Small Faith-Related Organizations as Partners in Local Social Service Networks

Abstract

Efforts to enlist small faith-related organizations as partners in public service delivery raise many questions. Using community social service networks as the unit of analysis, this paper asks one with broader relevance to nonprofit sector managers: What factors support and constrain effective integration of these organizations into a local service delivery network? The evidence and illustrations come from longitudinal case studies of five faith-related organizations who received their first government contract as part of a California faith-based initiative. By comparing the organizational development and network partnership trajectories of these organizations over more than a decade, the analysis identifies four key variables influencing partnership dynamics and outcomes: organizational niche within the local network; leadership connections and network legitimacy; faith-inspired commitments and persistence; and core organizational competencies and capacities. The evidence supports shifting the focus of faith-based initiatives to emphasize local planning and network development, taking into account how these four variables apply to specific organizations and their community context.

Community-Society Equilibrium: Religious Organizations in the Service of a Secular State

“…Most studies of religious organizations focus on the services provided to community members by local churches or small religious institutions (e.g., Evans and Hudson 2014 ; Campbell 2016 ; Cnaan and Heist 2018 ), or on the relationship between religion and state regulations among larger faith-based organizations, such as hospitals or social service agencies (e.g., Hosu and Frunză 2013 ; Berg 2015 ; Ivanova et al 2019 ). Research suggests that in some cases these faith-based organizations evolve from achieving narrowly religious goals in the arenas of education and social services to establishing themselves as accepted professionals in a secular field, especially after government funding is obtained (Hosu and Frunză 2013 ; Sandu and Caras 2013 ; Nistor 2019 ).…”