The purpose of this paper is to apply Argyris's theoretical statements concerning interpersonal competence acquisition and organizational effec tiveness to one kind of organization currently undergoing rapid change?reli gious communities such as those in the Catholic Church. Even the most casual observer of church and religious affairs is aware of the ferment and change?often agonizing?that have increasingly pervaded the scene since Vatican II. What is happening in most religious communities is a case in point. Precious little, if anything, is exempt from earnest questioning and experimentation. Values held sacred and untouchable, in some cases for literally centuries, are suddenly the object of searching reappraisals. Not only the modes of living religious life but the very concept of religious life is grist for the mill. It is scarcely surprising, then, that the processes of change have been attended by so much confusion, fear, and suspicion. Perhaps no area of change has been as controversial and emotionally charged as the area of interpersonal relations in religious life. What place do personal relations have in the life of a religious community? What kinds of relationships are appropriate? How do they affect community objectives? On these and similar questions virtually no one stands neutral. The issue reaches deeply into persons and values. In what follows, we intend to summarize one set of criteria for assessing interpersonal competence and then relate these criteria to the interpersonal world of religious life. Interpersonal competence