Churches as organisations: towards a virtue ecclesiology for today

Moore, G.

Abstract

This article is an attempt to offer insights from organisation studies to ecclesiology. To do so it draws particularly on the work of the moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre to offer a virtue ecclesiology for today. The application of MacIntyre's conceptual framework of practices, institutions, goods and virtues to all kinds of organisations, which already exists in the field of organisation studies, is extended to the church as an organisation. It suggests that the church may be re-described as an organisation in which the practices of faith are housed within the institution of the church. On this understanding, the gift of the church to the world is not simply the practices of faith but the manner in which they are institutionalised.

Citation

Moore, G. (2011). Churches as organisations: towards a virtue ecclesiology for today. International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church, 11(1), 45-65. https://doi.org/10.1080/1474225x.2010.505560

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2011
• Deposit Date: Nov 26, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 16, 2012
• Journal: International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church
• Print ISSN: 1474-225X
• Electronic ISSN: 1747-0234
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 45-65
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1474225x.2010.505560
• Keywords: Church, Ecclesiology, MacIntyre, Virtue ethics, Practices, Institutions.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1512935