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Ecumenism, Clergy Influence and Liberalism: An Investigation into the Sources of Lay Support for Church Union

R O B E R T C. K A I L L / University of Guelph

Le mouvement cecumCnique chez les Cglises protestantes a pris beaucoup d’importance durant les soixante dernikres annCes. Plusieurs groupes religieux autonomes se sont intCgrCs dam une union organique tandis que chez certains autres Ies nCgociations ont abouti B une impasse. Cette Ctude vise B identifier l’ensemble des facteurs opCrants dans la formation des attitudes des laics vis-8-vis ces projets ecumkniques. Le projet de fusion de l’Eglise anglicane et de l’Eglise Unie est A l’origine de notre intCr&t scientilique. Nos rksultats mettent en lumikre l’importance primordiale de deux facteurs dans la prCdisposition des informateurs A approuver le projet de fusion. Ces facteurs sont les attitudes favorables du clergC et l’idkologie libkrale des paroissiens dans les questions profanes.

The ecumenical movement has been gaining momentum in Protestant Christianity for the past sixty years. Organic union of several autonomous religious groups has been achieved, while in other instances, negotiations have ended in stalemate. This study undertakes the identification of those factors which are functional in the formation of lay attitudes toward such ecumenical proposals. The plan to merge the Anglican and United Churches in Canada provided the occasion for the investigation. Findings indicate that clergy endorsement and secular liberal orientation of adherents are two primary factors predisposing respondents to approve the union plan.

INTRODUCTION

Since the time of Comte, sociologists have been interested in religious behaviour as a social phenomenon. Enquiries have focused on a variety of topics from the effects of religious attitudes on secular institutions (Weber, 1930; Lenski, 1961) to attempts to develop typologies of religious organizations (Troeltsch, 193 1 ; Yinger, 1970). From the outset, religious activity has been recognized as peculiarly susceptible to fruitful investigation. In part, this may be accounted for by the ubiquity and relative stability of religjous institutions. I t is also true that the social integrative function commonly ascribed to religion implies a significant and persistent interaction with the other major social institutions of society. However, the unique quality of religious behaviour which renders it especially fruitful for study is its subject matter, since it is concerned with the primary orientations and goals of human existence, those which adherents, themselves, would describe

Rev. canad. Soc. & Anth./Canad. Rev. SOC. & Anth. 8(3 ) 1971

142

as most important. The fact that often these claims amount to nothing more than verbalizations exhibiting little influence on behaviour, far from invali- dating religion as a viable object of study, adds a further dimension for scientific investigation.

Sociologically, the research reported in this paper is of interest in that it alTords an opportunity to examine the attitudes of adherents of two formal organizations on an issue over which consensus is clearly lacking. It should be understood that the union issue is critical for members of the two religious bodies concerned, since it involves the continued existence of those groups as separate organizational entities. We are not primarily concerned, however, with the relative support for the merger plan in the two denominations, since the localized nature of the sample would invalidate such conclusions. The research goal is rather to identify the predisposing characteristics which lead church members to adopt positive or negative attitudes toward the proposal.

H I S T O R I C A L B A C K G R O U N D

Ecumenism is essentially a response to nine centuries of divisiveness within the Christian Church. The modern ecumenical movement dates from the World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh in 1910, which led eventually to the formation of the World Council of Churches (Latourette, 1953: 11 38-1 145). Almost since its inception, two concurrent and philosophically opposed interpretations of ecumenism have persisted. One aims at increasing the level of cooperation among autonomous religious groups, while the other is committed to the principle of total organic union of existing Christian bodies. In 1965, Rodgers listed thirty-nine separate union negotiations then in progress in twenty-nine countries, indicating the geographic scope of this latter movement (1965: 147). Some merger attempts have already found- ered, among them the ill-timed plan to re-unite Anglicans and Methodists in England. On the other hand, unions involving several major Protestant denominations have been consummated. One of these brought the Church of South India into existence (1947), while the Church of Nigeria was created by a second (1966). Notable among several American mergers, was the formation of the United Methodist Church through union of the Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren churches (1968). Unquestion- ably, the most daring and comprehensive ecumenical plan of modem times was the “Blake proposal” of 1961, which envisaged the organic union of all major Protestant denominations in America, apart from the Baptist (Christi- anity Today, 196 1 : 6) .

The proposal to unite the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada is of particular interest since the latter religious body is, itself, the product of a merger between the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches in 1925. The negotiations which preceded the union extended over seventeen years. While the proposal was the subject of vigor- ous debate within all three denominations, the discussions among Presby- 143

terians were marked by dissension, and punctuated by vitriolic exchanges which resulted in the polarization of the church. When union was finally achieved, approximately a third of the Presbyterian congregations voted to remain outside of the merger as “continuing Presbyterians.” For the present study, it will be of interest to compare the attitudes of members of the United Church who have Presbyterian and non-Presbyterian backgrounds ( Walsh, 1956).

The present movement toward union of the Anglican and United Churches in Canada began formally in 1943. A document entitled “The Principles of Union Between the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada,” produced by a joint committee of the two denominations has received wide distribution throughout the churches. Although the decision- making apparatus in neither denomination has any place for participation at the congregational level, it is evident that the plan cannot succeed without general support of the laity. Hence, an intensive educational programme is currently under way, aimed at increasing adherents’ understanding of the issues involved, while promoting the merger plan as a partial solution of the churches’ problems in contemporary society.

THEORETICAL M O D E L

The primary concern of this study is with the social factors which influence lay attitudes toward church union, rather than the relative strength of support for the plan within the two denominations. Nevertheless, notice must be taken of the organizational context within which adherents of the two bodies make decisions and formulate attitudes. It might be assumed initially tiiai because of the episcopal structure, emphasis on historical liturgies, and strong sense of tradition characterizing Anglicanism, members wn.:ld per- ceive the merger plan as an overt threat to their religious identity. On the other hand, the Anglican church has been in a state of relative numerical decline in Canada for more than a decade, and this might create a cross- pressure in favor of union (Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1961 : 924-546). On the surface, the issue appears much less ambiguous for United Church- men, since their denomination is a product of merger and claim to be not only a “united” but a “uniting church.” (United Church of Canada, Manual, 1962:6.) This claim may however be little more than an idealized definition of the situation. Since routinization and rationalization are ubiquitous organizational processes, it must be assumed that after forty-five years of existence, many United Church adherents are unmindful to their denomination’s lofty initial aims, and feel an emotional attachment to it differing little from that of Anglican gbsence of liturgical worship patterns and episcopal organizational structure may have developed into valued realities as normative as their existence is for Anglicans. On the basis of this analysis, there is no sound theoretical ground for predicting the extent of support for merger in either of the two religious groups. 144

In seeking to identify the factors predisposing members to accept or reject the union proposal, the claim of Demerath and Hammond that ecumenism represents primarily a response to the pressures under which modern urban congregations exist, offers a point of departure. They maintain that, although church leaders typically appeal to lofty religious principles as the justification for ecumenical undertakings, they are simply “making theological virtue out of organizational necessity” (1969:221). This suggests that, at the local level, adherents approve church mergers because they fear their congregations cannot survive alone. They prefer congregational fusion to dissolution. This explanation of ecumenical behaviour might be appropriate when disintegration appears imminent, but such a threat is by no means apparent in the two groups under study. There has been a moderate decline in participation but budgets continue to be met, and rou- tine operations are not curtailed. From the elevated perspective of senior administrators, symptoms of advanced structural deterioration may be apparent, but this insight will have little impact at the parish level, especially since, for religious or perhaps strategic reasons, top echelon officials feel constrained to base their appeals for union support on theological principle rather than pragmatic considerations. It is therefore assumed that anxiety over congregational survival is not a primary source of support for merger. The first hypothesis states that pessimism concerning the church’s future is not significantly correlated with approval of church union.

A more convincing argument may be made for treating liberalism as the primary source of the ecumenical spirit. For example, Yinger links ecumenism and liberalism through their mutual connection with the social gospel. He argues that religious groups which preach the social gospel are the same ones that advocate interfaith co-operation and merger ( 1957:224). Other writers have pointed to the historically coincidental emergence of ecumenism and the social gospel in America (Demerath and Hammond, 1969:221). Further evidence of this relationship is provided by the fact that practically all mergers that have taken place have involved liberal Protestant denominations (Salisbury, 1964: 299-3 14). Liberally-inclined churches view religious organizations instrumentally, as vehicles of social amelioration. Thus, despite wide theological and liturgical cleavages between denominations, ecumenism flourishes because the mainline churchman neither understands nor is interested in the niceties of theological distinction, although so far as he has a doctrinal viewpoint, he would have to be classified as a religious liberal.

But, as sociologists have good reason to appreciate, liberalism is a complex and elusive phenomenon, exhibiting secular as well as sacred dimensions. Rokeach, for example, considers “open-mindedness” to be an important aspect of liberalism (1960). This is particularly relevant for the present investigation since merger of these two religious groups is certain to involve changes in several facets of church life. In formulating their attitudes toward the proposed merger, adherents will be compelled to choose between 145

preservation of familiar religious patterns, and the acceptance of new forms and structures. Hence, openness to innovation must be considered a further component of the liberal spirit for purposes of this study. Finally, liberalism also has politico-economic dimensions, usually expressed in leftist leanings, although many would insist on excluding doctrinal socialism on the ground that it represents an inflexible position incongruent with the liberal spirit. For this reason, Lipset has distinguished between “economic” and “non- ecomnomic” liberalism, including in the latter category concern for civil liberties and tolerance, a phenomenon which has been operationalized in this design as “belief in freedom of expression,” following Stouffer’s classic study of liberalism in the United States.l Economic liberalism, on the other hand, connotes a negative attitude toward the free-enterprise economic system, coupled with advocacy of welfare-type legislation. Lipset perceives a difference in social class attitudes toward these two modes of liberal expression, maintaining that the working class are liberal in economic matters, while upper classes are more favourable toward non-economic liberalism (1960: 101-102). In the present investigation, the church union proposal is considered an expression of non-economic liberalism and it is anticipated that respondents who favour the plan will be predominantly middle and upper class liberals in the non-economic sense, whereas working class respondents will exhibit less enthusiasm for union and more for economic liberalist principles.

From the foregoing analysis, the following hypotheses have been elicited specifying the relationships between each dimension of liberalism and attitudes toward the proposed union: ( a ) that there is a positive correlation between religious liberalism and approval of church union; ( b ) that there is a positive correlation between belief in freedom of expression and approval of church union; ( c ) that there is a positive correlation between acceptance of innovation and approval of church union; and ( d ) that there is a negative correlation between economic liberalism and approval of union. It is also anticipated that respondents who approve of union wiU exhibit other characteristics commonly associated with liberalism, including higher than average socio-economic status, multiple memberships in secular vol- untary associations, and relative youthfulness.

A second factor which might reasonably be expected to influence attitudes of church adherents toward the merger proposal is the position taken on the issue by the clergy. Numerous theoretical and empirical studies have been carried out on clergy role and the nature of its authority. There have, however, been few empirical attempts to measure the power of the clergy over lay members of their congregations. A number of theoretical analyses have been made of the nature and development of religious leadership, begin- ning with Weber’s concepts of charismatic, traditional, and rational-legal

1 Twelve of Stouffer’s fifteen items comprising his tolerance scale measured the respondent’s willingness to grant freedom of expression to those with whom he

146 disagreed.

authority (1947:358-360). Utilizing a structural approach, Vernon con- ceives of a continuum of power ranging from congregationalist clergy at one pole, exerting least power, to episcopal priests at the other, wielding most ( 1947 : 190-19 1 ) . Considered jointly, these two typologies suggest that clergy power is generated from both structural and personal sources, and, in our technologically oriented society, the incumbent’s personal sources of influence include not only idiosyncracies of manner, but also level of expertise. In the context of the present study, the Anglican priest exceeds the United Church minister in structural authority by virtue of his episcopal ordination and non-democratic form of government at the congregational level. The formal educational requirements for ordination are approximately alike in the two denominations, and we may therefore assume that the expertise levels do not differ significantly. Unfortunately, there is no evidence available regarding the personal charismatic qualities of clergy of either church. From this analysis, two hypotheses have been elicited: (a) that both Anglican and United Church clergy influence the attitudes of lay- men with respect to church union; ( b ) that the influence of Anglican priests on lay attitudes toward church union exceeds that of United Church ministers.

Apart from these major theoretical considerations, there are certain other factors which may siplicantly influence lay attitudes toward church merger, but about which little relevant evidence is available. Firstly, there is the effect of ethnicity to be considered. Will Herberg’s “acculturation hypothesis“ represents one of the few serious attempts to relate immigrant status to religious behaviour, but it offers little guidance in the present context (1956). A somewhat analogous problem concerns the effect of family d e nominational solidarity or discontinuity on union attitudes. Here, again, little help is available from the literature. Finally, there is the question of commitment. Does the union proposal receive greater support from the more or less committed? The answers to these questions will be explored, although no formal hypotheses have been formulated. It will also be of interest to discover if a structural profile of the typical union supporter can be drawn utilizing especially such characteristics as age, education, and residence.

RESEARCH DESIGN

The sample consisted of 408 active adherents of two urban and two town parishes of each denomination in central Western Ontario, a total of eight congregations. Active adherents are defined as persons who attended church services at least once in the past year, By drawing an “inchurch” sample, on what was considered an average Sunday (not a festival occasion), and utilizing the following correction factors to weight respondents for differential attendance patterns, a relatively representative sample of active adherents of each denomination was drawn, see Table I. The use of this weighting system provided methodological justification for distribution of 147

TABLE 1 CORRECTION FACTORS FOR VARIOUS CHURCH ATTENDANCE PATERNS TO CREATE A WEIGHTED SAMPLE

Average monthly attendance rate Assigned weight

1 (or less) 4 . 0 2 2 .0 3 1 . 3 4 1 .o

the questionnaire at a Sunday service, since it adjusts for the statistical probability of every active adherent being present. In the analysis of data, it was considered legitimate to use the weighted data for descriptive, but not analytical purposes.

The details of questionnaire distribution are as follows: The schedules were passed out to worshippers in stamped, self-addressed envelopes as they left the church buildings. To minimize bias, distribution took place on the same date in all eight churches. The clergy also read prepared statements emphasizing the importance of having all viewpoints represented. This procedure combines some aspects of group administration with mailing technique, and probably accounted for the unusually high response rate of approximately 69 per cent. Denominational composition of the sample was 35 per cent Anglican, 60 per cent United Church and 5 per cent other, representing a ratio of Anglicans to United Churchmen of 3.5:6, closely approximating the national ratio of 3.4:5.3 (Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1961). Similarly, the sex and rural-urban distribution of the sample did not d8er si@cantly from the parameters of the national population. The age characteristics of the sample are of particular interest in view of the prevailing belief that older persons are over-represented in religious activi- ties. Unfortunately, differential grouping of the data between the research design and census records does not permit exact comparison, but inspection clearly supports the above postulate, younger people being under-represented and the more elderly over-represented, although the discrepancy does not appear to be above five per cent in any of the three categories into which age groups were divided.

Socio-economic status is also of concern since several studies have indicated that Anglicans enjoy 8 somewhat higher status than adherents of the United Church (Mann, 1963: 171-194; Allingham, 1962:32-33). The data of the present study c o b this finding, but again the difference is below the level of statistical significance. When compared with national figures, the total sample proves to be well above the mean. When, however, it is recalled that socio-economic status was measured by formal education and occupation, this inconsistency is understandable in view of the large proportion of university faculty members (14 per cent) included in the sample. Further, since this variable is not significantly related to the phe- nomena under investigation, this sampling bias does not invalidate the 148

fbdings of the study. In general, then, despite the localized nature of the sample, it exhibits a fairly high degree of representativeness of the national population.

The questionnaire was entirely structured, consisting of 38 Likert-type items, about half the number used in the pre-test phase, the remainder having been eliminated on the basis of item analysis. In attitude studies, the question of single versus multiple measures is particularly crucial, since the relative validity of each item as a true indicator of the attitude under study is always problematic (Blalock, 1969: 1 11). For this reason, multiple indicators were used for all major attitudinal variables, items being combined additively.

~~

TABLE 11 APPROVAL OF CHURCH UNION USING WEIGHTED AND UNWEIGHTED DATA

Unweighted Weighted Attitude data data

toward union (per cent) (per cent)

*Approve 58 61 Neutrai 17 16 Disapprove 25 23

N (408) (58%

*All variables were trichotomized for tabular presentation. In preference to the use of arbi- trary cutting points only the centre cell of the Liked-type scales were labelled “neutral,” to reflect intention of respondents as accurately as possible. A trade-off cost of this procedure is the low number of cases in this category.

. BLE 111 DENOMINATIONAL APPROVAL OF CHURCH UNION

Attitude Anglican United Church toward union (per cent) (per cent)

Approve 48 63 Neutral 20 15

N (146) (248) Disapprove 32 22

Chi-square = 7.88 < .02.

F I N D I N G S

Comparison of the two columns in Table II indicates that weighting the data on the basis of attendance patterns has little effect on the major dependent variable of the study. Consequently the weighted data were not used in the analysis. The figures show that a majority of respondents approve the merger plan between the two churches. Denominationally, the relative approval rate is as shown in Table III. United Church respondents exhibit 149

si@cantly higher approval of the merger plan than Anglican. Our research problem now i s to explain that daerence.

Before examining the data in terms of the formal hypotheses of the study, we shall dispose of the incidental issues raised in the theoretical model. The development of a structural profile of the typical church union supporter is not possible since the data indicate that approval of the plan is randomly distributed among all segments of the religious community so far as age, occupation, education, and residence are concerned. With respect to occupation, it had been anticipated that farmers would exhibit lower educational levels, fewer liberal characteristics, and less enthusiasm for merger than other occupational groups. While the data confirm the first premise, this group exhibited mean levels of liberalism and support for union, an unan- ticipated outcome which suggests that farmers who attend town and city churches represent a deviant social category, if the premise is accepted that rural dwellers are generally more conservative than urbanites. The data may be interpreted to mean either that farmers who adhere to town or urban congregations internalize the social values of the dominant group, or conversely, liberally-oriented farmers gravitate toward such churches b e cause of the more compatible ideological milieu. Conversely, liberally- oriented farmers may gravitate to town and urban churches because of the more compatible ideological milieu. With respect to residence, the data indicate some minor positive relationship between community size and approval of union. A final incidental question concerns the effect of Presbyterian background on United Church adherents. Because of the profound dissension among Presbyterians associated with church union in 1925, it was anticipated that their attitudes and those of their children toward this current proposal would d8er from the other members of the sample. The data do not reveal any differential response pattern for this group. Within a wider context, it was found that inter-generational denominational solidarity was also systematically unrelated to church union support.

The data tend to support the fust hypothesis which postulated no relationship between pessimism over the church’s future and approval of union (see Table rv) . This composite variable had three components, representing

~~

TABLE lV EFFECT OF PESSUlISM OVER THE CHURCH’S FUTURE ON APPROVAL OF CHURCH UNION

Degree of pessimism

Attitude High Medium Low toward union (per cent) (per cent) (per cent)

~

Approve Neutral Disapprove

62 53 58 13 23 17 25 24 25

anxiety over ( 1 ) financial difficulties, (2) recruitment of suitable clergy, and ( 3 ) the church’s appeal to youth. Item analysis revealed that concern over financial problems exhibited the lowest correlation with the other two items, and with approval of union. Where pessimism about the future does produce a willingness to accept denominational merger, it is the difficulty of clergy recruitment and holding the interest of young people that are chiefly functional. This relationship holds for adherents of both denominations, every age group, and all socio-economic statuses.

The first positive proposition of the theoretical model argued that the proposal to merge the Anglican and United Churches is an expression of the liberalist spirit. For purposes of the present study, the concept of liberalism was refined into four constituent dimensions - religious liberalism, belief in freedom of expression, acceptance of innovation, and economic liberalism, following the theoretical outline.

The religious liberalism variable was comprised of five questionnaire items. The questions referred to the theological content of belief (doctrine of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ), degree of emphasis on other- worldy matters (attainment of heaven in the next life and mystical experi- ences in this) , and stress on social action (support for the resolution of social evils through collective action rather than by individual conversion). While this composite variable exhibited relatively high internal validity, neither the whole variable nor any of the items was sipficantly related with approval of church union. Yinger has commented on the ambiguities surround- ing the concept of religious liberalism, especially its influence on social behaviour ( 1970: 45 1-455). Our outcome c o b s this observation: where organizational identity is at stake, religious liberals tend to behave no dif- ferently than others.

The “innovation” dimension of liberalism consisted of three items (see Table v) , each of which required the respondent to choose between the retention of familiar religious traditions and change. Again, neither singly nor as a composite measure were these indicators correlated with support for union. However, the statistical relationship between the two variables does provide valuable insight into respondents’ attachment to traditional forms of religious expression, and therefore warrants examination. Only

TABLE V RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACCEPTANCE OF INNOVATION AND APPROVAL OF CHURCH UNION

Acceptance of innovation

Atritude High Medium LOW toward union (per cent) (per cent) (per cent)

Approve 65 66 59 Neutral 13 16 17 Disapprove 22 18 24

N (58) (104) (240)

Chi-square = 2.38 > 0.50. 151

TABLE VI RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BELIEF IN FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND APPROVAL OF CHURCH UNION

Belief in freedom of expression

Attitude High Medium Low toward union (per cent) (per cent) . (per cent)

Approve 13 65 29 Neutral 16 19 18 Disapprove 11 16 53 N = 100percent (231) (43) (1 26)

Chi-square = 87.31 > 0.001.

fifty-eight respondents (14 per cent) were prepared to approve change involving the sacrifice of familiar religious forms, while 240 (60 per cent) opted for tradition. The response pattern is approximately the same for adherents of both Anglican and United Churches. Since more than half of the total sample approved the union proposal, it is evident that most of them assumed that merger could be achieved without substantial change at the congregational level. Recalling that at present there are si@cant liturgical and structural differences between the two religious groups, it is apparent that those who favour church merger either anticipate that the new church will permit wide variation in procedures at the congregational level, or that their bargaining agents will be strong enough to impose their present forms on the other uniting group. Some further light might have been thrown on the situation by the inclusion of questions relating to innovation in secular matters, such as educational practice or political policy. So far as the above data are concerned, we must conclude that traditionalism does not deter adherents of either religious group from approving the merger proposal.

The third liberal variable concerned belief in freedom of expression and consisted of two items, one referring to the treatment of Communists in our society, and the other relating to censorship of movies. This composite variable showed a highly significant correlation with support for church union (see Table VI) . This relationship between belief in freedom of expression and support for church union holds when controlled for all available theoretically relevant structural variables. For example, several studies have linked liberalism with age, and it might therefore be assumed that the rela- tiomhip is more a function of age than of belief in freedom. Table VII indicates that this is not the case. As anticipated, the marginals in the above table indicate a strong and consistent positive correlation between age and belief in freedom of expression, but the relationship between the dependent and independent variable established in the previous table remains intact. In every age category, those who believe most in freedom of expression are also most in favour of church union.

If this liberal quality predisposes people to support church union, United Church adherents should exhibit more of it than Anglicans, since they have 152

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TABLE Wl COMPARISON OF UNITED CHURCH AND ANGLICAN RESPONDENTS ON BELIEF IN FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Denomination

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High 44 64 Medium 13 10 LOW 43 26

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TABLE IX RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECONOMIC LIBERALISM AND APPROVAL OF CHURCH UNION

Belief in economic liberalism

Attitude High Medium Low toward union (per cent) (per cent) (per cent)

Approve 37 57 68 Neutral 16 22 14 Disapprove 47 21 18

N (88) (131) (183)

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shown a sipficantly higher union approval rate. The data in Table WI further confirm the hypothesis that civil liberalism and approval of union are positively related, Anglicans exhibiting a greater reluctance to permit freedom of expression to dissenters than United Churchmen. The relevance of this composite “freedom” variable to current civil rights issues justifies specification of the two items of which it was comprised: “Any university professor who talks like a Communist should be fired”; “The government should not permit so many obscene movies to be shown.” Respondents who agreed with these statements were very unlikely to approve of church union. The two items were highly correlated, generating a correlation coefficient of 0.547, (df = 401).

The final liberal variable, economic liberalism, exhibited a negative correlation with the dependent variable as predicted (see Table IX) . The economic liberalism variable consisted of two questions, one of which suggested that the free enterprise system “favours” the rich and discriminates against the poor,” while the other recommended that the government “control and operate all vital industries, such as mining, railways and airlines.” The negative relationship between this variable and approval of church merger indicated in the above table, persisted when controls were run on several structural variables. In this case, it is particularly important to control for socio-economic status which might be functioning as an antecedent explanatory condition. Examination of Table x reveals that in all categories of 154

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mea

sure

com

prise

d of

edu

catio

nal a

nd o

ccup

atio

nal le

vels

. For

just

ifica

tion

of th

is co

nstr

uctio

n se

e P.

K. H

att (

1950

: 53

3-54

3).

TABLE XI COMPARISON OF UNITED CHURCH AND ANGLICAN RESPONDENTS ON ECONOMIC LIBERALISM

Denomination Support for economic Anglican United Church liberalism (per cent) (per cent)

High Medim LOW

N Chi-square = 18.80 < 0.001.

socio-economic status support for economic liberalism is inversely related to approval of church union.

Again, in order to test the consistency of the response pattern, we must ask whether Anglicans exhibit a stronger bias in favour of economic liberalism than United Churchmen. The data in Table XI con6rm further the hypothesis linking rejection of economic liberalism with approval of union, indicating that Anglicans feel less enthusiasm for free enterprise economics than United Churchmen, and are more prepared to accept government control of business. This bias may be partially attributed to the fact that approximately onethird of Anglican respondents were first or second gen- eration immigrants from England where socialism has historically found considerably greater acceptance than in North America. Fewer than fifteen per cent of United Church respondents had a similar ethnic background.

The fact that belief in freedom of expression and rejection of economic liberalism both correlate highly with the dependent variable is by no means fortuitous, since in western society the free enterprise system connotes freedom of choice and decision-making, while government control of industry tends to be associated with restriction of individual freedom. This interpre- tation gains further empirical support from the high statistical correlation between these two liberal variables, which generates a chi-square of 29.63, with a probability of less than 0.001 and correlation coefficient of 0.623. In view of this close theoretical and statistical affinity between these two variables, it would seem redundant to present parallel statistical data for both. For this reason, in the remainder of the paper, the former composite variable, “belief in freedom of expression” only, will be used in statistical correlations to represent civil liberalism.

We are now forced to ask the more difficult theoretical question, why commitment to freedom of expression and economic behaviour should lead to approval of a plan to unite two autonomous religious bodies. A clue to the nature of this relationship is available from the earlier observation that a majority of those who approve the plan appear to favour preservation of traditional forms of religious expression. It now becomes important to note the form in which this matter was presented. The statements to which s u b 156

jects were asked to respond were as follows: “People who were baptized and confirmed in our denomination are proud of their religion, and will not feel right about changing for the sake of union”; “Since most of our members are satisfied with the way we do things now, they should not be asked to make radical changes if church union takes place.” As represented by these statements, iMovation involves the imposition of new religious forms on those who prefer traditional modes of expression. It is not then surprising that the liberal rejects this form of innovation. The same orientation that prompts him to support freedom of expression results in his opposition to religious conformity. His approval of church union, therefore, suggests that he has been convinced that the merger plans envisage some type of loose federation permitting preservation of existing forms of religious expression at the local level.

The final major hypothesis concerns the influence of clerg on lay approval of church union. Clergy attitude toward the plan was measured in terms of lay perception, each respondent being asked to indicate where his pastor stood on the issue. This variable has been called “perception of clergy attitude.” The marginals of Table XII indicate that only 17 per cent ( n = 24) of Angli- can respondents believe their pastors favour church union, compared with 36 per cent (n = 87) of United Church subjects, thus establishing an un- mistakable link between perception of clergy attitude and rate of denominational approval of the plan. Further analysis of the table reinforces this conclusion since a sigDlficant statistical correlation is evident between these two variables within both denominational groups. On the other hand, there is no sigDlficant difference in strength of clergy influence between the two denominations. It should be noted that this influence is weaker among younger parishioners than other members of the sample.

Table XIII reveals that the statistical relationship between perception of clergy attitude and lay approval of union holds for the entire sample, except the under-thirty age group. The data do not provide evidence to indicate whether this outcome is to be interpreted as a function of age differential or changing attitudes toward clergy authority. In spite of this age group exception, it remains true that for the sample as a whole there is a strong positive correlation between perception of clergy approval of merger and lay support for it. This should hardly be considered surprising in view of the strong cultural emphasis on expertise and professionalism in North American society. The clergyman is the one person in the congregation who has formal religious training and derives his living from the church.

We have now identified two theoretically independent variables highly correlated with approval of church union. To measure the relative strength of each on the dependent variable it is only necessary to cross-tabulate either one against approval of union, while controlling for the other (Rosenberg, 1968:169-178). Inspection of Table XIV indicates that both the independent variable and the test factor exercise an independent effect on respondents’ approval rate of the merger proposal, since there is a gradation 157

TABL

E W

PER

CE

PTIO

N O

F C

LER

GY

AT

ilT

UD

E A

ND

APP

RO

VA

L O

F C

HU

RC

H UNION B

Y DENOMINATION

Den

omin

atio

n

Ang

lican

U

nite

d C

hurc

h

Perc

eptio

n of

cle

rgy

attit

ude

Lay

attit

ude

tow

ard

unio

n A

ppro

ve

Neu

tral

D

isap

prov

e A

ppro

ve

Neu

tral

D

isap

prov

e (p

er c

ent)

(p

er c

ent)

(p

er c

ent)

(p

er c

ent)

(p

er c

ent)

(p

er ce

nt)

App

rove

75

65

32

82

74

38

N

eutr

al

17

19

16

8 15

22

D

isapp

rove

8

16

52

10

11

40

N

(24)

(5

0*

(63)

(8

7)

(103

)*

(50)

C

hi-s

quar

e =

31.

41 <

0.0

01

Chi

-squa

re =

23.

18 c 0

.001

~~

~~

~ ~~

~~

~

~

*Six

ty-s

ix re

spon

dent

s fa

iled

to a

nsw

er t

he q

uest

ion

rela

ting

clerg

y ap

prov

al o

f ch

urch

uni

on. Since

they

exh

ibite

d at

titud

es ve

ry si

mila

r to

thos

e who ga

ve

a ne

utra

l res

pons

e, th

ey h

ave

been

incl

uded

in th

is ca

tego

ry.

TAB

LE Xm

PER

CEP

TTO

N O

F C

LER

GY

ATT

ITU

DE

AN

D A

PPR

OV

AL OF C

HU

RC

H U

NIO

N,

CO

NTR

OLL

ED FOR

AG

E

Age

in y

ears

Und

er 30

30

-39

40-5

9 60

-plu

s

Perc

eptio

n of c

lerg

y at

titud

e

Dis

- D

is-

Dis

- D

is-

Lay

attit

ude

Appr

ove

Neu

tral

ap

prov

e Ap

prov

e N

eutr

al

appr

ove

Appr

ove

Neu

tral

ap

prov

e Ap

prov

e N

eutr

al

appr

ove

tow

ard

unio

n (p

er ce

nt)

(per

cent

) (p

er ce

nt)

(per

cen

t) (

per c

ent)

(pe

r cen

t)

(per

cen

t) (

per c

ent)

(pe

r cen

t)

(per

cen

t) (

per c

ent)

(pe

r cen

t)

App

rove

N

eutra

l D

isap

prov

e

~~

~ ~

71

75

41

84

69

30

84

75

35

76

60

32

18

13

27

8 17

17

11

14

23

7

20

8 11

12

32

8

14

52

5 11

42

17

20

60

N

(28)

(1

6)

(22)

(1

3)

(29)

(2

3)

(37)

(3

6)

(48)

(4

2)

(1 5)

(2

5)

Chi

-squ

are =

6.9

1 <

0.1

4 C

hi-s

quar

e =

15.

13 c 0

.004

C

hi-s

quar

e =

26.

71 <

0.0

01

Chi

-squ

are

= 1

7.42

c 0

.01

TABL

E X

IV

THE

REL

ATI

ON

SHIP

BET

WEE

N B

ELIE

F IN F

RE

WM

OF

EW

RE

SSIO

N A

ND

APP

RO

VA

L OF CHURCH U

NIO

N,

WH

ILE

CO

NTR

OLL

ING

FO

R P

ER

CE

PTIO

N OF

CL

ER

OY

AT

IlT

UD

B

Perc

eptio

n of

cle

rgy a

ttitu

dr t

owar

d chu

rch

unio

n

App

rove

N

eutra

l D

isapp

rove

Bel

ief i

n fr

eedo

m o

f exp

ress

ion

Luy

attit

ude

Hig

h M

ed.

LU

W

Hig

h M

ed.

LO

W

Hig

h M

ed.

Low

tow

ard

unio

n (p

er ce

nt)

(per

cent

) (p

er ce

nt)

(per

cen

t)

(per

cent

) (p

er ce

nt)

(per

cent

) (p

er c

ent)

(p

er ce

nt)

App

rove

83

86

58

78

65

47

52

45

18

N

eutr

al

12

0 9

14

17

20

23

22

16

Disa

ppro

ve

5 14

33

8

18

13

25

33

66

N

(87)

(7)

(24)

(1

11)

(29)

(2

6)

(52)

(9

) (5

6)

Chi-square =

16.

18 <

0.0

1 C

hi-

~q

~a

~

8.24

< 0

.07

Chi

-squ

are

= 2

0.23

C 0

.001

~

TABLE XV APPROVAL RATE OF CHURCH UNION BY PERCEPnON OF CLERGY ATITIVDE AND BELIEF IN FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Perception of clergy aititude Belief in freedom Approve Neutral Disapprove

of expression (per cent) (per cent) (per cent)

High 83 78 52 Medium 86 65 44 Low 58 47 18

_ _

of percentages both between and within each subset. The relative strength of this iduence may be seen by comparing the percentage of respondents falling within the highest category of the control variable and the lowest of the independent variable ( 5 8 per cent), with the proportion falling within the lowest category of the control variable and the highest of the independent variable (52 per cent), indicating that perception of clergy attitude has a slightly greater effect on respondent approval rate than belief in freedom of expression. But, as Rosenberg has pointed out, a more exact measure of relative effect of two independent variables on a dependent is achieved through the use of “average percentage differences.” By extracting the percentages exhibiting approval of union, and utilizing a factorial-type table, the average percentage difference of effect may be readily computed (see Table xv). The effect of belief in freedom of expression, controlling on perception of clergy attitude, is 30 per cent, while the effect of perception of clergy attitude, controlling on belief in freedom of expression, is 38 per cent, confirming that clergy endorsement has the greater influence on respondent approval rate. The table also makes apparent the explanatory value of these two variables, in that when they operate conjointly; more than four out of five respondents (83 per cent) approve church union, whereas when both are absent fewer than one out of five (18 per cent) do so.

CONCLUSION

These fhdings will be of direct interest to those concerned with the ecumenical movement, but they also carry more general implications relating to other forms of religious behaviour. It should be noted, for example, that the sources of approval are not theological, nor even essentially religious since, as we have seen, such considerations bear no significant statistical relationship to the dependent variable. Mol’s similar finding in his Australian study ( 1969: 23-3 1 ) reinforces the reliability of this conclusion. This ob- served relationship coupled with recognition of the crucial importance of merger for lay organizational identity, provides impressive theoretical and empirical bases for the proposition that purely religious considerations do not systematically influence lay attitudes toward questions of religious organizational structure. Other more general attitudes having to do with 161

such issues as individual or group freedom of expression and autonomy appear to have more direct predictive value.

The effect of clergy endorsement as the most powerful single factor generating lay approval was to a considerable extent neutralized by the fact that most members of the sample were not convinced of their pastors’ support for the merger plan. This finding is in sharp conflict with Wilson’s contention (1966:125) that among clergy, ecumenism has become “a new faith - something to believe in,” and that “a mass conversion of the clergy” to this movement has taken place. Our data suggest that either no such “mass conversion” has occurred among Anglican or United Church clergy in Canada, or, if these leaders are enthusiastic ecumenists, there has been a remarkable breakdown of communication between the pulpit and the pew. From the viewpoint of the religious hierarchy, the clergy represent a largely untapped source of support in this issue; if they can be convinced of the merits of the plan, or if they are already persuaded, they can be induced to communicate their position unambiguously to their parishioners.2

Finally. it might be speculated that the strength of the liberal spirit among United Church adherents is largely a product of their church’s history, since it has had to live with diversity from the time of its inception. Not only did the union of 1925 bring together three powerful religious traditions into a single organizational entity, but the melding process was further confounded by the adoption of a form of government which protected the autonomy of both congregation and clergy (Silcox, 1933: ch. 10). Hence a healthy respect for dissent was a condition of organizational survival. Our data suggest that adherents have learned the lesson well. For Anglicans, the story is quite otherwise. Having an episcopal form of government, and being the inheritors of a long tradition of liturgical conformity, members of that religious group have been exposed in their religious life, to the value of pro- priety rather than compromise, a cumulative group experience which has undoubtedly made its contribution to the outcome of this investigation. These observations imply that the structural and normative characteristics of the new denomination to be created through union could well have a significant effect on the liberalizing influence of religion in a country in which it would comprise more than sixty per cent of all non-Catholics.

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Blalock, H. M. unpublished M A thesis.

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162 1969 : 3 1.)

1969 “Estimating measurement error using multiple indicators and several

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