Among recognized contexts for communication—intrapersonal, interpersonal, group, organizational, public, mass, cultural—religious communication is least often studied through organizational frames. The conventional construction of organizations as sites of work and instrumentality has traditionally separated the study of organizations from the volunteerism and spirituality of religion. However, large majorities of religionists interact in organized contexts. Thus, a nascent literature has emerged that analyzes religious communication as organizational communication. To further this program, the author delineates the four recognized paradigms for organizational research—functionalist, interpretive, critical, postmodern—and, using this typology, reviews the literature to date on the religion-organization interface and demonstrates through a case study how each paradigm differently approaches and analyzes the same data.

This essay conducts a generic analysis of Saint Basil’s homily “In Time of Famine and Drought.” The argument is made that, as a presbyter, Basil constitutes a new middle ground between a strategic rhetor and an inspired prophet to meet evolving needs and nature of early Christianity. The ethos and form that Basil presents showcase a rhetorical reinvention of the traditional Hebrew jeremiad. The study of this rhetorical evolution provides three scholarly contributions. First, it addresses a gap in generic research on the early Christian jeremiad. Second, it sketches the rhetorical role of an early Christian presbyter, specifically pertaining to homiletics. Third, the study joins existing scholarship to trace how early Christians adopted and adapted various rhetorical traditions to meet evolving exigencies.

Scientists continue to raise concerns about threats from climate change. Religious organizations have shown interest in informing members about this important issue. This study examines the viability of religious organizations’ role in increasing public engagement for environmental issues using survey data collected as part of the ANES (American National Election Survey). A test of a communication process model found that hearing about protecting the environment at religious events increased concern about the environment. Moreover, greater concern increased engagement in conservation behaviors and discussing environmental issues with others. We also found that these relationships varied by strength of religious beliefs.

Socialization is an important part of any organization. This process takes on added complexity in churches as members may remain within their larger faith tradition even as they transition between congregations or parishes. The present study explored the encounter stage of socialization in a ward within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Analysis of interviews with members who had recently transferred into the ward illuminated themes of unity, division, and conflicted experiences. Participants’ expectations for relationships and the influence of totalistic organizational values highlighted the ways in which socialization in churches may be distinct from other organizations.

The Rule of the Community is a Hellenistic (or late Second Temple) Jewish manual describing ritual speech acts performed in an initiation and renewal ceremony for the community that lived at Qumran. This community believed that the Mosaic covenant had been violated by the Jerusalem establishment, thus voiding access to the covenant’s material blessings, and that a new covenant could be reformulated and reestablished before the end of days. This new Qumran covenant promised metaphysical (not material) blessings in exchange for strict obedience to God’s law. Performative rhetorical strategies, such as blessings, curses, acknowledgments, confessions, and oaths form the heart of this ceremony and convince community members to (re)commit to the reformulated Qumran covenant.

In a recent issue of the Journal of Communication and Religion, César García analyzed Pope Benedict XVI’s thoughts on the role of religion in the public sphere. In his article, “Pope Benedict XVI on Religion and the Public Sphere,” García developed two texts of the Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and two speeches given by Pope Benedict XVI to argue that the Pope is “putting into practice what he preached before as Cardinal Ratzinger.” García critiques the pontiff for maintaining a contradictory position concerning the role of religion in the public sphere, and consequently, that religious voices must continue to be excluded from the public sphere. In this article, the author provides an alternative reading of the pontiff’s position; a reading that offers a hermeneutic of continuity across the different contexts of his speeches and writings. The author argues that the Pope’s message is indeed not contradictory, but rather, is appropriate and consistent from a communication ethic that dialogically protects and promotes the good of narrative grounds.