While Balswick and Lane differentiate between the Christian Education and the Conjugal clusters, this is not always the case in smaller congregations. The theology of these clique members, generally, is representative of the feel-good, narcissistic culture we see around us. Bible studies are focused less on proper exegesis and understanding of the text itself, and generally, the depth does not progress beyond the popular teachers of the day. They are not interested in having the most knowledgeable or capable person teaching them, rather the most capable clique member. One possible reason for this is because those within these cliques generally have a very weak theological and doctrinal foundation. Interestingly enough, theological differences were not found to be a factor in clique formation. While the conjugal cliques are, for the most part, comprised of married persons there is the possibility that certain single close friends will be included. Age was not a large factor for those in the conjugal clique as the range was comprised of people from their mid-twenties to their fifties. Only one participant in their study had been a member for more than 20 years and 60% had been members for less than 5 years. In this study, it was revealed that the members of the conjugal clique generally have low tenure at their church. The conjugal clique is made up of married couples, and within this clique, there are two sub-cliques of the husbands and the wives. In my personal experience, the established members and prominent members have sought fellowship and interacted with all elements of the body.įor the purposes of this article, we will focus on the conjugal cluster as it is the form most recognizable and infectious. While a group unto themselves, they generally don’t seek to create feelings of exclusion within the body. The established member and prominent member clusters are normally comprised of older, sometimes widowed members with a long tenure at the church. The article will also provide recommendations as to how you can deal with church cliques in your congregation.Ī study by Balswick and Layne has revealed that there are generally 4 types of cliques within a religious congregation, which they call clusters: the Conjugal cluster, the Christian Education cluster, the Established Member Cluster, and the Prominent Member cluster. This article will examine the characteristics and effects of a particular and fairly common type of clique that creates division within the body, in violation of James 2:1-7 and 1 Corinthians 1:10. Those marginalized and lost members are thus vulnerable to false teachers and doctrine because they do not seek to involve themselves in a local church. The cancerous effects of church cliques marginalize many members of the body, and in the worst case, will force members out. Having personally experienced the effects of church cliques, I can testify to their malignancy. Cliques, for the most part, appear to validate the reasoning of some who say they are not Christian because of so many hypocrites in the Church. Church cliques are a sad reality for many congregations.
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