Overview

Every congregation is, in certain respects, like all other congregations, like some other congregations, and like no other congregation. In this interpretation of congregational culture at Riverstane Church, aspects of the particular (like no other congregation) are presented ethnographically. The church building is symbolic of authority, tradition, and status - framing the interaction not only between insiders and outsiders, but also between the congregants themselves. In turn, this interpretation allows scope for discerning aspects of the comparative (like some other congregations). Interpreting Culture in a Scottish Congregation begins by locating the study in terms of hermeneutics, practical theology, and social anthropology. It ends with a pastoral theological reflection on the aspects of the general (like all other congregations).

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9780820456591

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Al Dowie's book is a major contribution to congregational studies. Building upon the tradition of Don Browning and James Hopewell, Dowie reflects upon the life of a Scottish congregation, bringing his ethnographic approach into 'critical correlation' with theological insights, and finding disclosive resources in the writings of Donald Capps and others. His method is pioneering in British practical theology; his findings are fascinating and salutary. (David Lyall, Principal, New College, University of Edinburgh)

Al Dowie's book is a major contribution to congregational studies. Building upon the tradition of Don Browning and James Hopewell, Dowie reflects upon the life of a Scottish congregation, bringing his ethnographic approach into critical correlation' with theological insights, and finding disclosive resources in the writings of Donald Capps and others. His method is pioneering in British practical theology is pioneering in British practical theology; his findings are fascinating and salutary.

Author Information

The Author: Al Dowie is Lecturer in the Medical School at the University of Dundee, Scotland, specializing in qualitative methods in health care research and the ethnography of medical education. He received his Ph.D. for this ethnographic approach to congregational studies from the University of Edinburgh.

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