How do you study how committed people are to your religious group? Do you look to attendance? Financial giving? Volunteering? Serving on committees or teams? One way to better understand this issue is to bring together a focus group from your congregation. Use a list like the one below, asking each participant to list their…
The people who make up a congregation changes regularly — new babies are born, individuals and families move in and out of the community, and members die. Membership in religious organizations in the United States is a voluntary activity, and one that is the matter of individual choice rather than cultural prescription. All religious groups must…
At their deepest level, human beings are social creatures, in the image, Christians would say, of the Trinity itself. But the individualistic bent of modern American society has led writers to focus more on the spiritual needs and growth of individuals than on the needs and growth of the religious groups to which these individuals…
Chapter 2 of Whitebread Protestants: Food and Religion in American Culture by Daniel Sack focuses on food as a central mode of community organizing within America’s churches. He argues that “Americans go to church for more than teaching and prayer. They go looking for community” (pp. 61-2). He argues that in our culture of competition, there…
For many congregations, having a more racially or ethnically diverse congregation is a goal, as the communities look to expand their reach to new enclaves of potential members. Alex Murashko, of the Christian Post Reporter, discusses both the issue the role and placement of multicultural leaders, as well as the importance of understanding how Christianity is understand…