What’s Up With the Clergy?
There’s been a lot of buzz recently about the state of health and happiness among…
There’s been a lot of buzz recently about the state of health and happiness among…
When we think about relationships in congregational life, we often think about relationships between attenders…
When we say we are ‘observing’ congregational life, we often think about using our eyes…
How many people attended religious services last week? That used to be a relatively simple…
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused strain on religious organizations and their leaders. They have been…
My recent studies of congregations have shown me that a shared parking lot often isn’t…
The University of Southern California’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture is especially focused, not…
Explore projects that are gathering religious research and are offering resources to congregations on their…
Even as change has become ever-present in our lives and those of our churches during…
If ‘congregation’ implies gathering, March 2020 created a seismic shift that has fundamentally altered congregational…
Where does one go to find God? Quite commonly, a place of worship. Even people…
Worship is a central activity of congregations everywhere, but what has happened during these months…
Are you teaching about congregations in an upcoming semester? Just curious about existing data on…
Studying congregations always means paying attention to the different ways people are involved – especially…
No – those aren’t coronaviruses you see! They are connections between congregations! As much as…
There are a lot of congregational studies going on these days! The Lilly Endowment (sometimes…
How should congregations aiming to initiate or expand their social service programming go about doing…
When students and others observe a new congregation or parish it is helpful to know…
Amidst the endless stream of research studies, news stories, and anecdotes that rightly report on…
In the midst of this pandemic, congregations have often been in the news (not always…
During these long days of physical isolation, long walks around my community of West Roxbury,…
Just about every religious group out there is producing materials to assist congregations in this…
Here’s a research project for anyone curious about the theology that is being preached when…
In every religious community that has life there are people who embody and extend that…
Two stories back in 2014 had me thinking about that old children’s finger play –…
In recent years, many people have wondered whether new forms of religious gathering might be…
Many students of congregational life focus their attention on religious gatherings in the city. It’s…
“Church should not be another place of struggle. Like school can be a struggle, or…
Ninety percent of the consumer goods we use daily come to us through the global…
I attended my first dinner-church service on a warm Thursday evening in the summer of…
If you are a congregational leader or lay worker in a local church, you’ve likely…
Most congregations pride themselves on being open and welcoming to newcomers. They might station greeters…
In South Africa churches may be among the last bastions of apartheid, but some churchgoers…
The recent General Assembly of the United Methodist Church has resulted in much soul-searching and…
Why would a church ask a departing pastor to sign a non-compete agreement? In December…
Multiracial congregations are all the rage, it seems, at least among Protestants. Conferences are being…
A recent article in The Atlantic proclaimed ”an epidemic of empty churches.” And the very…
Immigration has become one of the most difficult issues facing people throughout Europe and North…
Mike Mather has spent most of his adult life pastoring churches in neighborhoods most people…
From the outside, Allen Temple Ministerios Hispanos (ATMH) is unimposing. Located deep in poverty-stricken East…
Over the last couple of decades, the field of practical theology has increasingly drawn on…
The Huffington Post recently published an article about Shobi’s Table. The article discusses a number…
An important part of the culture of every congregation is the music they experience together. …
New York City’s Riverside Church has a new pastor, Rev. Amy Butler, is not new…
Understanding a congregation’s context is complicated these days – but never more important. The communities…
The Congregational Library and Archives in Boston has the exciting task of preserving – and…
One important aspect of your congregation is recognizing the boundaries of who is included versus…
The Houston Chronicle published a piece outlining the multi-site, First Methodist Church in Houston. One…
My recent studies of congregations have shown me that a shared parking lot often isn’t…
Question: We are watching congregations all around us be torn apart by conflicts. How can…
One of the best ways to get a feel for the community around your congregation…
Why belong? That’s what lots of people are asking themselves these days. And it’s what…
An article from the York, Pennsylvania Dispatch outlined how two churches used ceremony and ritual…
By R. Stephen Warner During worship at Immanuel Lutheran Church (Evanston, Illinois) on…
Question: Why are all the young adults leaving the churches that their families have been…
Question: What do we know about congregational size? In the United States, most congregations are…
Conflict is a natural part of human interaction — there will be differences in opinion…
An important part of any study is having a clear research question. The language of “research…
|| Written by Paul D. Numrich, Methodist Theological School in Ohio and Trinity Lutheran Seminary || What…
Figuring out whether or not a program works poses an interesting challenge. It’s something that…
As disasters strike – all too often, it seems – we often see churches,…
The Arts and Humanities Research Council in the UK has funded a three-year study of…
“Calling ISIS ‘Muslim’ is like going to KFC, sitting down to eat a bucket of…
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A variation of the walking tour is a great way to explore a congregation’s context: walking with…
[message_box title=”From the Editor” color=”blue”]This article features interactive content. To see additional commentary hover your…
The 2015 report from the National Congregations Study allows interested students of congregational life to…
Photovoice (PV) is a technique that enables researchers to identify needs and stimulate social change…
The latest Pew Religious Landscape Survey is full of interesting insights into changes occurring in…
One of the reasons people get interested in learning more about a congregation is often…
How does a congregation make time and space for the disabilities and differences of those…
Though most conservative Christian organizations, denominations, and congregations have abandoned explicitly homophobic rhetoric in their…
Contributor Jennifer McClure shares her recent published research examining the intersection of network connections, congregational size, and community…
From the outside, Allen Temple Ministerios Hispanos (ATMH) is unimposing. Located deep in poverty-stricken East…
This post is the last in a series by the Congregational Studies Visual Methods Fellow,…
The National Catholic Reporter published a five-part series on San Francisco’s Most Holy Redeemer Church,…
Is your congregation attempting to reach out to “young families?” Jan Edmiston works at the Presbytery…
Look at all these priests sharing #ashtag selfies today http://t.co/BHXVI0H5qH pic.twitter.com/fX1USKhs39 — Mashable (@mashable) February…
The New York Times posted an article about the changing sources of income for some…
Christianity Today is highlighting the plight of rural vicars in congregations in England. Churches are…
Evaluation is an important, though frequently neglected, component of any program. Some congregations use word…
The Christian Century posted an article in 2015 proposing thinking about a congregation’s building as…
The Kansas City Star is reporting that Georgia Walker — a woman — became a…
More and more congregations within the United States are declining, and with that decline come…
Leadership matters. More specifically, pastoral leadership matters. In every setting of congregational life, talk of…
This is the first post in a series by the Congregational Studies Visual Methods Fellow, Roman…
When you’re having a problem within your congregation, you should 1) figure out a research…
Urban congregations across the country are dealing with aging buildings and declining rates of attendance,…
Conflict is a natural part of human interaction — there will be differences in opinion…
New members to any group need to learn the unspoken rules and norms of the…
Maybe you’ve found a great quantitative social science journal article that seems interesting, but the structure…
Michelle Boorstein at The Washington Post wrote an article about a small Jewish community in…
The Catholic Archbishop of southeastern Wisconsin, Jerome Listecki, issued a declaration shifting priorities within the…
The UCC blog, carducc.wordpress.com, posted a blog entry from Gail Cafferata, a researcher examining issues of…
The results from the 2015 version of the National Congregations Study (NCS) cover many topics,…
Check out this post from the Religion and Civic Culture blog on gentrification in the…
Corey Widmer wrote an interesting piece at Christianity Today about his work within a multiethnic…
During times of struggle, congregations often ask themselves “what can we do to help?” The…
When the Vatican announced changes to the way individuals should express signs of peace during…
All around us, we face requests for help. Colleagues may ask us for advice, friends…
As faith communities in the United States grow increasingly more diverse, many churches are turning…
Question: Why don’t young Chinese Americans go to church? Lying at the intersection of America’s most…
Question: I hear a lot about people being “spiritual, but not religious.” What does that…
The focus of this site is the study of congregations, understood in the most basic…
Rabbi Eric Yoffie published a commentary on Huffington Post outlining what he sees as an over-exaggeration…
David Gibson at the Religion News Service describes the changing roles of Catholic priests in…
NPR featured a story about a Washington Post reporter who simultaneously reported on drug crimes while being addicted…
The Huffington Post posted an article outlining the complications historically Spanish-speaking congregations have in adapting…
LifeGARDEN, a mission of Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Maple Grove, MN, is a…
In 2014, PBS aired a Religion & Ethics Newsweekly report on closing churches in Philadelphia.…
The University of Minnesota is working on a project focused on data on congregations of…
If you haven’t yet, pick up a copy of Katie Day’s Faith on the Avenue. It’s…
From 2014-2017, the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC) undertook a three-year project…
St. Lydia’s Dinner Church, in Brooklyn New York, is a different type of church. They…
The Alley News is a very local newspaper, based in the Phillips Neighborhood in Minneapolis.…
Dan Hotchkiss at the Alban Institute wrote an interesting piece on the strength of committees.…
An article from the York, Pennsylvania Dispatch outlined how two churches used ceremony and ritual…
An important part of any congregational study is understanding the history and ecology of the community.…
In the book A Particular Place: Urban Restructuring and Religious Ecology in a Southern Exurb,…
Vision statements are organized statements outlining an organization’s vision for itself. Many organizations (both secular…
The Billings Gazette featured an article discussing interim pastors and the particular roles they play. The…
The New Jersey Jewish News reports two interdenominational congregations are sharing one building. The two congregations…
The blog post below was written by Congregational Studies’ Team Engaged Scholar Ria Van Ryn…
My book The Spirit’s Tether: Family, Work and Religion among American Catholics, was the product…
Question: Why are so few congregations racially integrated? Racial diversity in congregations is a popular…
Question: What do we know about congregational size? In the United States, most congregations are…
Pilar spoke to us in a rapid clip as she gave us a parish campus…
The Process Frame is the frame that helps us consider the way things get done…
Question: What can survey research tell us about church attendance? Social scientists have been tracking…
The Minneapolis Star Tribune posted an article about the 50th anniversary of St. Paul’s Lutheran…
Question: Why would anyone attend a Megachurch? It just seems to be about hype and…
How do you study how committed people are to your religious group? Do you look…
An article from the Religion News Network highlights Trinity United Church of Christ, a Black…
The people who make up a congregation changes regularly — new babies are born, individuals and…
Mark Chaves’ 2011 book, American Religion: Contemporary Trends, outlines a number of ways in which…
One important way to examine your religious community’s culture is through its rituals. Rituals say something about…
In February 2013, our congregation had a month long celebration of Black History Month activities. …
At their deepest level, human beings are social creatures, in the image, Christians would say,…
Tom Ehrich wrote a commentary at the Washington Post outlining why “church shouldn’t be this…
Chapter 2 of Whitebread Protestants: Food and Religion in American Culture by Daniel Sack focuses on…
A National Post article examines Protestant mega-congregations in Canada and offers interesting insights into what…
In Gerardo Marti’s book, Worship Across the Racial Divide, he discusses the life and vitality…
A Mormon bishop from Salt Lake City, David Musselman, recently transformed his appearance to that…
A 2013 article in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Journal Sentinel explores the issue of gender in…
The Baptist Standard published a short piece about the ways in which theology shapes and…
For many congregations, having a more racially or ethnically diverse congregation is a goal, as…
The issue of how members become “Chreasters” – people who attend at Christmas and Easter…