What’s Up With the Clergy?
There’s been a lot of buzz recently about the state of health and happiness among…
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Helping or Hindering? The Impact of Congregations’ Networks on Their Vitality and Sustainability
When we think about relationships in congregational life, we often think about relationships between attenders…
Listening to Congregations
When we say we are ‘observing’ congregational life, we often think about using our eyes…
COVID-19 and the Changing Meaning of Attendance
How many people attended religious services last week? That used to be a relatively simple…
COVID-19 Poses New Leadership Challenges
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused strain on religious organizations and their leaders. They have been…
When Congregations Share Their Properties:
5 Principles for Good Decisions
My recent studies of congregations have shown me that a shared parking lot often isn’t…
Resources Abound!
The University of Southern California’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture is especially focused, not…
Check Out the Latest Research on Congregations
Explore projects that are gathering religious research and are offering resources to congregations on their…
Supporting Transformation During Times of Congregational Change
Even as change has become ever-present in our lives and those of our churches during…
What Next?
How Has the Pandemic Changed Your Congregation for Good?
If ‘congregation’ implies gathering, March 2020 created a seismic shift that has fundamentally altered congregational…
Finding God in a Pandemic and Beyond:
Online and Ordinary Sacred Places
Where does one go to find God? Quite commonly, a place of worship. Even people…
Networked Congregations:
Together and Apart
Worship is a central activity of congregations everywhere, but what has happened during these months…
Teaching about Congregations
Are you teaching about congregations in an upcoming semester? Just curious about existing data on…
Gender & Congregational Life Survey
Studying congregations always means paying attention to the different ways people are involved – especially…
Exploring Congregational Connections
No – those aren’t coronaviruses you see! They are connections between congregations! As much as…
New Congregational Research Abounds
There are a lot of congregational studies going on these days! The Lilly Endowment (sometimes…
Faith-Based Programming:
Four Tips for Congregations
How should congregations aiming to initiate or expand their social service programming go about doing…
Learning about Denominations
When students and others observe a new congregation or parish it is helpful to know…
Flourishing Congregations:
Not All Are As They Appear
Amidst the endless stream of research studies, news stories, and anecdotes that rightly report on…
Studying Congregations in a Pandemic
In the midst of this pandemic, congregations have often been in the news (not always…
A Good Time for a Walk
During these long days of physical isolation, long walks around my community of West Roxbury,…
News for the Studying Congregations Community
Just about every religious group out there is producing materials to assist congregations in this…
What’s your ‘Sung’ Theology?
Here’s a research project for anyone curious about the theology that is being preached when…
Embodying Welcome
In every religious community that has life there are people who embody and extend that…
Beyond the “People”:
The Stories Congregational Buildings Tell
Two stories back in 2014 had me thinking about that old children’s finger play –…
Thinking about How We Gather
In recent years, many people have wondered whether new forms of religious gathering might be…
Seeing & Staying:
Rural Congregations and Rural Communities
Many students of congregational life focus their attention on religious gatherings in the city. It’s…
Why is Church so Hard for Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder?
“Church should not be another place of struggle. Like school can be a struggle, or…
From Sidewalks to Ports:
Expanding Congregational Connections
Ninety percent of the consumer goods we use daily come to us through the global…
We Will Feast:
Studying New Ways of Congregating
I attended my first dinner-church service on a warm Thursday evening in the summer of…
Great Data for Curious Leaders
If you are a congregational leader or lay worker in a local church, you’ve likely…
Where are the Children with Chronic Health Conditions and their Families?
Most congregations pride themselves on being open and welcoming to newcomers. They might station greeters…
The Practicalities of Change:
Racial Integration in a South African Church
In South Africa churches may be among the last bastions of apartheid, but some churchgoers…
Thinking about Conflict
The recent General Assembly of the United Methodist Church has resulted in much soul-searching and…
Competition in the Neighborhood?
Why would a church ask a departing pastor to sign a non-compete agreement? In December…
The Bittersweet Reality of Multiracial Churches
Multiracial congregations are all the rage, it seems, at least among Protestants. Conferences are being…
What to do about the building
A recent article in The Atlantic proclaimed ”an epidemic of empty churches.” And the very…
Who is Your Neighbor? Who Decides?
Immigration has become one of the most difficult issues facing people throughout Europe and North…
Finding Resources in Unexpected Places
Mike Mather has spent most of his adult life pastoring churches in neighborhoods most people…
Faith and Political Engagement:
Latina/o Protestants At the Intersection
From the outside, Allen Temple Ministerios Hispanos (ATMH) is unimposing. Located deep in poverty-stricken East…
Theologians in the Field
Over the last couple of decades, the field of practical theology has increasingly drawn on…
Taking Time:
Understanding Neighborhood Engagement as a Long-Term Process
The Huffington Post recently published an article about Shobi’s Table. The article discusses a number…
The Songs We Sing
An important part of the culture of every congregation is the music they experience together. …
Doubt in the Pulpit: How to Handle Tough Questions
New York City’s Riverside Church has a new pastor, Rev. Amy Butler, is not new…
Working Together in Spite of Differences?
Understanding a congregation’s context is complicated these days – but never more important. The communities…
Being Faithful Rememberers: Bringing Congregational Histories Out of the Attic
The Congregational Library and Archives in Boston has the exciting task of preserving – and…
Building Your Community: The Process of Assimilation
One important aspect of your congregation is recognizing the boundaries of who is included versus…
Different Needs: Urban and Suburban Congregations
The Houston Chronicle published a piece outlining the multi-site, First Methodist Church in Houston. One…
When Congregations Share Their Properties:
5 Principles for Good Decisions
My recent studies of congregations have shown me that a shared parking lot often isn’t…
Six Ways to Keep Congregational Conflicts Constructive
Question: We are watching congregations all around us be torn apart by conflicts. How can…
From the Archives: “A View of Your Neighborhood: A Walking Tour”
One of the best ways to get a feel for the community around your congregation…
Why Belong?
Why belong? That’s what lots of people are asking themselves these days. And it’s what…
From the Archives: “Using Ritual to Assist in Change”
An article from the York, Pennsylvania Dispatch outlined how two churches used ceremony and ritual…
Piecing Together Resources
By R. Stephen Warner During worship at Immanuel Lutheran Church (Evanston, Illinois) on…
From the Archives: “Why are young adults leaving their churches?”
Question: Why are all the young adults leaving the churches that their families have been…
From the Archives: “What do we know about congregational size?”
Question: What do we know about congregational size? In the United States, most congregations are…
Congregational Conflict: Listening to the Conflict
Conflict is a natural part of human interaction — there will be differences in opinion…
How to Ask Good Questions
An important part of any study is having a clear research question. The language of “research…
When a Shared Parking Lot Isn’t Just About Parking
|| Written by Paul D. Numrich, Methodist Theological School in Ohio and Trinity Lutheran Seminary || What…
From Evaluation to Engagement
Figuring out whether or not a program works poses an interesting challenge. It’s something that…
Before the Disaster Strikes
As disasters strike – all too often, it seems – we often see churches,…
Social Engagement and the London Megachurch
The Arts and Humanities Research Council in the UK has funded a three-year study of…
Lent & Ramadan under the Same Roof
“Calling ISIS ‘Muslim’ is like going to KFC, sitting down to eat a bucket of…
Producing Religion Online: Two Case Studies
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Walking with Cameras
A variation of the walking tour is a great way to explore a congregation’s context: walking with…
Pop-Up Shabbat: A Dinner Community Case Study
[message_box title=”From the Editor” color=”blue”]This article features interactive content. To see additional commentary hover your…
Taking the Measure of American Congregations
The 2015 report from the National Congregations Study allows interested students of congregational life to…
Engaging Congregations with Photovoice
Photovoice (PV) is a technique that enables researchers to identify needs and stimulate social change…
Affiliation Matters
The latest Pew Religious Landscape Survey is full of interesting insights into changes occurring in…
How Are We Doing?
One of the reasons people get interested in learning more about a congregation is often…
The Disabled Church: Desiring Difference within Congregational Life
How does a congregation make time and space for the disabilities and differences of those…
When Congregation-Based Activism Is…Complicated
Though most conservative Christian organizations, denominations, and congregations have abandoned explicitly homophobic rhetoric in their…
Congregations and Community Involvement: The Impact of Friendships and Congregational Size
Contributor Jennifer McClure shares her recent published research examining the intersection of network connections, congregational size, and community…
Faith and Political Engagement: Latina/o Protestants At the Intersection
From the outside, Allen Temple Ministerios Hispanos (ATMH) is unimposing. Located deep in poverty-stricken East…
Ethical Considerations in Visual Research
This post is the last in a series by the Congregational Studies Visual Methods Fellow,…
Catholicism in the Castro: Parish Life in Context
The National Catholic Reporter published a five-part series on San Francisco’s Most Holy Redeemer Church,…
Refocus the Conversation: About “Attracting Families”
Is your congregation attempting to reach out to “young families?” Jan Edmiston works at the Presbytery…
#Ashtag and Sharing Religion on Social Networks
Look at all these priests sharing #ashtag selfies today http://t.co/BHXVI0H5qH pic.twitter.com/fX1USKhs39 — Mashable (@mashable) February…
Pay What You Want: An Examination of Dues
The New York Times posted an article about the changing sources of income for some…
Membership Decline: Facing the Real Issue
Christianity Today is highlighting the plight of rural vicars in congregations in England. Churches are…
Bringing Programs into Focus: Using Photos for Evaluation
Evaluation is an important, though frequently neglected, component of any program. Some congregations use word…
The Building as an Asset: Thinking Differently about Congregational Programs
The Christian Century posted an article in 2015 proposing thinking about a congregation’s building as…
Female Catholic Priests: Muddied Organizational Waters
The Kansas City Star is reporting that Georgia Walker — a woman — became a…
Death in Declining Congregations: A Case Study
More and more congregations within the United States are declining, and with that decline come…
Pastoral Leadership that Matters: A UCC Study
Leadership matters. More specifically, pastoral leadership matters. In every setting of congregational life, talk of…
Congregational Snapshots: Understanding and Engaging Congregations through Cell Phone Photographs
This is the first post in a series by the Congregational Studies Visual Methods Fellow, Roman…
Eyeing the Budget: Content Analysis of Priorities
When you’re having a problem within your congregation, you should 1) figure out a research…
Faith-Based Property Development: Using Your Resources
Urban congregations across the country are dealing with aging buildings and declining rates of attendance,…
Congregational Conflict: Listening to the Conflict
Conflict is a natural part of human interaction — there will be differences in opinion…
Maintaining Boundaries: The Process of Enforcing Expectations
New members to any group need to learn the unspoken rules and norms of the…
How to Read Social Science Papers
Maybe you’ve found a great quantitative social science journal article that seems interesting, but the structure…
Examining a Jewish Enclave: Ecology and Resources
Michelle Boorstein at The Washington Post wrote an article about a small Jewish community in…
Developing the Role of Laity in Catholic Churches: Plans and Goals
The Catholic Archbishop of southeastern Wisconsin, Jerome Listecki, issued a declaration shifting priorities within the…
No One Should Have To Do This Alone!
The UCC blog, carducc.wordpress.com, posted a blog entry from Gail Cafferata, a researcher examining issues of…
Research in Congregations: National Congregations Study, Wave 3
The results from the 2015 version of the National Congregations Study (NCS) cover many topics,…
Gentrification in LA: From the Religion and Civic Culture Blog
Check out this post from the Religion and Civic Culture blog on gentrification in the…
Discomfort in the Pews: Working With Multiethnic Congregations
Corey Widmer wrote an interesting piece at Christianity Today about his work within a multiethnic…
Congregations’ role in Community Support: A View on Ferguson, MO
During times of struggle, congregations often ask themselves “what can we do to help?” The…
Changes in the Mass: Institutions and Church Cultures
When the Vatican announced changes to the way individuals should express signs of peace during…
Religion as Social Support
All around us, we face requests for help. Colleagues may ask us for advice, friends…
The Shared Parish: Latinos, Anglos, and the Future of U.S. Catholicism
As faith communities in the United States grow increasingly more diverse, many churches are turning…
Why young Chinese Americans don’t go to church
Question: Why don’t young Chinese Americans go to church? Lying at the intersection of America’s most…
The Reality Behind “Spiritual But Not Religious”
Question: I hear a lot about people being “spiritual, but not religious.” What does that…
Congregationalism in American Churches
The focus of this site is the study of congregations, understood in the most basic…
Organized Religion and the Rise of the ‘Nones’
Rabbi Eric Yoffie published a commentary on Huffington Post outlining what he sees as an over-exaggeration…
Changing Roles of Congregational Leaders: Management Skills
David Gibson at the Religion News Service describes the changing roles of Catholic priests in…
Framing Congregations: Redemption through a Visitor’s Lens
NPR featured a story about a Washington Post reporter who simultaneously reported on drug crimes while being addicted…
Language, Culture, and Congregations
The Huffington Post posted an article outlining the complications historically Spanish-speaking congregations have in adapting…
Congregational Profile: LifeGARDEN
LifeGARDEN, a mission of Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Maple Grove, MN, is a…
PBS Special: Endangered Churches as Resources for the Community
In 2014, PBS aired a Religion & Ethics Newsweekly report on closing churches in Philadelphia.…
Calling all History Buffs: Houses of Worship through Time
The University of Minnesota is working on a project focused on data on congregations of…
Faith on the Avenue: Book Overview
If you haven’t yet, pick up a copy of Katie Day’s Faith on the Avenue. It’s…
On the Horizon: Religious Competition and Creative Innovation
From 2014-2017, the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC) undertook a three-year project…
St. Lydia’s Dinner Church
St. Lydia’s Dinner Church, in Brooklyn New York, is a different type of church. They…
St. Paul’s Congregation: A Historical Timeline
The Alley News is a very local newspaper, based in the Phillips Neighborhood in Minneapolis.…
The Strengths of Committees
Dan Hotchkiss at the Alban Institute wrote an interesting piece on the strength of committees.…
Using Ritual to Assist in Change
An article from the York, Pennsylvania Dispatch outlined how two churches used ceremony and ritual…
Using the Census:
A Case Study from Oak Park, IL & Anderson, IN
An important part of any congregational study is understanding the history and ecology of the community.…
Making a Megachurch: Hebron Baptist Church
In the book A Particular Place: Urban Restructuring and Religious Ecology in a Southern Exurb,…
Vision in Ministry: Developing a Vision Statement
Vision statements are organized statements outlining an organization’s vision for itself. Many organizations (both secular…
The Particular Roles of Interim Pastors
The Billings Gazette featured an article discussing interim pastors and the particular roles they play. The…
One Building, Two Rabbis, Alternating Services
The New Jersey Jewish News reports two interdenominational congregations are sharing one building. The two congregations…
Interfaith Experiences, Individual Growth
The blog post below was written by Congregational Studies’ Team Engaged Scholar Ria Van Ryn…
The Spirit’s Tether: Family, Work and Religion among American Catholics
My book The Spirit’s Tether: Family, Work and Religion among American Catholics, was the product…
Difficulties of Diversity – Why So Few Congregations are Racially Integrated
Question: Why are so few congregations racially integrated? Racial diversity in congregations is a popular…
What do we know about congregational size?
Question: What do we know about congregational size? In the United States, most congregations are…
Space Tour: Queen of Heaven Parish
Pilar spoke to us in a rapid clip as she gave us a parish campus…
Changing the Way “Things are Done”: Process Review
The Process Frame is the frame that helps us consider the way things get done…
By The Numbers: How Many Were There?
Question: What can survey research tell us about church attendance? Social scientists have been tracking…
Thinking about Congregational Mission
The Minneapolis Star Tribune posted an article about the 50th anniversary of St. Paul’s Lutheran…
Why would anyone attend a Megachurch?
Question: Why would anyone attend a Megachurch? It just seems to be about hype and…
Commitment to the Congregation: Measurement Best Practices
How do you study how committed people are to your religious group? Do you look…
Environmentalism and the Black Church: New Frontiers
An article from the Religion News Network highlights Trinity United Church of Christ, a Black…
The Introduction of Newcomers
The people who make up a congregation changes regularly — new babies are born, individuals and…
Lower Denominational Control: Effects of Changing Church Forms
Mark Chaves’ 2011 book, American Religion: Contemporary Trends, outlines a number of ways in which…
Rituals as an Indicator of Congregational Culture
One important way to examine your religious community’s culture is through its rituals. Rituals say something about…
Toys are not Guns: Churches Changing the Way Children Play
In February 2013, our congregation had a month long celebration of Black History Month activities. …
Building Strong Church Communities: A Sociological Perspective
At their deepest level, human beings are social creatures, in the image, Christians would say,…
Church Shouldn’t Be This Hard
Tom Ehrich wrote a commentary at the Washington Post outlining why “church shouldn’t be this…
Whitebread Protestants – Social Food to Create Community
Chapter 2 of Whitebread Protestants: Food and Religion in American Culture by Daniel Sack focuses on…
Growing Churches: Religious Vitality in Canada
A National Post article examines Protestant mega-congregations in Canada and offers interesting insights into what…
Perceptions of “Black Worship” in Multiethnic Congregations
In Gerardo Marti’s book, Worship Across the Racial Divide, he discusses the life and vitality…
Bishop Tests Congregation’s Compassion
A Mormon bishop from Salt Lake City, David Musselman, recently transformed his appearance to that…
Gender in the Pews
A 2013 article in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Journal Sentinel explores the issue of gender in…
Worship Songs and Theology
The Baptist Standard published a short piece about the ways in which theology shapes and…
Multiculturalism In Congregations Is More Than Just Diversity
For many congregations, having a more racially or ethnically diverse congregation is a goal, as…
Understanding “Chreasters” – Members who Attend at Christmas and Easter
The issue of how members become “Chreasters” – people who attend at Christmas and Easter…