author given (Calcutta:
Oxford and IBH Publishing Co., 1972), p. 15.

 

2Jayaprakash Narayan (alt. Narain Jai Prakash)
Three Basic Problems of Free India (New York: Asia
Publishing House{—l964), p. l.

 

271

the subject of this case. It serves to illustrate some-
thing of the general climate of concern over national
identity that was abroad in the country at that time.
Professor von FfirerHaimendorf of the University of London
remarked the trend toward a national consciousness when
he observed that by the late 19605 a thin stratum of the
population was beginning to transfer its allegiance to
the nation-state as over against local cultural units:
While most Indians live entirely within the frame
of their regional culture pattern and abide by the
rules of their own castle communities there is a
growing number of individuals whose loyalties and
aspirations are not bound by state borders, but
who live and work outside their natal regions, and
think in terms of Indian rather than of regional
aims. They constitute the beginning of an All-

India society at home and in all parts of the
country and are usually inclined to a cosmopolitan

outlook.3

This analysis would suggest that elites would
tend to identify more with national aims, but that for
the great mass of the population, loyalties were gen-
erally oriented to the more immediate cultural and
;political environment. This conclusion leads to a brief
consideration of Maharashtra State which will follow
lbelow. First, however, a few specific comments on
:national attitudes toward dependence on foreign finance

by'Indian writers of the mid-19605 will help in setting

the stage.

 

3Christoph von FfirerHaimendorf, in Britannica,
.1972 (Chicago: Willima Benton, 1972), Vol. 12, p. 33.

272

From independence onward a major political con-
cern seems to have been the dependence on foreign aid
and capital.4 A series of famines and a number of
moderately successful five—year plans which failed,
nevertheless, to meet the rising aspirations of the
population made the economic issue a particularly sen—
sitive one. Indian writers in the mid-19605 termed
foreign aid "a grave threat to national independence
and honour"5 and a "necessary evil and not an end in

itself."6

References to this theme are frequent in the
material consulted for the presentation of this case;
both missionaries and nationals show keen awareness of
this sentiment in the country. Difficulties in pro-
curing visas for certain kinds of missionary personnel
and the imposition of strict monetary controls emphasized
the vulnerability of an organization depending on foreign
resources.

In looking for relevant variables and themes in

the political life of India it is also necessary to look

 

4Twenty Five Years (see footnote 1), p. 16.

 

5S. N. Mishra, The Crisis, the Country, the Con-
ress (New Delhi: The Congress Socialist Forum,gI967),
p. 3.

6Sudhakanta Mishra, The Role of Foreign Capital
in Underdevelooed Economies (With SpeEial Reference to
IndiaT (Allahabad: Kitab Mahal AlIahabad, 1967), p. 258.

 

273

at the history of Maharashtra State and its cultural
antecedents. Geographically the state extends eastward
from Bombay on the Arabian sea to the Eastern Ghat
mountain range. It is one of the largest states in the
Indian Union with a population of approximately 40
million. The interest in Maharashtra history for this
study lies in the forces which led to its formation as
a result of the bifurcation of the bilingual Bombay State
in 1960. The political maneuvers which led to the
creation of Maharashtra State are of interest only as
they reveal the spirit of the Marhattas (also spelled
Marathas). Myron Weiner has noted that riots form an
essential part of democratic procedure in India and, in
fact, "government action with respect to state reorgani-
zation has largely been shaped by the extent of local
agitations."7 Such was the case in Bombay which suf-
fered frequent riots between dominant linguistic groups
until the central government complied and formed the
separate Maharashtra State on May 1, 1960. Robert Stern
comments on the cultural dynamics behind the formation
of the separate state:

Linguistic-provincialism in Maharashtra was fired

emotionally by memories of past glory and reminders

of present distress. The Marhattas were, after all,
the peOple of Shivaji Maharaj who in the seventeenth

 

7Myron Weiner, The Politics of Scarcity (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press,‘l9627, p. 209}

 

274

century humbled the Moguls and ruled the western
Deccan! Now the Marhattas, who had a "tradition
among traditionless people," were being humbled
and denied a state of their own.

Ram Joshi in a book edited by Weiner states that
the establishment of the Maratha empire in the 16th and
17th centuries was the result of strong popular nation-
alism based on affinities of language, race, religion
and literature. He concludes that the modern outcome
of these historical events is a prevalent climate of
equalitarianism which has made many Maharashtrians
receptive to new ideas of liberalism, secularism,
individualism and socialism as they came one after
the other from the West.9

The relevance of the discussion of the inter-
related themes of nationalism and cultural independence
for the Free Methodist Church in India is indicated by
some comments by an Indian member of that church. He
states that the majority of Free Methodist members are
Marathas and, in agreement with the sources cited above

(Stern, Ram Joshi), considers them to be very proud

of their heritage since the time of Shivaji who freed

 

8Robert W. Stern, The Process of Opposition in
India: Two Case Studies of_How Polio Sha es PolitiCs
(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, I970), p. 31.

9Ram Joshi, "Maharashtra," in State Politics in
India, ed. Myron Weiner (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1968), p. 180.

 

 

275

them from the Muslim kings' domination. The respondent
feels that the formation of Maharashtra State may have
given the national church leadership the impetus needed
to express a longstanding desire for independence of
foreign support.
I am from the South, i.e. Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh,
but my association with our church for the last 15
years shows me that they wanted to be free from
dependence on outside support for a long time but
there was no strong voice from the national leader-
ship [of the church]. It was subsumed under mis-
sionary voice till 1962-63 when in the wake of the
formation of the State, national leadership raised
their voice and expressed their opinion.10
The foregoing discussion as a whole gives a pro-
file of a people with an independent spirit, a factor
which appears to have had a bearing on their firm resolve
to carry through an accelerated plan of self-support.
A second kind of input, the influence of the
World Fellowship movement in generating the self-support
plan is reported by Lamson:
A remarkable develOpment has come to India through
Superintendent Nathar. His contacts with the
overseas delegates at the Organizing Conference
resulted in a great neW'vision for the future work
in his own country. Without missionary influence,
the conference has recently voted its own "five
year self-support" program.
The reference in this paragraph is to the visit

of Rev. Nathar to the Organizing Conference of the World

 

10Letter of June 6, 1975.

11Lamson, Tide, p. 127.

276

Fellowship held in Greenville, Illinois January 9-21,
1962. It must be remembered that another Indian con-
ference leader, a professor at Union Biblical Seminary
at Yeotmal, had been very articulate at the Asia Fellow-
ship Conference in April 1960 and that the secretary of
the Committee on World Organization at the Asia Con-
ference was a missionary from India with twenty-four
years of experience in that country. Part of the report
from that committee reads:

Although the planting of Free Methodism in America

a century ago has resulted in the growth of a vine

with fruitful branches encircling the world, the

time is approaching and in some instances has

arrived when more rapid growth and more abundant

fruitage will come from vines drawing their sus-

tenance from the soil of their own nations and

taking firm root therein.12

The three men mentioned immediately above were

all instrumental in drafting and presenting the five-
year self-support plan. The indications pointing to a
substantial input from the World Fellowship emphasis on
indigenous church support is confirmed by an explicit
reference on page 8 of the plan itself as presented to
GMB:

The Asia Conference study panel put the pressure

of God's working in other areas upon us heavily.

The reports of Africa and Latin America stir us to
action. The World Fellowship considerations have

 

12Asia Fellowship Conference Report, p. 6.

 

277

come to us right at the moment that God is working
mightily in a neighboring Church on these same
lines.1

LATENT CONFLICT

Normally latent conflict is generated from
environmental factors such as those outlined above in
the section on background-~nationalism, cultural traits,
World Fellowship influence. In this case where "ends"
values, i.e. ultimate self-support for the India Con-
ference, are not contested the area of latent conflict
must be defined in terms of "means" values. For this
reason the environmental inputs, while valuable for
understanding the conflict encounter, do not in them-
selves explain it. In simplest terms the issue in this
interaction is the rate_and to some extent the terms_
of conversion to a self-support plan. Perhaps the most
striking aspect of the case is the amount of commitment
generated by the respective parties over the difference
.between a five-year plan and a nine- or ten-year plan
'with some relatively minor differences in implementation.
jExploration of these respective sources of commitment

‘will assist in defining the area of latent conflict.

 

13Five Year Plan, Indian Free Methodist Con-
.ference (adopted at the Annual’Conference of March 28--

AprJ-I I, 1960)] p. 80

278

Events in India

 

General independence attitudes and World Fellow—
ship thinking have been outlined mainly as contributors
to a proper emotional climate for the conception of a
self-support plan. Against this background two main
stimuli may be distinguished as immediate motivating
factors for the designing of the Five Year Plan.

The first of these stimuli originates in the

 

action of the General Missionary Board in initiating a
10 percent cut in support of national personnel in the
1962 budget. A query from the Conference Executive
Committee, written by an Indian national states:
Then I am also asked to write about the “Indepen-
dence decrease 10% annually" as you mention in
the budget sheet. We request you to explain to
us the meaning of the term and how the cut is
worked out. We shall greatly appreciate some
clarification about this.

In replying to this letter the Missionary Secre-
tary explained that the term "independence fund" was
borrowed from another field where a similar situation
existed, that it was the policy of GMB to gradually
decrease aid to established work, and that in the board's
‘view established churches should become self-supporting.

JHe also indicated the belief that self-support puts a

pastor in better relationship with his church and

 

14Letter of February 1, 1962.

 

 

 

 

279

removes from him the onus of being accused of being

the agent of a foreign church.15

An Indian national reflects the reactions to
these discussions from the Indian side:

I think India Conference could not understand why

this cut back now after all those years of faithful
support. And there was vehement reaction (although
it wasn't expressed openly, that is the Indian way.
People humbly accept whatever comes from their
leaders.) and the pendulum swung to the other

extreme and instead of 10%, 20% was suggested.16

_ - 4.

It is interesting to note that a missionary I
present in India at that time states that the Missionary
Secretary's letter probably "stimulated the conference"
to action but that he did not sense any feelings of

resentment at that time.17

The exchange described above may be considered
as contributing to a state of latent conflict which was,
in fact, moving toward felt and perceived conflict.

The second stimulus toward the five-year self-
support plan derives from the visit of a neighboring
churchman to the annual conference session of March 28-
April 1, 1962. His visit is referred to in the Intro—

duction to the Five Year Plan:

 

15Letter of February 26, 1962.

16Letter of March 13, 1975.

17Letter of February 24, 1975.

 

 

 

 

 

280

God richly blessed Rev. R. P. Chavan the day

before this decision was taken [i.e. to adopt the
Five Year Plan] as he led the conference in a

Bible study and a report on the self-support plan
in his church. God blessed also our Conference
Superintendent, the Rev. J. S. Nathar in initiating
the plan to call Bro. Chavan and in the questions
the Conference Superintendent asked to help us

to understand all God was doing in the Akola
District.18

A missionary who was on the field at that time
reports that Chavan had received a vision for self-support
while at a conference of Alliance churches in Bangkok
and upon his return the Alliance churches in India had
adopted a four-year plan of full self-support. His
presentation was considered the principal direct reason
for the decision on the five-year plan for the Free

Methodist Conference.

GMB Thinking

 

In response to questions over this interaction
the Missionary Secretary who was in office at that time

responded:

India was probably our most difficult field. They
were progressive in their thinking but so helpless
evangelistically. Over and over I emphasized the
importance of evangelism by the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit. We knew that it would be impossible
to develop self-support in India on any other plan
apart from genuine revival. This seemed to be
lacking at this time in India. Their approach to
self-support was a cold business-like arrangement.
They wanted money to assist each pastor in setting
up some kind of business to maintain himself. In
other words the business became a substitute for

 

18Introduction, Five Year Plan, p. l.

281

the Missionary Board. I was opposed to this. I

wanted pastors to give their full time in revival

and building the church. We needed larger

churches—~more churches--but at that time we

were unable to make that kind of a shift.1

In this statement the Missionary Secretary

exposes very clearly his perceptions and the presup-
positions underlying his disapproval of the Five Year
Plan. He felt it was based on a commercial outlook E“
rather than on Christian stewardship of resources and E.
that it would curtail outreach and church development. i

Up to this point five major variables have been

presented:

1. General national and cultural independence

drives,

2. The World Fellowship emphasis on indigenous

church principles,

3. The reaction to the 10 percent cut contained

in the 1962 GMB budget,

4. The visit of the Rev. Chavan from a neighboring

church group, and

5. The Missionary Secretary's evaluation of the

India church situation.

These are assumed to be the causal factors which

generated, directly or indirectly, the conflict

 

19Letter Of March 13, 1975.

 

 

 

 

282

situation around the self-support plan. Numbers one

and two are general environmental factors; numbers three
and four are immediate causal stimuli. Number five
operated mediately through the 10 percent cut and then
later throughout the interaction. These elements may

be considered as belonging most appropriately to the
stage of latent conflict but with the understanding that
movement is very rapid toward the next level (perceived

and felt conflict)--the stage of awareness.
FELT AND PERCEIVED CONFLICT

The level of felt and perceived conflict in this
case is not extensive over time and may be considered
almost transitory. The issue concerns "means" and not
"ends" values. For this reason it appears unlikely that
the India Conference expected serious objections from
GMB since the leaders were well informed on the general
self-support preferences of the missionary board. On
the side of GMB, aside from the mild inquiry over the
terminology and meaning of the 10 percent budget cut,
there was no reason to suspect that the India Conference
‘was considering such a move. For these reasons "per-
iceived conflict" over means values came to both parties
'through essentially one exchange of letters whereby each
became aware of the other's position. The Five Year

Plan was received by GMB on May 4, 1962. The plan

 

 

 

 

283

specified a 20 percent per year reduction in mission
support for the superintendent, pastors and evangelists.
Institutions (seminary, hospital, etc.), special ser-
vices (adult education and literature), and outreach
into new areas were to be excluded from the immediate
self-support plan. For the workers going on self-
support, in the first quarter of 1963 one year's
advance salary for 1964 would be given to those indi-
viduals who could present an acceptable self-employment
plan in writing to a special conference committee. On
this basis, as explained in minute 5662 of the Annual
Conference minutes, March 28-April 1, 1962, GMB would
be requested to give one more year's salary (presumably
1963) and then the appropriation from the mission board
would be cut as follows: 1964-~20 percent, 1965-~40 per—
cent, l966--60 percent, l967-—80 percent, 1968--100 per-
cent. The plan was scheduled to begin January 1, 1963
and was approved by unanimous action of the Annual Con-
ference. On June 15, 1962 the Missionary Secretary
wrote to the conference leaders questioning the moti-
vation of the plan and emphasizing that true self-
support must be linked to spiritual renewal. He also
expressed concern about losing the workers going on
self-employment. To this letter a national spokesman

replied with assurances on each of the points raised.20

 

20Letter of July 24, 1962.

 

 

 

 

 

284

The Missionary Secretary responded noncommittally with
best wishes for revival among the churches.21

On October 8, 1962 the Missionary Secretary
wrote to the field rejecting the Five Year Plan. This
letter could not be located but the contents may be
fairly well inferred from references in other letters
and from the reactions on the field. With regard to
the impact of the letter on its arrival in India, the
missionary who was chairman of the conference executive
committee wrote to the Missionary Secretary:

A few days before the recent meeting of our
Conference Executive Committee [Missionary]
received your letter of October 8 giving a
summary of what apparently was the action of the
Executive Committee of the General Missionary
Board rejecting our Five Year Plan. Your com-
mittee may have thought that they were rejecting
only part of the plan, i.e. the part giving an
extra year's salary to those who were planning
to be independent laymen but who would continue
to help in carrying on the work of the Lord in
that capacity. However, that part was interwoven
with the entire plan in the minds of our con-
ference members to such an extent that our
Executive Committee felt that they could not
take any more steps in carrying out the plan

for self—support till the entire Conference was
called together again to reconsider the whole
question of self-support, since the Five Year
Plan was a decision of the entire conference.22

From this response it would appear that the

communication from the Missionary Secretary had not

 

21Letter of August 15, 1962.

22Letter of October 30, 1962.

 

 

 

 

 

285

conveyed a categorical rejection of the plan but rather,
in agreement with his aversion to the commercial aspects,
had rejected only the year's severance pay. The India
Committee chose to ignore this partial acceptance/partial
rejection aspect and to interpret GMB's action as a
rejection of the plan in its entirety. This is clear
both from the missionary's statement first cited and
from the reactions recorded in the Executive Committee
minutes. From this point on, GMB's position is never
mentioned except in terms of categorical rejection.

The Specific reactions of the India Conference

Executive Committee include the following points:23

1. That the General Missionary Board Executive
Committee has rejected the proposed Five Year

Plan . . .
2. Therefore we now have no Five Year Plan.

3. We still believe that the Five Year Plan as

presented is God's first plan for us . . .

4. We still believe that our Annual Conference
should carry on its own work, and doing the
same in the future, depending on foreign funds,
is not to the glory of God and will not help our

spiritual growth or evangelistic outreach.

 

23Condensed from minutes of October 23, 1962.

 

 

 

 

 

286

Some alternative plans were considered in the
same Executive Committee session which indicate the
depth of hurt. One alternative reported in the minutes
was to continue "as is" with the understanding that the
GMB will "act and cut as they may wish without consul-
tation with us or consideration of our plan." Another
was to convert from a Five Year Plan to a One-Minute
Plan in which all workers could resign as of January 1,
1964, reject all pastoral help from GMB as of that date
and allow the churches to resort to a call system by
which they would invite pastors where they could support
them.

At the second session of the Conference Executive
Committee, held on the following day (October 24, 1962),
it was moved that "Whereas a crisis has been precipitated
by the action of the Board in rejecting the Five Year
Plan" the annual conference should be called early to
(consider the matter. The bishop was to be notified and
requested to be present if possible, if not to appoint
(another presiding officer. The Missionary Secretary was
Ixrgently requested to be on hand for the specially
called sitting of Annual Conference.

The narrative may be interrupted here to note
iflhe contents of a second letter from the Missionary
Secretary, sent under the same date as the letter

rejecting the Five Year Plan (October 8, 1962) , and

1
u“

287

addressed to the missionary Field Superintendent, the
missionary Chairman of the Finance Committee and the

Indian national who was Chairman of the Self-Support
Committee. The letter is of interest here in that it

gives insight into the thinking of the Missionary Secre—
tary as it relates to the decision on the Five Year Plan. 1.
In this letter the Secretary confirms congruence of ‘4
"ends" values on self-support by saying that it is "long
overdue" and "you are on the right track and we want to
give you every encouragement possible." Following those
statements in the opening paragraph the Secretary refers
to a consultation on church growth just completed in

which the emphasis was on the prior importance of wit-
nessing as the Church's one and only business. He then
cites an African field operating on self-support prin-
ciples and advises against "mechanical" ways of trying

to achieve self—support. The Secretary then reports a
conversation with the Missions Director of the Christian
and Missionary Alliance, the mission working in the
adjacent area in India from which Rev. Chavan had come,

in which he had learned that they, in their self-support
program, had not given severance pay nor had they made
attempts to set pastors up in industry. "He [the Alliance
Director] feels that this is fatal and destroys the
principle of supporting the work of the church by tithes

and offerings of God's people." The Missionary Secretary

288

then reports conferring with a mission executive from
another mission neighbor to the Free Methodists in India
who stated that they had tried a subsidy arrangement
with very unsatisfactory results [presumably in a self-
support program]. He added, "Money has been a curse to
some of those receiving it. They did not know how to
use it and their present condition is even worse than
before they received the money." The Missionary Secretary
closes by referring to a study by the India Conference
[evidently mentioned in some of their reporting to him]
wherein they had stated that, were all the members to
tithe, the income of the church would be three times
greater. In a postscript he recommends tithing as a
conclusion of the conference on Church Growth.

The substance of the letter summarized just above
further defines the issue as one of "means" values and
surveys other elements involved in the decision for
rejection of the Five Year Plan.

In arriving at this point in the case it is clear
that conflict is both "perceived" and "felt." The action
cxf the India Conference Executive Committee in calling
for a special session of the Annual Conference is a
strategic move which is really the first act, and in
fact, a highly effective act in the manifest conflict
stage. The interaction processes in the next section
will cover that stage of the conflict episode, the level

of manifest conflict.

 

289
MANIFEST CONFLICT

The actions of the Conference Executive Committee
of October 23 and 24, 1962 were forwarded to GMB
accompanied by a long letter of explanation and comment
by the missionary chairman of the committee (referred
to above in reporting the initial reception accorded the
rejection letter from the Missionary Secretary, see
footnote 20) in which he makes a number of important

points. For convenience these are Summarized as follows:

1. The urgency in calling a special annual con—
ference is explained on the basis of delay mean-
ing a possible setback to the whole plan of self—
support. Reference is made to the quality of
commitment represented in the Five Year Plan:

No doubt it is difficult for the members of the

General Missionary Board to understand the psycho-

logical build-up of faith and sacrifice which came

about at the last Annual Conference after hours

of prayer and discussion but which now is greatly
endangered.

2. As to the hesitation shown by GMB over the
financial wisdom of turning substantial sums of
money to inexperienced investors, he states
that they are aware that not all will succeed.

On the other hand, it would not be easy for our
people in the homeland to understand the thinking

of workers who have spent years of service in the
‘work of the Lord and then are turned off with at
:best a small amount of money and with no business

to which they could turn their hand to make a living.

 

290

He also mentions the adverse criticism such
an action would entail and the dissatisfaction

that would be created.

3. A compromise was suggested on funding, allowing

GMB to stay within their normal budget but

advancing funds to the first quarter of 1963.

The missionary then addresses the problem of

trust in the advice of the national conference

and confidence in their commitment.
The Board urges us to develop the indigenous church,
and yet the Board being so far removed from the
Mission Fields finds it very difficult to release
their control sufficiently to allow the foreign
churches to develop indigenously. One of the
fundamental principles of developing the indigenous
church is to give them freedom to make their own
decisions even when one sees that some of their
decisions are not the best.

Thus from India came the first moves after the
rejection; the options considered by the India Executive
Committee clearly showing demoralization and hurt, the
finely reasoned appeal by a missionary of over forty
years experience in India, and the dramatic call for a
special Annual Conference to consider the "crisis."

On November 20, 1962 the missionary whose letter
is quoted extensively above and a leading national--who
'was both a member of the Conference Executive Committee
and a professor at the seminary--sent a telegram to the

.Missionary Secretary urging acceptance of the Five Year

Plan. In response to this initiative the Missionary

291

Secretary wrote on December 4, 1962, addressed to the
authors of the telegram, "In response to your cable
urging acceptance of the five—year self-support plan

for India I have sent you a cable as follows: 'Executive
Committee approves five-year plan . . . '" In the letter
the Missionary Secretary pointed out that Executive Com-
mittee (of GMB) raised questions at every turn "for
which we do not have answers."

. . . the Executive Committee finally came to the
position that in general we approve the five-year
plan. We do not understand it. We have questions

in our own minds that cannot be answered apparently.
On the other hand, we feel that at this distance we
cannot place our judgment over against that of the
Executive Committee of the conference. You are

there and we trust you to be conservative in your
plans and wise in your decisions with reference to
these funds. We see very great dangers involved in
putting a relatively large amount of money into the
hands of a poor man. However, you have a responsible
committee that is to pass on the business venture

and assist these preachers in making an orderly
transition from the employ of the church to that of
self-supporting lay preachers. We shall pray for you.

In closing the letter the Secretary proposes a
visit to India and the convening of an evangelism con-

ference:

I would like to come away understanding the deep
needs of India. Also I would want to feel that I
had done everything possible to understand your
five-year plan, your self-support program and
that we had made the largest plan possible for
the extension of the work of the church in India.

In this way the confrontation over the Five Year

Self-support plan in India ended. Consultation of budget

292

sheets for the next few years indicate that the imple-

mentation was carried out essentially as outlined in

the plan.

COMMENTARY

In a brief overview the India case as it has been
presented here revolves around the issue of a Five Year
Plan for self-support for church workers in the India
Annual Conference of the Free Methodist Church. The
Missionary Board had proposed a 10 percent annual cut
in their support to church workers as an incentive to
the national conference to prepare for full self-support.
The conference replied a few weeks later with a counter-
plan including the paying out of a year's severance pay
followed by a 20 percent per year cut. This proposal
was rejected by GMB on the basis of reservations on
principle about the kinds of self-support suggested by
the India Conference [i.e. investment, small business,
farming, etc.], their abilities to carry it through,
and the end effect on the work [i.e. possible loss of
‘the subjects going on self-employment]. After strong
reaction, argument and protest from India over the
rejection GMB reversed itself and approved the plan
essentially unchanged.

The general organization of the material in this

ChaPizzer has followed the stages of Pondy's model and the

293

chart of that model (Chapter 2, Fig. 4) will be useful

in defining some of the movement of the conflict episode
further on in this discussion. At this point, however,
it is preferable to refer to the basic research model

of this study (Chapter 1, Fig. 3) in order to distinguish
clearly between variables bearing on the mission side

of the conflict and on the India Conference side respec-

tively. On page 281 five variables were listed:
1. Cultural and nationalistic independence drives,
2. The World Fellowship emphasis on self-support,
3. The 10 percent cut initiated by GMB,

4. The visit of Rev. Chavan from a neighboring

church group, and

5. The Missionary Secretary's evaluation of the

India church situation.

On the research model numbers one, two and four would
clearly bear on the national church side of the inter-
action while the Missionary Secretary's evaluation would
be an input on the mission side. The 10 percent cut
‘would be assigned to the interaction area between the
two parties. After this preliminary listing further
discussion revealed additional inputs on the side of
GMB through the Missionary Secretary. In addition to

his assessment of the condition of the India church

294

the Secretary expressed his conviction that the "mechan-
ical" nature of the India plan is somehow a violation

of the New Testament principle of church support, i.e.
by tithing and voluntary sacrifice if necessary. The
Missionary Secretary also referred to similar unsuccessful
experiments by missions working in that part of India
and added to these examples the affirmative conclusion
of the Church Growth Conference with regard to tithing
and the importance of the pastor's living at the level
of his people. In short, the Secretary appears to have
been confirmed in his opinions by (l) principle, (2)
experience of others, and (3) expert opinion.

The quality of commitment to the Five Year Plan
by the India Conference leaders is an additional variable
on the national church side of the interaction. This
aspect has not received much formal attention to this
point although commitment is evident in the letter of
remonstrance addressed to the Missionary Secretary after
reception of the rejection from GMB (see discussion on
‘pp. 289 and 290). The correspondence confirms that
Inissionaries and nationals were united over the plan.

A missionary respondent writes: "We were glad to see
‘theix‘own plans [i.e. of the nationals] for self-support,

so generally let them go ahead. We saw difficulties but

24

felt those would work out." A national comments that

 

24Letter of February 24, 1975.

295

25

there was "real heart searching." The language used

at various places in the plan itself is illustrative of
the emotional climate of its adoption, unanimously and
at a special night meeting. In the write-up of the plan
there are a number of elements which help to explain
the firmness of commitment:

In the first place, there is reference to a
theological understanding of the Church.

This plan is made with a clear perspective being
placed before us of various other plans that have
been used as ways and means by which other members
of the universal church of Christ have tried to

move over from a foreign-supported church-develOpment
plan to a nationally supported church-development
plan. We realize that others have "taken the church
into the mission," so to speak, but we have decided
NOT to do this because it is the Church and NOT the
Mission which is the goal of our labors and the
resultant commission of our Lord.26

Secondly there is an awareness of impending

suffering. "We know too that we as an Indian Church

'will.NOT be able to continue that support as it is."27

And third, there is a sense of transcendental

commitment .

We believe that our witness in the Church and
to the non-Christians as well, is validly related
to our self-support of our basic church activities
in India, by India, and for the glory of God
throughout India.

 

25Letter of March 13, 1975.

26Plan, p. 7.

27Ibid.

296

Therefore, in desperation, with a sense of
conviction and urgency, . . . we decide to go on

our own, to trust God, and to seek His blessing on
this part of His Church in India.28
In a sense, the argument on the principle of

Christian stewardship by the Missionary Secretary and
the element of extraordinary commitment on the part of
the India leaders (sufficiently strong to induce them
to commit themselves to a very insecure course of per-
sonal and family hardship) constitutes a conflict within
a conflict. Not only is the case as a whole an inter-
action over "means" values but this part of the case is
on a specific value dimension as distinct from interest
conflict defined as a vying for control or re-allocation
of resources. (It should be noted here that the Bachrach/
Baratz model cited in the two preceding cases is singu-
larly inappropriate for treating conflicts arising
uniquely from a dissent over ends (or ultimate) values
because such conflicts cannot be resolved by power-
authority-influence factors.) Significantly both ele-
Jnents (i.e. Missionary Secretary/stewardship principle
and India Conference/irrevocable commitment) appeal to
'the authority and example of New Testament Christianity,
:1 central value for the Free Methodist Church. Actually,

laarring some irrational action and assuming that the

expressions of commitment on the part of the India

 

281bid., p. 8.

297

Church were valid, the outcome could hardly have been

in doubt. Boulding comments on this kind of situation:
Schelling has pointed out the great advantage that
an irrevocable commitment gives a bargainer, pro-
vided that it does not preclude the possibility of
any bargain at all. This leads to the paradox that
the weakest bargainer is frequently in the strongest
bargaining position, as his very weakness gives him
a commitment that would be taken away by strength.
The weak have nowhere to go, no place to which to
retreat, and their very weakness makes their bar-
gaining commitments irrevocable . . . . Similarly,
the fanatical, the devotees, and the religiously
committed are in a strong bargaining position
because of the irrevocable nature of their commit-
ment . . . . Before the fanatic, ordinary reasonable
men are helpless: they can be moved, and the
fanatic cannot.

Whether through astuteness or desperation the
immediate move by the India Conference to convene a
special session was both an important strategic con—
sideration (in terms of Pondy's model at the manifest
conflict stage, see p. 42) and a support for the credi-
bility of their commitment on the issue. Its effective-
ness in securing the capitulation of the mission board
is attested to by the outcome.

A superficial analysis might quarrel with the
application of Boulding's analysis using the word
"bargain" with respect to this situation. This could
be objected to on the basis that it is difficult if not
impossible to bargain and compromise over certain kinds

of core values. In this case such objections would be

 

29Boulding, Conflict and Defense, p. 315.

298

beside the point because there is no evidence that
either side substantially altered its position with
respect to values, nor in fact did either side quarrel
with the values expressed by the other. The conflict
arose from different perceptions of the situation and
hence the application of variant values to it. Faced
with the quality of commitment evidenced on the Indian
side the Missionary Secretary, while protesting to the
last the GMB Executive Committee's bafflement over the
plan, nevertheless expressed their approval--on the basis
of another value, confidence in the integrity and wisdom
of fellow-Christians closer to the situation.

On the other hand, we feel that at this distance

we cannot place our judgment over against that of

the Executive Committee of the Conference. You

are there and we trust you to be conservative in
your plans and wise in your decisions . . .

30Letter of December 4, 1962.

Chapter 7
DISCUSSION

The general objective of this study has been to
explore the processes of interaction between a protestant
mission board and related autonomous national churches in
the Third World with a view to identifying and describing
variables which are active in the encounters. The
implicit assumption in a study of this kind, particularly
where, as in this investigation, a number of cases are
examined, is that the findings along with the application
of theory and models from related fields of study will
assist in the advancement of knowledge of cross-cultural
conflict experiences at the organizational level.

A number of theoretical insights from other fields
of study contributed to the form and direction of this
investigation. Work in the area of theory of innovations
jpointed out the resistance characteristics of receptor
cultures where core values are challenged. The current
enmfluasis on environmental constraints being discussed in
international management studies led to the exploration

<3f historical and cultural factors in the individual

299

300

cases. A combination of values theory and conflict
theory provided the general outline of the study and
guided the analyses of the conflict encounters.

The case study method was chosen because, given
the present state of theory, it appears to be the only
instrument capable of handling both the complexity of
variables and the processes of cross-cultural inter-
actions. While this study does not claim to surmount
the ordinary limitations of the case study method its
general aim has been to reach a level of analytic
description through the correlating and interpretation
of various kinds of data in the cases. The value of the
case study approach as it is used in this study rests on

three fundamental assumptions:

1. The case study permits a dynamic reconstruction
of the conflict encounters in which time and

processes are given due consideration.

2. The importance of correlating the data assumes
that many aspects of complex cross-cultural
interactions are "latent," that is, that they
are not apparent to lay observers including in

most cases the participants.

3. The third assumption is that values are highly

dynamic in conflict encounters and particularly

301

so in cross-cultural situations. A corollary
assumes that values may be inferred from

organizational behavior.

The application of relevant models in the organi—
zation and analysis of the material in the individual
cases makes possible the elevation of the insights pro-
vided by the normal case study approach into a larger
design which is essentially a comparative study. Pondy's
conflict episode model (p. 42) was used in ordering the
case material while the Bachrach/Baratz model (p. 207)

provided insights on political processes.

The remainder of this chapter has three divisions:

1. Interpretation of findings which will include a
brief discussion of the more striking aSpects
of the individual cases followed by generali-

zations over the whole study;
2. Implications and recommendations; and

3. Suggestions for further study.
INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS

This section will discuss briefly each of the
cases including Chapter 3 which examines the value
system of the organization. The chapter on the organi-

zational value system holds an important place in the

302

overall structure of the study since the cases deal with
conflict situations between a mission agency and over-
seas churches within the bounds of a single denomination.
In the individual cases it is assumed that two kinds of
variables contribute to the generation of issues and to
the process of conflict encounter. One class of variables
has its origin in the shared value system discussed in
Chapter 3; the other class of inputs comes from the

historical, social, cultural environment.

The Shared Value System

 

The discussion of the shared value system in
Chapter 3 deals with the organization's complex of
values particularly as they bear on relationships between
the North American church and the overseas branches.
The dichotomy "North American/overseas" is a term of
convenience which is not altogether valid because,
through the World Fellowship movement, the denomination
moved away from a home base/foreign mission model toward
a world systems model. Aside from the actual value
deductions perhaps the most important insight of the
chapter is the fact that the World Fellowship program of
intense international activity and area consultations
which set out to define essential Free Methodism in the
cultural multiplicity of the Third World churches

actually succeeded in augmenting the "shared" aspect of

303

the denominational value system which, up to that time,
had depended almost entirely upon individual missionaries
for its dissemination. In cross-cultural interactions,
however, the definition of a shared values system is
only a preliminary step because of the complex variables
influencing the selection of relevant values from the
shared system at a particular time or in certain circum—
stances. Selection or rank-ordering of elements from
the shared system may reflect either correspondence with
high values in the underlying cultural system or an acci-
dental situation of scarcity (related to Maslow's
deficiency oriented prepotency of needs concept). In-
depth explorations of questions of this kind had to be
considered beyond the scope of this study although they
are indicated at various points in the analyses of
environmental factors.
The World Fellowship movement, the discussion
of which constituted a major part of Chapter 3, included
characteristics of a pre-emptive move (in Bachrach/
Baratz' terms, a "nondecision") by church leaders in
North America facing overt expressions of nationalism
in the churches overseas. The subsequent decline of
interest in the World Fellowship, after the passing of
the immediate crisis, lends some support to this conclusion.
Significant changes in philosophy and in the

policies of the General Missionary Board in its dealing

304

with the overseas churches coincide with the change of
missionary secretaries. It appears, however, that the
modifications were not entirely due to the change-over
of personnel but that, along with the idiosyncratic dif-
ferences in the philosophies and administrative styles
of the respective secretaries, two other events were
influential. These were the reduction of scope imposed
on GMB by the new structure resulting from the World
Fellowship movement and the conservative change of mood
in American society which was reflected in the supporting
constituency of the church as it became more preoccupied
with problems at home.

The values deduced as a result of the analysis
in Chapter 3 are very carefully stated in an attempt to
define as accurately as possible the basic value system
of the denomination as that value system relates to the
international character of the Free Methodist Church.
The strong doctrinal and traditional attachments are
noted. These include a dual emphasis on Christian
discipleship and social service. The historic involve-
ment in a mission program which is quite large in respect
to the denomination's size testifies to the desire to
propagate the confessional value system. There is will-
ingness to allow for cultural modifications of form or
expression of doctrinal or ecclesiastical emphases but

they are assumed to be essentially identifiable in their

305

varying cultural environments. Organizationally the
Free Methodist Church has shown itself to be quite
flexible (e.g. the World Fellowship modifications) and
quite attached to orderliness in change (e.g. the
insistence on conferral of authority). The willingness
to accept as valid churches in diverse cultures binds
the denomination to an obligation to listen and reSpond
to them and requires that Christians of other cultures
be received as brothers. This position is related to
the nonsectarian outlook of the church with respect to
other ecclesiastical bodies by which it declares itself,
along with others holding the fundamentals of the
Christian faith, to be part of the larger community
of Christians: the Christian Church. There is, however,
a marked fear of big or super-church authority.

Against this background the individual cases are
presented. Some variables in each case will relate to

the shared value system.

The Burundi Case

 

The Burundi case illustrates a conflict situation
involving a traditional, mono-linguistic and culturally
homogeneous society. This assessment led to an investi-
gation of underlying themes and role patterns which are
postulated as having some influence on the conflict

encounter. Combined with the traditional values involved

306

were the complex of national independence events and
moods. From the shared macro value system (the church
system) the Burundi leaders drew their appeal to brother-
hood and sharing equally in the ministry (and resources)
of the church at large. On the mission side there were
contingencies of missionary morale and the attachment

to a formal western-type contract arrangement. The
shared value system provided an appeal to authority

(the Book of Discipline) and established policy. The

 

applicability of the Bachrach/Baratz Political System
model to this case reveals the nature of the interaction
and the kind of resolution which was reached. The post-
conflict persistence of the issues suggests two not
mutually exclusive possibilities; (1) that the bargaining
was sufficiently successful to secure compliance but

was nevertheless short of an amicable solution or (2)
that residual core values were sufficiently involved

on the Burundi side so as to limit the appropriateness

of the bargaining approach. These observations apply

the general principle that, where core values of a
society are involved, the bargaining approach is limited
in its efficacy. The principle is further elaborated
below in references to the India case and in the general-

izations over the whole study, numbers two and three.

307

The Brazil Case

 

The Brazil case is marked by the fact that it
presents two related conflict episodes taking place in a
culturally pluralistic environment. The two interactions
test the skill of the researcher and the adequacy of the
case study method in trying to capture adequately the
processes involved in the interactions. The ways in
which the actions of the various parties involved change
the reaction fields of the others require careful study
and analysis. The variables in the two episodes are
charted onto the Pondy model (p. 42) which provides a
good framework for comparison. Key elements in the
constitution issue were the input from the World Fellow-
ship movement, both in the generation of the issue and
in the resultant confusion among the missionaries over
policy, and the fact that the conflict issue was a direct
result of policy charges at GMB headquarters. The cul-
tural interplay in the personnel episode is interesting
in that, first, a North American agency is sponsoring
the candidacy of a Brazilian citizen for a position in
his homeland and, then, at the end, North American
mediation is rejected and the subject is instructed to
deal directly with his culture peers. The implied
cultural rebuff gives significant indications of the
persistence of culture distinctions in spite of the

church's stated ambitions to transcent such barriers.

308

The India Case

 

The India case concerning the design of a self-
support plan for the church in India represents a special
kind of conflict, i.e. a conflict encounter involving
mainly a value dimension as distinct from ”interest"
conflict. GMB felt that the plan as conceived was too
commercially oriented and therefore violated New Testament
principles of church support based on spiritual renewal
and sacrificial giving. The India church leaders, on
the other hand, exhibited a strong commitment to their
plan generated out Of long hours of consultation and
prayer and ratified by unanimous vote of the conference.
The resolution of the problem illustrated two principles
from conflict and value theory: (1) a true value dis-
senSion may not be resolved by bargaining; (2) in a
church framework irrevocable commitment is virtually

assured of victory.

Generalizations Over the
thle Study_

 

 

The following points summarize the conclusions

reached as a result of the study:

1. For organizations whose sub-units relate
to a shared value system a dynamic assessment of modif-
ications in that value system for the period under
investigation is essential to an understanding of indi-

vidual interactions between organizational units.

309

This conclusion is sustained by the observation
that in the Burundi case and in the constitution episode
of the Brazil case the situations were to some extent
provoked by changes in the rank ordering of values in
the North American church so that while the two over-
seas churches were operating on the basis of World
Fellowship ideology the church leaders in North America
were reflecting a conservative turn to a "partnership"

arrangement as distinct from "fusion" or "integration."

2. The definition of a set of core values which
remain relatively constant in the shared value system
assists in determining the parameters of non-negotiable
issues, i.e. issues concerning values which make norma-
tive statements about preferences for means or ends.
Such normative statements are often found in popular
aphorisms such as, "My rights are not for sale" or
"You cannot bargain with the truth." In traditional
societies they are contained in rituals and proverbs;
in religious life, they are written into articles of
faith and confessiOnal standards.

This principle is best illustrated in the India
case where the parties issued indictments each against
the other on virtually pure value dimensions. The
Missionary Secretary said, in effect, "You are com-

mercializing church support which is a violation of

310

New Testament principles." The India church replied,
"You refuse to recognize our mandate from God to pursue
this plan." As the case shows both positions were non-
negotiable and the efforts to introduce new information
from the respective sides failed. The conflict was
terminated by the exercise of irrevocable commitment by
the India church. In the second episode of the Brazil
case, the reservations over the subject's orthodoxy
could not be negotiated; those fears were only allayed
by his presence and personal confession of faith (i.e.
by the introduction of credible new information which

modified the conflict field).

3. Identification of sources of conflict is
essential in determining appropriate resolution pro-
cedures. Of particular benefit is the distinction
between conflict of interest arising from a situation
of scarcity (whether of autonomy or resources) and
conflicts of values involving normative statements.
Conflicts of interest imply the use of a bargaining
model. Conflicts of values may be treated, where there
is a shared value system, by reference to more ultimate
common values and by sharing perspective on means or
intermediate ends values. For churches and missions,
especially those within one organizational framework,
general congruency of ultimate values may be assumed

(since they are voluntary associations). For this

311

reason all conflicts may be considered as limited to
subordinate levels, i.e. to means or intermediate ends
values. From the church's point of view, therefore,
while conflicts may be encouraged or modified by
extraneous forces (e.g. nationalism, historical events,
cultural inputs) they are essentially generated and
shaped by the shared value "church" system. This con-
clusion is derived from the fact that the conflict takes
place in the church's field of action.

In the strongly contested Burundi case the end
values of establishing a strong national church and even
the intermediate value of having missionaries there to
help in developing the church were never disputed. The
heat generated came over the kinds of relationships and
distribution of resources which would best accomplish
the goal. In the Brazil constitution encounter the
issue was over instrumental values: Who could best
administer and coordinate the seminary program? In the
personnel problem in Brazil: Who was the best judge of
a man's fitness? In the India case: Which self-support
schedule would bring more progress and less disruption
to the church? All of these examples deal with means

or intermediate ends values.

4. Stating that the essential generation of
conflict issues between sub-units of a religious

organization must be located in the shared value system

312

does not at all discount the importance of extraneous
factors in their bearing on the latent conflict stage

and throughout the interaction. Investigation of cross-
cultural conflict requires a process analysis of environ-
mental factors.

The Brazil case illustrates this principle most
forcefully because of the involvement not only of a
cross-cultural interaction (North American/Latino) but
of a pluralistic cultural situation in Brazil. Given
these diverse parties interacting in a (1) period of
intense political activity in Brazil and (2) in a time
of major structural modification in the denomination
worldwide, it is easy to see the importance of a careful
charting of the confluence of events in time and the
changes in the field of conflict brought about by the

actions of the interacting parties.

5. Organizational changes in structure may
entail fundamental changes in policy in an organizational
sub-unit such as a mission board.

The development of the World Fellowship with the
related changes in the structure of the general church
greatly restricted the scope of the mission board.

Where before it had been charged with the whole task of
developing the churches overseas it was now relieved of
much of this aspect of its activities as supervision was

turned to the bishops and the planning for general

313

development was given to the World Fellowship organi-
zation. These events shifted the mission board toward

a much narrower concentration, turning it into an organi-
zation concerned mainly with missionaries--their recruit-
ment, administration and maintenance. The new orientation
shows up most clearly in the concern over missionary
morale in both the Burundi and Brazil constitution cases.
At the same time, however, the mission board retained
almost complete effective control over constitutions of
the overseas churches. This situation makes the next

point particularly significant.

6. In the cases presented in this study there
was evidence of an "image-lag" whereby the overseas
conferences (and to a certain extent the missionaries)
were not aware of the changes in policy and philosophy
in the GMB. This was shown in the constitutional
interactions mentioned above where the overseas
nationals and missionaries were operating on World
Fellowship ideology while the philosophy at mission
headquarters was undergoing some fundamental revisions.
The consideration of the time it takes for basic changes
at the top to be communicated throughout the organization
needs to be made an early and automatic verification in
conflict analysis, a check to see if this is a source or

contributing variable to the conflict.

314

7. A companion finding to the problem of "image-
lag" is the importance of "image change" particularly
as it relates to the occupants of the higher executive
roles. The analyses of both structure and processes of
the Free Methodist Church in North America and its Com—
mission on Missions confirm that the occupant of the
office of Missionary Secretary has wide latitude in
determining both the philosophy of operations and
policy with respect to the overseas churches. This
observation holds true in spite of the changes in role
dictated by the creation of the World Fellowship and the
delegation of overseas ecclesiastical supervision to the
bishops. The Missionary Secretary's control of mission
finance and missionary personnel and his substantial
authority over the overseas constitutions make him a
very influential figure.

The Missionary Secretary's influence was shown
clearly in the Burundi case and was, in fact, explained
formally to the Africans with respect to approval of
their constitution. The basic changes in operational
philosophy and policy which accompanied the change in
secretaries in 1964 demonstrate the role possibilities
in instituting substantial change. The conclusion is
that the office of Missionary Secretary is so defined

as to make it more person-determined than role-determined.

315

8. The Free Methodist Church considers itself
to be in the New Testament tradition, standing as a critic
of society in a prophetic role. The analyses of the
sources and processes of conflict in this study appear
to indicate the contrary——that religious organizations or
religious groups are highly vulnerable to their respec-
tive social matrices. This observation is confirmed in
all of the cases by the substantial environmental inputs
and in Chapter 3 by the Free Methodist Church's close
reflection of societal trends in North America during

the conservative change of mood in 1964.

IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This section contains two parts; a discussion of
the relative applicability of the models used and some
recommendations which seem to be indicated by the study.
Theoretical and methodological suggestions will be
included in the last division of the chapter under "Sug-

gestions for Further Study."

Utility of the Models Used

The research model developed to give general
shape to the study (p. 13) served to illustrate the
orientation of sub-units of a religious organization to
a shared value system. The model also emphasized that
the sub-units, while they are formally and dynamically

related to a shared system of values, are also

316

operating in an open system which exposes them to dis-
parate inputs from their respective environments. What
was not adequately shown in the model is that the shared
value system as well is subject to modification either
from intra-systemic activity or as a result of forces
from the nonchurch environment.

The Pondy model, referred to frequently throughout
the study, served as a general structure for the presen-
tation of the case material. Particularly where there
are a large number of variables, the exercise of charting
onto the model helps in defining relationships and in
classifying the variables with regard to their place in
the conflict life cycle. The model proved itself to be
practicable and flexible although, as Pondy has stated,
the categories may not always be discrete. In practice,
therefore, events in the conflict cycle frequently fall
on the lines between the stages; this occurs when an
event or situation contains a mixture of elements some
of which belong more appropriately to a subordinate
stage and others which belong more properly to the next
higher stage.

The Bachrach/Baratz political system model and
the discussion of power-authority-influence systems
related to it were very helpful in defining organizational
values and in identifying important issues. The model

per §§_applies most appropriately to extended political

317

processes where conflict is involved. In this study it
was especially useful in understanding the Burundi case.
The ultimate usefulness of the Bachrach/Baratz model for
Christian organizations may be called in question simply
because it is a "power" model which sets out to explain
conflict situations in a political system as a re-
allocation of values (where values are defined not as

a set of preferences which guide behavior but as things
sought or preferred). The Bachrach/Baratz model is a
bargaining model which attempts to account for power-
authority-influence inputs which determine a new allo-
cation of desirables as a result of an interaction
between parties seeking respectively either maintenance
of a favorable status quo or favorable change. In con-
trast to the underlying assumptions of this model the
New Testament, while allowing for conflict, counsels
seeking for reconciliation on the basis of good will

not power. The common element was early confrontation.
This principle is seen in the cases treated in this
study through the frequent use of face-to-face
encounters—-in the World Fellowship consultations, in
Burundi, in Brazil and, even after the conflict, in
India. It would appear that the extent of applicability
of the Bachrach/Baratz model could be a measurement of
the failure of preferred methods of conflict resolution

according to the New Testament example.

318

Implications

 

It is probable that the core values of a
religious organization are relatively stable over time.
The frequent appeals to history and tradition cited over
the World Fellowship years in the early 19605 seem to
indicate that this is true of the Free Methodist Church.
Chapter 3 which dealt with the problem of identifying
a fundamental set of values which had special relevance
for cross-cultural church relations, also surveyed a
dynamic period where processes of modification abroad
in the organization were making substantial structural
alterations. The changes in structure were not, however,
viewed as representing rejection of certain values and
adoption of new ones (which is a possible hypothesis)
but rather as a re-ordering of values within the system
in terms of rank of importance. The choice of the latter
vieWpoint rests on the observation that the earlier
actions were not repudiated (i.e. the World Fellowship
continues to function, the mission program is maintained,
etc.) but that other emphases rose to more prominent
places of attention (e.g. development of the "home
base"). These changes in selection of relevant elements
from the shared value system were not made universally
throughout the system but only by the North American
church. The fact that the North American church has

been historically the mother church and the major source

319

of financial power for the world-wide system meant that
this re-orientation in values-ordering contributed to
policy modifications which in turn produced disequilibriums
in remote extremities of the system. Notable examples
have been cited in the Burundi and Brazil constitutional
issues. The importance of these observations would seem
to be that in a cross-cultural organization major re-
orderings of values by any important segment should be
communicated over the entire system so that appropriate
adjustments could be made and a new equilibrium reached.
The alternative is to have conflict situations which

arise wholly or partly from informational deficiencies.
Where the communication problem is not, or cannot be,
dealt with adequately the sources of conflict should be
examined to see if they arise from communication problems.
In such cases the resolution will involve the presentation
of the lacking information.

A second implication of this study for cross-
cultural organizations calls for the careful identifi-
cation of sources of conflict. The cases presented show
a major preoccupation on the part of the participants
with issues and procedures. The major weakness of
the "symptomatic" approach is that it does not always
indicate the appropriate kind of method or procedure
to apply in the attempts to resolve the conflict. The

India case shows that bargaining over values is useless.

320

A superficial analysis could have concluded that the
issue was simply one of dispute over authority/autonomy
or perhaps an "interest" conflict over allocation of
resources. In fact, all of these elements appear to have
been present to some degree but the central problem was
revealed as a difference of perceptions leading to the
respective applications of separate non-negotiable values
by the parties involved. Two other possible sources of
conflict to which international organizations are par-
ticularly susceptible are "image-lag" and occupant change
in high executive positions. The importance of extraneous
factors as contributing to latent conflict is discussed
in the next section below.

The third major implication for practice drawn
from this study emphasizes the importance of the
influences exercised by extraneous variables from the
historical, cultural, social environment, i.e. from the
total environmental matrix of a situation. In common
with much of management theory, strategists in missions
have assumed that the environment of cross-cultural
interactions is co—terminal with the "church" environ-
ment (see Fig. 5, p. 63) and that it is relatively
static. Such an approach repeats the error frequently
encountered in international management studies where
the environment is assumed away or held as a constant.

This study has confirmed the importance of consideration

321

of external factors in understanding cross-cultural
interactions. The changes discussed in Chapter 3 owed
much to nationalism which gave impetus and urgency to
the World Fellowship movement. In each of the cases
external forces contributed to the generation of issues

and the process of interaction.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY

A study of this kind which ranges across many
related fields of investigation cannot fail to leave a
sense of frustration at promising avenues left unexplored
along the way. Some of these will be indicated in this
section along with some observations on methodology which
might be helpful to other researchers working with similar
problems. The comments on methodology are given first,

followed by some suggestions for further investigation.

Methodology

 

The backward look over this study leaves this
researcher firmly convinced of the value of the case
study method for handling the complexities of cross-
cultural material. The construction of a model suf-
ficiently sophisticated to integrate such a diversity
of variables along with time factors and changes of
conflict field into a meaningful representation of a

process remains as mindboggling at the end of the study

322

as it appeared at the outset. If anything, the experiences
of the study make the formulation of such a model seem
more formidable. Perhaps in the near or distant future
some Einstein of the social sciences will appear but,

until then, the case study seems to be the most useful
instrument at hand. The correlation of different kinds

of data which it affords does lead to what appear to be
valid insights, hypothesis building and new areas of
investigation.

In a study organized on the general plan of this
investigation methodological problems begin in the
selection of cases. One difficulty with the case study
method is that it requires a considerable investment of
time and work before the germaneness of specific cases
to the overall design can be determined. It is possible
to expend a lot of time and effort in fruitless explor-
ations. Preferably cases could be selected according
to some taxonomy of types, for example as to source of
conflict or as to issues on a ”means," "intermediate
ends," “ultimate ends" scale. The problem is that a
nearly complete analysis of the case is necessary before
these identifications can be made. A.similar situation
exists in regard to hypothesih formation because hypothe-
ses are formed, rejected or confirmed along the path of
the investigation. The net result of these character-

istics seemingly endemic to the case study method is

323

that, in order to have a neat and consistent research
result it would be necessary to undergo the pain of
allowing much of the work to remain invisible and the
paper would need to be written from back to front working
toward a fine list of hypotheses and a symmetrical
problem statement in the introductory chapter. These
aspects of the case study method which are sometimes so
frustrating to the researcher also contain substantial
advantages toward eventual theory building in that the
method works upgard from empirical investigation rather

than downward from re-combined pieces of management

 

theory.

Suggestions for Further
Investigation

 

The following areas of investigation are related
to the present study but represent aspects which, for
practical reasons, had to be ruled out as beyond the
sc0pe of this study. Had it been possible to follow
them up it is almost certain the value of the study
would have been enhanced and it is possible that some
conclusions would have been modified. Six promising
areas are mentioned here with a brief explanation of

each.

1. Culture identification. This suggestion is

 

based on the distinction between traditional and complex

societies as described by Useem, Useem and Donoghue

324

(Chapter 1, footnote 14). If a taxonomy of cultural
characteristics could be constructed so as to facilitate
classification of any given culture in terms of a con-
tinuum between these polar extremes it would then be
possible to hypothesize as to the behavior of that
culture in cross-cultural conflict interactions and to
proceed to hypothesis testing by means of case studies.
A corollary of this proposal could involve investigation
of the personal value systems of third culture peOple
who, as elites, are often involved in the cross-cultural
conflict situations. Is there an identifiable set of
shared third culture values? To what extent do peOple
moving into the third culture environment permanently
modify their values? Under pressure situations do they

revert to a more basic value structure?

2. Deficiency motivated cultures. At the outset

 

it was hoped that this study would provide more infor-
mation in the area of economic differentials between
interacting cultures and the resultant effect on values
selection. These elements appeared in the Burundi case
and in the Brazil case but were not sufficiently elab-
orated to warrant a major place in the conclusion. In
view of the increasing assertiveness on the part of the
world's poor nations this area of potential and/or

latent conflict deserves attention.

325

3. Classes of participants in conflict sipuations.
In future studies on the same general pattern as this
one it would be useful to analyze the perspectives of
respondents or informants according to class, i.e. by
educational level, age, experience or perhaps by some

composite measure of “third cultureness.“

4. Managerial style of principal executives.

A study using some of the current instruments for analysis
of managerial style would provide an interesting compari-
son against the executive's performance in cross-cultural

conflict situations.

5. Values determination of the ogganizagion.
Values deductions such as those made in Chapter 3 could
be strengthened by the use of survey methods of selected.
sub-sets of the church population. The results of such
an investigation could then be compared with executives'

and overseas leaders' perceptions of these values.

6. Model building, At the conclusion of the

 

Burundi case (p. 203) a reference was made to the
possibility of combining the Pondy and Bachrach/Baratz
models into one model whereby the Pondy sequence of
conflict stages would lead to the ”group seeking re-
allocation of values” point on the Bachrach/Baratz model.
Such a model could refine the "sources of conflict"

area and incorporate the insights of these two models

326

into an integrated framework. The resultant model could
be tested on published cases or applied to the researching

of new cases.

APPENDIX

APPENDIX

Free Methodist World Fellowship

By Dr. V. Iames Mannoia

In January, 1962, the Free Methodist World Fellow-
ship was organized on the campus of Greenville College,
with thirteen nations representing world Free Method-
ism. Officers elected were Bishop L. R. Marston,
president, Bishop Kaneo Oda, vice-president; Hugh A.
White, secretary— Htrasurer

The purpose of this organization is to coordinate the
worldwide activities of the denomination. It seeks to
promote close fellowship and mutual understanding
among all the branches of Free Methodism. It func-
tions as the agent for joint planning and cooperative
action and promotes studies that are helpful to the mem-
ber conferences.

World Fellowship is a connectional structure com-
prised of general conferences and overseas annual and
provisional conferences (see chart). At the time of each

North American General Conference the World Fel-
lowship body also meets, represented by the World
Fellowship board and officially elected delegates from
the conferences.

During the quinquennium area fellowships are held
for the purpose of relating overseas conferences to each
other in fellowship and mutual understanding. The
outreach of each conference, its training programs, and
its general development toward self-sufficiency is
studied and encouraged.

Each area has an executive secretary: Asia, Dr. Elmer
Parsons; Africa, Dr. Victor Macy; Latin America, Dr.
V. James Mannoia.

Dr. Mannoia is also executive secretary of World
Fellowship, which has its headquarters at \Ninona
Indiana.

 

r WORLD 'ELlOWSNIP CONNECTIONS

 

 

     
  

General Conferences
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327

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

 

Aitken, Thomas. The Multinational Man, The Role of the
Manager Abroad. New York: John Wiley and Sons, I973.

 

Bachrach, Peter, and Morton S. Baratz. Power and
Poverty, Theory and Practice. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1970.

 

 

Bentley, Arthur F. The Process of Government. Blooming-
ton, Indiana: The Principia Press, Inc., 1908.

 

Blalock, Hubert M. Causal Inferences in Nonexpgrimental
Research. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1964.

 

Book of Discipline of the Free Methodist Church of North
America. 1968 ed} Winona Lake, Indiana: The Free
Methodist Publishing House.

Boulding, Kenneth E. Conflict and Defense. New York:
Harper and Brothers, 1962.

 

Bridston, Keith. Mission, Myth and Reality. New York:
Friendship Press, 1965.

 

Britannica, 1972. Chicago: William Benton, 1972.

 

Chowdhry, Kamla. Change in Organizations. Bombay:
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Cicourel, Aaron V. Method and_Measuremegt in Sociology.
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Interviews

 

Bishops Myron F. Boyd and Paul N. Ellis, January 28, 1975.

Dr. Charles D. Kirkpatrick, Missionary Secretary,
October 25, 1974; December 19, 1974; May 16, 1975.

 

"Illllllllllllllllli