Between the pandemic and the spread of virtual meetings, congregations – like other organizations – are left to wonder what it means for people to ‘attend’ services. Attendance numbers can’t be deduced by counting the ‘butts in the pews,’ so YouTube views and Zoom participants have to be added to the mix. But what are…
The landscape of religious and spiritual practice continues to change dramatically in the United States. Not nearly all spiritual gatherings take place in traditional congregations, nor is spiritual care provided only by clergy. The fastest-growing portion of the American religious population is those without religious affiliations, often called the “nones.” As the Pew Research Center…
Ash Wednesday marks the start of the Christian period of Lent. Christians often receive a sign of the cross in ashes on their forehead and tend to wear that mark with pride throughout the day. It’s generally one day out of the year where the lines between secular society and personal belief are blurred, where…
What happens when religion leaves the congregation? From coffee shops to living rooms, people engage with religious texts, sermons, and traditions wherever they can access them. Religion cannot be confined to a physical space. Nor are religious practices confined to those who identify as religious. Many people identify as disaffiliated from a religious tradition, ‘spiritual…
When we think about relationships in congregational life, we often think about relationships between attenders within a congregation. But what about relationships between congregations as organizations? These relationships can involve friendships between ministers, joint events, collaborations, and other partnerships. And different kinds of relationships can have different consequences. My research has looked at two…