Aspects of Racial Integration in the Methodist Church: Sources of Resistance to Organizational Policy

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Abstract
Ideologies and social perspectives of the larger society penetrate large-scale organizations as well as affecting community life and politics. Such penetration confronts organizational policy makers with critical decisions. Evidence is presented indicating that attempts by The Methodist Church (at the national level) to initiate policies leading to racial integration of the church have led (in the southern subgroups) to unanticipated consequences counter to this policy. For instance, some churches have decreased or eliminated their race relations giving. Leadership at the local church and conference level has accommodated to the forces resisting such policies. The extent of resistance to policy is correlated with the percent nonwhite in a district. The study indicates the difficulty of introducing policies with low consensus in a voluntary organization in which the leaders (both national and local) have a low balance of sanctions relative to the membership.

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