Fieldnotes (Blog)

Fieldnotes

Expert Insights from Congregational Observers

Helping or Hindering? The Impact of Congregations’ Networks on Their Vitality and Sustainability

Sep62023

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…

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Listening to Congregations

By Nancy Ammerman

Aug292023

When we say we are ‘observing’ congregational life, we often think about using our eyes to see what people are doing and using our ears to listen for the words used. But what else can our ears tell us? That’s a question the American Religious Sounds Project has been asking. Since 2014, scholars from…

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COVID-19 and the Changing Meaning of Attendance

By Brenton Kalinowski and Elaine Howard Ecklund

Aug162023

How many people attended religious services last week? That used to be a relatively simple question, but COVID-19 has turned that on its head. And the safety decisions that leaders made not only had an immediate impact on congregational attendance but are likely to affect the future. Overall Religious Attendance Declining Religious service attendance in…

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COVID-19 Poses New Leadership Challenges

By Brenton Kalinowski and Elaine Howard Ecklund

Aug72023

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused strain on religious organizations and their leaders. They have been challenged to keep members safe, while also contending with the politicization of the pandemic. They have had to develop or strengthen their online presence while often facing declining attendance. Resources of time, money, skill, and diplomacy have been stretched to…

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When Congregations Share Their Properties:
5 Principles for Good Decisions

By Paul D. Numrich

Jul212023

My recent studies of congregations have shown me that a shared parking lot often isn’t just about parking. More than that, any kind of property-sharing arrangement, whether with outside groups or diverse internal groups, requires careful assessment of why and how, as well as careful tending of the relationship. Guiding these decisions are principles that…

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Resources Abound!

By Nancy Ammerman

Feb142022

The University of Southern California’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture is especially focused, not surprisingly, on Southern California, but many of their tools – everything from responding to disasters to engaging racial issues — can be useful to congregational leaders anywhere.

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Supporting Transformation During Times of Congregational Change

By Anna Hall

Sep152021

Even as change has become ever-present in our lives and those of our churches during the pandemic, our human struggle adapting to and learning from change persists. In our work consulting with congregations at ConvergenceUS.org, we see this in the conflicts and struggles that have heightened and sometimes exploded as congregations pivot from online to…

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What Next?
How Has the Pandemic Changed Your Congregation for Good?

By Nancy Ammerman

Aug232021

If ‘congregation’ implies gathering, March 2020 created a seismic shift that has fundamentally altered congregational life. If we are able to return to pre-pandemic habits sometime soon, which of the new habits will remain?
Thinking about that question will require the sort of careful assessment long-time congregation watcher Jack Wertheimer has offered in a recent essay, “How Will Synagogues Survive?”. He comes to his wisdom by asking good questions and gathering good data.

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Finding God in a Pandemic and Beyond:
Online and Ordinary Sacred Places

By Deborah Ann Wong

Jul62021

Where does one go to find God? Quite commonly, a place of worship. Even people who aren’t sure if God exists seek divine help in churches and mosques and cathedrals because such religious buildings are understood as sacred spaces. If God does exist, surely God will be found in these holy places.

This understanding of sacred space poses a problem in a global pandemic, however. Where does one go to find God when those religious buildings are closed? And beyond the pandemic, it challenges communities of faith to think in new ways.

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Networked Congregations:
Together and Apart

By Deborah Ann Wong

Jun232021

Worship is a central activity of congregations everywhere, but what has happened during these months when gathering hasn’t been possible? A survey conducted during the first two months of the outbreak in North America showed that pastors’ top priority was to find a way to continue their weekend worship services in the midst of the…

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Teaching about Congregations

By Nancy Ammerman

Jun102021

Are you teaching about congregations in an upcoming semester? Just curious about existing data on congregations? Check out the crowd-sourced teaching library assembled at the Center for the Study of Religion & American Culture. It includes instructional materials developed by its researchers and participating scholars for use in the classroom. From college syllabi and instructional…

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Gender & Congregational Life Survey

By Nancy Ammerman

Mar262021

Studying congregations always means paying attention to the different ways people are involved – especially the differences between men and women. Now, researchers at the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, are taking that question to a new level. They want to know how those patterns differ in Christian groups…

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Exploring Congregational Connections

By Jennifer McClure Haraway

Mar122021

No – those aren’t coronaviruses you see! They are connections between congregations! As much as we all may feel isolated these days, you have likely also been discovering just how interconnected your world is and how much we all need each other. And that goes for congregations, too. The ecology in which your congregation is…

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New Congregational Research Abounds

By Nancy Ammerman

Nov162020

There are a lot of congregational studies going on these days! The Lilly Endowment (sometimes known as “The Church’s One Foundation”) has been making a raft of grants for the study of thriving congregations. You might want to explore the descriptions of the work that is happening near you. Another project that caught our eye…

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What We’re Reading

By Nancy Ammerman

Sep22020

For all the emptiness and chaos, this is also proving to be a time of creative reassessment. Many religious leaders are discovering the benefits of sharing insights with each other, and a number of organizations and programs are helping to make that possible. At the Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC) at USC, the…

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Faith-Based Programming:
Four Tips for Congregations

By John P. Bartkowski and Susan E. Grettenberger

Aug242020

How should congregations aiming to initiate or expand their social service programming go about doing so? We recently published The Arc of Faith-Based Initiatives (2018, Springer) and have both examined congregational social services for about two decades. Our research suggests four critical considerations. What’s your programming focus and will it fill a void? The field…

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Learning about Denominations

By Art Farnsley

Jul92020

When students and others observe a new congregation or parish it is helpful to know something about that larger connection. What are the beliefs and rules? Is this congregation typical? The Association of Religion Data Archives, commonly called “the ARDA,” can help. The website now features landing pages for 25 of America’s largest denominations. The…

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Flourishing Congregations:
Not All Are As They Appear

By Joel Thiessen

May112020

Amidst the endless stream of research studies, news stories, and anecdotes that rightly report on religious decline across denominations and congregations, where are the signs of congregational life and vitality, and what can we learn from such settings? These are anchoring questions for our Canadian-based research team at the Flourishing Congregations Institute at Ambrose University.…

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Studying Congregations in a Pandemic

By Nancy Ammerman

Apr212020

In the midst of this pandemic, congregations have often been in the news (not always for good reasons). Newspaper columnists are writing about how we need what religion has to offer and how we miss the little things, like singing together, as well as highlighting the creative ways religious communities are staying connected. Meanwhile leaders…

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A Good Time for a Walk

By Nancy Ammerman

Apr72020

During these long days of physical isolation, long walks around my community of West Roxbury, Massachusetts, have been a welcome respite. Those walks have also inevitably stirred my historical curiosity about this town first settled by Europeans in the 17th century. I realized that I had a question: There was something missing from our religious…

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News for the Studying Congregations Community

By Nancy Ammerman

Mar302020

Just about every religious group out there is producing materials to assist congregations in this difficult time. In addition to whatever your own denomination may be providing, the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship is compiling things that many Protestant leaders may find useful. Click here. If you want to learn from someone who’s already been…

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What’s your ‘Sung’ Theology?

By Nancy Ammerman

Mar62020

Here’s a research project for anyone curious about the theology that is being preached when the preacher isn’t in the pulpit. Go back through the orders of service for the last year and see what was being sung. What sorts of pictures of God were in those songs? What sorts of calls to action? What…

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Embodying Welcome

By Nancy Ammerman

Jan282020

In every religious community that has life there are people who embody and extend that life. At Boston’s historic Trinity Church, one of those people is Bob Yearwood. His story invites us to think about all the small things that make up the culture of a congregation. Profiled in the Boston Globe, Yearwood is introduced…

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Beyond the “People”:
The Stories Congregational Buildings Tell

By Nancy Ammerman

Jan62020

Two stories back in 2014 had me thinking about that old children’s finger play – “Here’s the church, here’s the steeple, open the doors and see all the people.” Congregations certainly are “the people.” But most are also the building and all the “stuff” they accumulate. Lots of theologians and church critics lament the emphasis…

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Thinking about How We Gather

By Nancy Ammerman

Dec62019

In recent years, many people have wondered whether new forms of religious gathering might be replacing traditional gatherings like congregations. As the nonaffiliates – better known as “nones” – become an increasing share of the U.S. population, there is every reason to suggest that many existing congregations may not survive. But will that simply leave…

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Seeing & Staying:
Rural Congregations and Rural Communities

By Nancy Ammerman

Oct232019

Many students of congregational life focus their attention on religious gatherings in the city. It’s where the action is! Where there are exciting challenges and new opportunities. Where your innovations will get noticed and rewarded. But what about the thousands of gatherings in tiny places that we imagine are doomed to nothing but decline? Pastor…

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We Will Feast:
Studying New Ways of Congregating

By Kendall Vanderslice

Aug12019

I attended my first dinner-church service on a warm Thursday evening in the summer of 2015. As part of my coursework in Food Studies, I’d just completed a semester-long project on the formation of relationships over a meal – what anthropologists call “commensality.” The invitation to this service intrigued me. My own love of the…

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Great Data for Curious Leaders

By Andrew Whitehead

May162019

If you are a congregational leader or lay worker in a local church, you’ve likely looked around and noticed your community is changing. Perhaps you wonder if your congregation needs to change, too. Is there a site with the tools and resources that can help you find reliable answers to your questions? Indeed, there is.…

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Where are the Children with Chronic Health Conditions and their Families?

By Andrew Whitehead

May82019

Most congregations pride themselves on being open and welcoming to newcomers. They might station greeters at the doors. Some offer small gifts in the lobby for those who are visiting. Others might ask for contact information in order to follow up. However, many congregations in the United States are failing to welcome a rather large…

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Thinking about Conflict

By Joyce Mercer

Mar192019

The recent General Assembly of the United Methodist Church has resulted in much soul-searching and debate – and it raises the possibility that some local congregations may encounter conflict as they decide how to move forward. Nancy Ammerman has written about the many layers of conflict that can face a denomination at a time like…

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Competition in the Neighborhood?

By Mark T. Mudler

Feb212019

Why would a church ask a departing pastor to sign a non-compete agreement? In December 2018, World magazine, a touchstone periodical for a conservative swath of the evangelical world in the United States, published an exposé on leadership issues at Harvest Bible Chapel—a Chicago-area megachurch and the catalyst for a church planting network that counts…

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The Bittersweet Reality of Multiracial Churches

By Korie L. Edwards

Feb52019

Multiracial congregations are all the rage, it seems, at least among Protestants. Conferences are being held across the country encouraging pastors and other religious leaders to be multiethnic, and groups like Mosaix and Kainos have been established to support the effort. People that attend these conferences are provided a theology for why more churches ought…

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What to do about the building

By Nancy Ammerman

Dec52018

A recent article in The Atlantic proclaimed ”an epidemic of empty churches.” And the very same week the Washington Post asked, ”Does a religious community need its own building to flourish?” Both authors pointed to the reality that buildings are often a problem, and finding the right solution will require congregations and their leaders to…

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Who is Your Neighbor? Who Decides?

By Nancy Ammerman

Nov272018

Immigration has become one of the most difficult issues facing people throughout Europe and North America. And congregations are on the front lines in many ways. Whether offering services to immigrants and refugees once they arrive or protecting those facing deportation, being involved with these neighbors also brings congregations into conversation with a larger public…

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Finding Resources in Unexpected Places

By Nancy Ammerman

Nov162018

Mike Mather has spent most of his adult life pastoring churches in neighborhoods most people would call ”deprived.” Not Mike. When he greets someone at the food pantry or on the street, he’s more apt to see their gifts than their ”needs.” And he sees those things in part because he asks the right questions.…

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Faith and Political Engagement:
Latina/o Protestants At the Intersection

By Lil Milagro Henriquez

Nov52018

From the outside, Allen Temple Ministerios Hispanos (ATMH) is unimposing. Located deep in poverty-stricken East Oakland California, ATMH’s neighbors include two fellow protestant churches, a bar and a liquor store. It’s the week before Thanksgiving. Inside the Baptist church, Esther, the pastor’s wife and church leader, is finishing up the announcements for the close to…

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Theologians in the Field

By Nancy Ammerman

Oct152018

Over the last couple of decades, the field of practical theology has increasingly drawn on methods from the social sciences. Most especially, people seeking to understand the theological wisdom of a community have practiced ethnographic methods for gathering information and analyzing what they find – much as we describe in this website on ”studying congregations.” …

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Taking Time:
Understanding Neighborhood Engagement as a Long-Term Process

By Ellen Childs

Oct92018

The Huffington Post recently published an article about Shobi’s Table. The article discusses a number of aspects of the new Food Truck ministry in St. Paul, Minnesota. It highlights some aspects of Lutheran theology, the changing views of the ELCA denomination, focusing attention on the minister of Shobi’s Table, Margaret Kelly. But one important, but…

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The Songs We Sing

By Nancy Ammerman

Sep242018

An important part of the culture of every congregation is the music they experience together. Whether it is the pipe-organ-accompanied hymns sung in a grand gothic cathedral or the a capella singing of a ”non-instrumental” Church of Christ or the chant of a cantor at Yom Kippur or the festive dance of a Hindu festival…

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Doubt in the Pulpit: How to Handle Tough Questions

By Ellen Childs

Sep102018

New York City’s Riverside Church has a new pastor, Rev. Amy Butler, is not new to conflict and difficult discussions. From the article from the Washington Post, she is open about her struggles with faith and God, even while she has led a congregation. From the article, A mother of three children ages 16, 17…

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Working Together in Spite of Differences?

By Nancy Ammerman

Aug302018

Understanding a congregation’s context is complicated these days – but never more important. The communities where congregations reside are a complex mix of changing demographics, shifting economies – and politics. Understanding ourselves and our neighbors is a critical first step toward finding new ways to talk to each other and work together. The challenges were…

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Building Your Community: The Process of Assimilation

By Ellen Childs

Jun212018

One important aspect of your congregation is recognizing the boundaries of who is included versus those who aren’t. A key way to understand the way the community is built is by examining the processes of assimilation — how are people brought into the community? Imagine the following example: Mr. and Mrs. Black enter the congregation…

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Different Needs: Urban and Suburban Congregations

By Ellen Childs

May32018

The Houston Chronicle published a piece outlining the multi-site, First Methodist Church in Houston. One location is in the suburbs, whereas the other location is downtown Houston. The United Methodist Reporter outlines some of the differences between the communities: “It will be extremely communal,” Hagans said of the smaller sessions. “It will be more about relationships…

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When Congregations Share Their Properties:
5 Principles for Good Decisions

By Paul D. Numrich

Apr252018

Muslim women perform Ramadan prayers at Heartsong Church, suburban Memphis.

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Six Ways to Keep Congregational Conflicts Constructive

By Joyce Mercer

Apr172018

Question: We are watching congregations all around us be torn apart by conflicts. How can we prevent this from happening to our church and stay out of conflict? It sounds like you are concerned that if your church has a conflict, it necessarily will be torn apart. Not all conflicts need be so destructive: there…

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Why Belong?

By Nancy Ammerman

Mar282018

Why belong? That’s what lots of people are asking themselves these days. And it’s what people interested in the wellbeing of religious communities should be asking, as well. Why do people find this place compelling? What makes it worth investing time and energy? As Easter and Passover approach, newspapers are doing their annual nod in…

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From the Archives: “Using Ritual to Assist in Change”

By Ellen Childs

Mar212018

An article from the York, Pennsylvania Dispatch outlined how two churches used ceremony and ritual to merge. Trinity and Fourth United Methodist churches were set to merge, but instead of a more traditional merging ceremony, the planners opted to bring in a particular ritual common to weddings. From the article, At 10:30 a.m. Sunday, the…

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Piecing Together Resources

By R. Stephen Warner

Feb72018

By R. Stephen Warner During worship at Immanuel Lutheran Church (Evanston, Illinois) on Sunday, September 24, 2017, 135 newly-made quilts were blessed and dedicated for distribution to refugees through Lutheran World Relief (LWR). Thinking about how this came to be can help us see how new resources were brought together by making connections…

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From the Archives: “Why are young adults leaving their churches?”

By Nancy Ammerman

Feb42018

Question: Why are all the young adults leaving the churches that their families have been part of for generations? If we change our worship style to be more like the churches they are now attending, will they come back? There are lots of issues behind this question, and many of them involve understanding the culture…

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From the Archives: “What do we know about congregational size?”

By Ellen Childs

Jan222018

Question: What do we know about congregational size? In the United States, most congregations are smaller than 100 people, but most people attend congregations that are large. This points to the fact that many people attend “megachurches,” or churches larger than 2,000 people (see the earlier post on why someone would attend a megachurch by Gerardo…

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Congregational Conflict: Listening to the Conflict

By Ellen Childs

Dec62017

Conflict is a natural part of human interaction — there will be differences in opinion and perception in every day life. However, examining how your congregation deals with conflict can provide needed insights into the life of the congregation. Some congregations suppress conflict, whereas others embrace it and see it as a sign of vitality…

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How to Ask Good Questions

By Ellen Childs

Nov202017

An important part of any study is having a clear research question. The language of “research question” may seem intimidating for a little investigation about your congregation, but to be able to figure out what is going on in your community, you need to be precise about what you’re actually trying to uncover. But to think about what…

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When a Shared Parking Lot Isn’t Just About Parking

By Paul D. Numrich

Oct102017

|| Written by Paul D. Numrich, Methodist Theological School in Ohio and Trinity Lutheran Seminary || What happens when a Catholic church provides overflow parking to a Hindu temple? Is it primarily an exchange of resources? Or is something more going on? In our book on immigrant congregations, Sacred Assemblies and Civic Engagement, Fred Kniss and I…

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From Evaluation to Engagement

By Roman Williams

Oct102017

Figuring out whether or not a program works poses an interesting challenge. It’s something that leaders often want to do, but the impact of our work is often in the everyday lives of people, and it would be impractical to follow people around all day. In one recent program evaluation, we tackled that challenge using…

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Before the Disaster Strikes

By Nancy Ammerman

Sep122017

As disasters strike – all too often, it seems – we often see churches, synagogues and mosques in the news. They may be shelters or food distribution centers or coordinators of volunteers or places to comfort and grieve. As the most ubiquitous form of voluntary organization in the U.S., congregations are present in every…

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Social Engagement and the London Megachurch

By Sarah Dunlop

Aug192016

The Arts and Humanities Research Council in the UK has funded a three-year study of London’s megachurches and their social engagement activities, to be complete at the end of 2016. Using the definition of a megachurch developed at Hartford Seminary Institute for Religion Research as 2000 or more people per week attending a Protestant church…

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Lent & Ramadan under the Same Roof

By Christopher Brittain

Jul202016

“Calling ISIS ‘Muslim’ is like going to KFC, sitting down to eat a bucket of chicken, and calling yourself a ‘vegetarian’.” This protest against the way Islam is portrayed in Western media was but one of the insights I gained while conducting congregational studies in a church and a mosque that were sharing a common…

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Producing Religion Online: Two Case Studies

By ter Kuile & Thurston

Apr202016

[message_box title=”From the Editor” color=”blue”]This article features interactive content. To see additional commentary hover your mouse over the maroon hyperlinks. Additional orange hyperlinks in the commentary will take to you additional resources here on the site. Enjoy! — TKS[/message_box] RELEVANT Media Group Cameron Strang founded RELEVANT Media Group in 2000 when he was 24 because he could not find…

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Walking with Cameras

By Roman Williams

Apr202016

A variation of the walking tour is a great way to explore a congregation’s context: walking with cameras. These days most people have access to photographic equipment in the form of a mobile phone, digital camera, or disposable camera. Whatever technology one employs, one should think of cameras as tools for collecting information and photographs as a…

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Pop-Up Shabbat: A Dinner Community Case Study

By ter Kuile & Thurston

Mar282016

[message_box title=”From the Editor” color=”blue”]This article features interactive content. To see additional commentary hover your mouse over the maroon hyperlinks. Additional orange hyperlinks in the commentary will take to you additional resources here on the site. Enjoy! — TKS[/message_box] Pop-Up Shabbat is a pop-up restaurant inspired by Jewish culture and tradition in Brooklyn, NY. Each gathering lasts 3-4 hours…

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Taking the Measure of American Congregations

By Nancy Ammerman

Mar162016

The 2015 report from the National Congregations Study allows interested students of congregational life to learn a great deal about what is typical and what is not. Begun in 1998, this is the third wave of the survey, so it not only documents where we are today, but also allows us to see how things…

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Engaging Congregations with Photovoice

By Roman Williams

Feb102016

Photovoice (PV) is a technique that enables researchers to identify needs and stimulate social change by giving voice to groups and/or issues that may otherwise be voiceless. The acrostic V.O.I.C.E. is sometimes used to describe this research strategy: Voicing Our Individual and Collective Experiences. Frequently, a photovoice project takes place over several weeks with a…

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Affiliation Matters

By Nancy Ammerman

Nov32015

The latest Pew Religious Landscape Survey is full of interesting insights into changes occurring in American religion. As I look at these survey results, here are a few of the things I’ve noted. On most measures of religiosity (prayer, attendance, belief, etc.), those who are in the “affiliated” camp are just as observant and believing…

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How Are We Doing?

By Nancy Ammerman

Sep32015

One of the reasons people get interested in learning more about a congregation is often that they want to know how they are doing. Are we healthy? Are we happy? Are we growing? And are we fulfilling our mission? Ah – now there’s a reason to take stock! That, of course, assumes that you know…

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The Disabled Church: Desiring Difference within Congregational Life

By Rebecca Spurrier

Aug192015

How does a congregation make time and space for the disabilities and differences of those who constitute it? How does it claim those differences as vital to its forms of knowing and loving God rather than disruptive to its unity? Such questions animate my encounter with Holy Family Episcopal Church[1], a parish in which a…

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When Congregation-Based Activism Is…Complicated

By Rebecca Barrett-Fox

Aug112015

Though most conservative Christian organizations, denominations, and congregations have abandoned explicitly homophobic rhetoric in their arguments against gay rights in their effort to craft a politically viable position, others have increased the volume (and, through social media, the audience) of their anti-gay teachings. For this reason, and because they often provoke a backlash from welcoming…

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Congregations and Community Involvement: The Impact of Friendships and Congregational Size

By Jennifer McClure Haraway

May82015

Contributor Jennifer McClure shares her recent published research examining the intersection of network connections, congregational size, and community involvement. A few years ago, I wondered how a congregation’s organizational context shapes whether attenders are involved in the broader community outside of their congregation. I grew up in a large evangelical congregation with about 2,000 regular attenders. A few…

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Faith and Political Engagement: Latina/o Protestants At the Intersection

By Lil Milagro Henriquez

Apr172015

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Ethical Considerations in Visual Research

By Roman Williams

Apr102015

This post is the last in a series by the Congregational Studies Visual Methods Fellow, Roman R. Williams, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Work at Calvin College. He is an expert in visual research methodology, and his current research looks at ways in which local congregations can use visual research…

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Catholicism in the Castro: Parish Life in Context

By Ellen Childs

Mar262015

The National Catholic Reporter published a five-part series on San Francisco’s Most Holy Redeemer Church, focusing on its open and inclusive relationship with the community. Up to eighty percent of its population is LGBT. Most Holy Redeemer draws broadly from across the San Francisco area, and because it is well known for its accepting attitude,…

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Refocus the Conversation: About “Attracting Families”

By Ellen Childs

Feb252015

Is your congregation attempting to reach out to “young families?” Jan Edmiston works at the Presbytery of Chicago and has a personal blog at at achurchforstarvingartists.wordpress.org. Below is part of a 2015 post on the topic: Almost every church I’ve ever known has wanted to Attract Young Families. The reasoning behind this includes the following: If we don’t…

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#Ashtag and Sharing Religion on Social Networks

By Ellen Childs

Feb192015

Look at all these priests sharing #ashtag selfies today http://t.co/BHXVI0H5qH pic.twitter.com/fX1USKhs39 — Mashable (@mashable) February 18, 2015 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…

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Pay What You Want: An Examination of Dues

By Ellen Childs

Feb52015

The New York Times posted an article about the changing sources of income for some synagogues. Rather than requiring membership dues based on family size, age, or income, some synagogues are now asking people to voluntarily pledge money to the congregation. How congregations bring in money is an important conversation in most religious communities. But…

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Membership Decline: Facing the Real Issue

By Ellen Childs

Jan302015

Christianity Today is highlighting the plight of rural vicars in congregations in England. Churches are declining, and vicars are filling multiple pulpits. The article goes on to explain in detail implications of declining congregations — pastors are pulled thin between multiple responsibilities and congregational sites, and are unable to devote the time and resources to…

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Bringing Programs into Focus: Using Photos for Evaluation

By Roman Williams

Jan222015

Evaluation is an important, though frequently neglected, component of any program. Some congregations use word of mouth feedback and other leaders deliberately seek out participants to assess outcomes through conversations. Others evaluate their programs through questionnaires that ask participants to rate their experience on scales of satisfaction, effectiveness, impact, or program strengths and weaknesses. Quite…

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The Building as an Asset: Thinking Differently about Congregational Programs

By Ellen Childs

Jan202015

The Christian Century posted an article in 2015 proposing thinking about a congregation’s building as an asset. From the article: What we’ve discovered—and it has been a learning curve for us, as well as for the congregations we’ve served—is that buildings and grounds can be leveraged to support congregational mission and extend the presence of…

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Female Catholic Priests: Muddied Organizational Waters

By Ellen Childs

Jan72015

The Kansas City Star is reporting that Georgia Walker — a woman — became a Roman Catholic priest last Saturday. The stories of women becoming ordained within the Roman Catholic church circulate every few years. These services take place outside of Catholic churches, usually officiated by the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests. This, of…

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Death in Declining Congregations: A Case Study

By Ellen Childs

Dec152014

More and more congregations within the United States are declining, and with that decline come church closures. In my dissertation research, I examined two small congregations. Fellowship United Methodist Church (which is a pseudonym, along with all other names used in this post) is a small congregation in a Midwestern city. As of 2010, there…

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Pastoral Leadership that Matters: A UCC Study

By Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi

Dec82014

Leadership matters. More specifically, pastoral leadership matters. In every setting of congregational life, talk of leadership abounds. In the United Church of Christ, the vision plan of the national setting includes the goal of having “a wealth of prepared, excellent leaders that reflect the diversity of God’s beloved community.” But what kind of leadership matters? Too…

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Eyeing the Budget: Content Analysis of Priorities

By Ellen Childs

Nov182014

When you’re having a problem within your congregation, you should 1) figure out a research question, 2) then determine the best way to examine the question using a variety of research tools, and 3) examine the data from a variety of perspectives or frames. We talk a lot about the importance of surveys, focus groups, or…

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Faith-Based Property Development: Using Your Resources

By Ellen Childs

Nov102014

Urban congregations across the country are dealing with aging buildings and declining rates of attendance, while the property values surrounding the congregation grow. Churches across New York City are leveraging their space and air rights to unused property to developers. This article from The Real Deal even gives an example of Bethel Gospel Assembly in…

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Congregational Conflict: Listening to the Conflict

By Ellen Childs

Nov52014

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Maintaining Boundaries: The Process of Enforcing Expectations

By Ellen Childs

Oct302014

New members to any group need to learn the unspoken rules and norms of the community. A newcomer may lack the history and understanding of “the way things are done here,” and may make embarrassing mistakes and missteps within the congregation. Perhaps a newcomer asked for prayers for something that was deemed “inappropriate,” or acted…

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How to Read Social Science Papers

By Ellen Childs

Oct162014

Maybe you’ve found a great quantitative social science journal article that seems interesting, but the structure and language is perhaps difficult or overwhelming. Below are some general strategies and commonly used vocabulary that should make the process easier. The guide is set up with three primary sections — the set up of social science papers, how…

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Examining a Jewish Enclave: Ecology and Resources

By Ellen Childs

Sep242014

Michelle Boorstein at The Washington Post wrote an article about a small Jewish community in Western Maryland. Cumberland Maryland had been a Jewish enclave in the Appalachian Mountains, with four synagogues and many Jewish-owned stores and businesses. But now the Jewish community has mostly left, likely to larger cities, with only around 50 families —…

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Developing the Role of Laity in Catholic Churches: Plans and Goals

By Ellen Childs

Sep172014

The Catholic Archbishop of southeastern Wisconsin, Jerome Listecki, issued a declaration shifting priorities within the archdiocese, according to an article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The declaration states that local bishops will work to support social justice issues that strongly affect minorities, including poverty, immigration, and gun violence.

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No One Should Have To Do This Alone!

By Ellen Childs

Sep152014

The UCC blog, carducc.wordpress.com, posted a blog entry from Gail Cafferata, a researcher examining issues of closing congregations. She examines the role of emotional support on pastors closing congregations. I asked a pastor about her experience serving a church that had closed: “So what was especially trying or hard for you?” She said, “I did pretty…

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Research in Congregations: National Congregations Study, Wave 3

By Ellen Childs

Sep122014

The results from the 2015 version of the National Congregations Study (NCS) cover many topics, so this article limits the discussion of the changing religious landscape on five issues: “more ethnic diversity, more acceptance of gays and lesbians, increasingly informal worship styles, declining size (but not from the perspective of the average attendee), and declining denominational affiliation” (Chaves…

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Gentrification in LA: From the Religion and Civic Culture Blog

By Ellen Childs

Aug272014

Check out this post from the Religion and Civic Culture blog on gentrification in the Los Feliz neighborhood of LA: Last week I took a walk on the gentrifying edge of Los Feliz with the pastor of a local church that mainly ministers to the down-and-out. We talked about the urban landscape around us as…

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Discomfort in the Pews: Working With Multiethnic Congregations

By Ellen Childs

Aug252014

Corey Widmer wrote an interesting piece at Christianity Today about his work within a multiethnic congregation in Richmond, VA. He outlines some of the unique situations he and the other congregational leaders and members encountered in attempting to bridge ethnic divides: “the way we do things here” has different meanings in different places. He writes,…

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Congregations’ role in Community Support: A View on Ferguson, MO

By Ellen Childs

Aug222014

During times of struggle, congregations often ask themselves “what can we do to help?” The first step is to understand the congregation’s resources. Is your building able to be used as a first-aid station or a place to get water and use the restroom? Is there meeting space to have community-wide discussions or small-scale planning…

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Changes in the Mass: Institutions and Church Cultures

By Ellen Childs

Aug152014

When the Vatican announced changes to the way individuals should express signs of peace during mass, an article from the Religious News Service reported: In an effort to insure a more sober ritual, the Vatican has urged bishops to clamp down on singing, moving around and other casual expressions of affection when the sign of…

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Religion as Social Support

By Jennifer McClure Haraway

Aug122014

All around us, we face requests for help. Colleagues may ask us for advice, friends may need a listening ear, a social service organization may be raising funds or looking for more volunteers, and an elderly family member may need our care. Social scientists have found that religious people are more likely than non-religious people…

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The Shared Parish: Latinos, Anglos, and the Future of U.S. Catholicism

By Brett Hoover

Aug82014

As faith communities in the United States grow increasingly more diverse, many churches are turning to the shared parish, a single church facility shared by distinct cultural groups who retain their own worship and ministries. The fastest growing and most common of these are Catholic parishes shared by Latinos and white Catholics. Shared parishes remain one…

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Why young Chinese Americans don’t go to church

By Seanan Fong, Russell Jeung, and Helen Kim

Jul282014

Question: Why don’t young Chinese Americans go to church? Lying at the intersection of America’s most nonreligious ethnic group and America’s most nonreligious age demographic, young adult Chinese Americans (aged 25-40) are one of the most secular groups in the United States. That is, they are the most likely to be unaffiliated with any institutionalized religion.…

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The Reality Behind “Spiritual But Not Religious”

By Nancy Ammerman

Jul232014

Question: I hear a lot about people being “spiritual, but not religious.” What does that mean? “I’m spiritual, but I’m not religious” is a common refrain in contemporary conversations. Many people seem eager to claim a connection with something they can call “spiritual,” but wary of the beliefs, traditions, and communities they think of as…

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Congregationalism in American Churches

By R. Stephen Warner

Jul212014

The focus of this site is the study of congregations, understood in the most basic sense as local religious assemblies. But concepts of “the congregation,” “congregational,” and “congregationalism” have both more precise and more contested meanings. As a form of “church polity,” congregationalism holds the local religious assembly to be the source of earthy ecclesiastical…

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Organized Religion and the Rise of the ‘Nones’

By Ellen Childs

Jul182014

Rabbi Eric Yoffie published a commentary on Huffington Post outlining what he sees as an over-exaggeration of the impact of the rising number of people — particularly young people — who report having no religious affiliation. Rabbi Yaffie explains that many American congregations remain strong. He writes, Also, American congregations are remarkably strong. (Robert Putnam and…

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Changing Roles of Congregational Leaders: Management Skills

By Ellen Childs

Jul92014

David Gibson at the Religion News Service describes the changing roles of Catholic priests in the parish. He outlines the role priests must take in a parish’s finances, human resources, facilities, and security. He writes, Once upon a time, the parish staff usually consisted of a janitor and a parish secretary, maybe a volunteer, while a…

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Framing Congregations: Redemption through a Visitor’s Lens

By Ellen Childs

Jul72014

NPR featured a story about a Washington Post reporter who simultaneously reported on drug crimes while being addicted to heroin while living in Washington D.C. in the 1980s and 1990s. From the article: In a new book, S Street Rising, Castaneda writes that S Street was once an epicenter of the drug war. Now, it’s much quieter. Neighbors walk by…

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Language, Culture, and Congregations

By Ellen Childs

Jul12014

The Huffington Post posted an article outlining the complications historically Spanish-speaking congregations have in adapting to new English-speaking generations. For many of these second- and third-generation immigrants, their religious lives were tied to their second language, which caused some difficulties. Vanessa Pardo, a 20-year-old from South Florida, reports, It was never a faith of my…

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Congregational Profile: LifeGARDEN

By Ellen Childs

Jun272014

LifeGARDEN, a mission of Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Maple Grove, MN, is a labor of love of member and Associate in Ministry – Director of Worship, Alice Woodard. She explains, I first started thinking about the possibility of a community garden while attending a worship conference at St. Olaf in 2005 called “For…

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PBS Special: Endangered Churches as Resources for the Community

By Ellen Childs

Jun242014

In 2014, PBS aired a Religion & Ethics Newsweekly report on closing churches in Philadelphia. Look at the description of congregational resources, their membership, commitment, financial and physical resources. These congregations recognized they have one type of resource — physical space — that they can share with the community. In exchange, they can gain another…

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Calling all History Buffs: Houses of Worship through Time

By Ellen Childs

Jun202014

The University of Minnesota is working on a project focused on data on congregations of settlers in and around the Mississippi River in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The researchers Marilyn J. Chiat, Ph.D. and Jeanne Halgren Kilde, Ph.D., have created a unique resource for those interested in the history of neighborhoods and the congregations that inhabited…

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Faith on the Avenue: Book Overview

By Ellen Childs

Jun182014

If you haven’t yet, pick up a copy of Katie Day’s Faith on the Avenue. It’s an interesting look at religion on one long street — Germantown Avenue — in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She looks at the role of community ecology on religious organizations in a number of ways. She outlines it this way:

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On the Horizon: Religious Competition and Creative Innovation

By Ellen Childs

Jun162014

From 2014-2017, the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC) undertook a three-year project that was focused on questions related to whether, and how, competition and various elements of geographic place may lead to creative innovation and religious change within congregations and other religious organizations. The project also includes a comparative component with Seoul,…

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St. Lydia’s Dinner Church

By Ellen Childs

Jun132014

St. Lydia’s Dinner Church, in Brooklyn New York, is a different type of church. They gather on Sundays and Mondays to “cook and share a sacred meal, just as the followers of Jesus did.” From their website: We eat, explore scripture, offer prayers, and sing together. Tied to the Lutheran and Episcopal traditions, our worship…

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St. Paul’s Congregation: A Historical Timeline

By Ellen Childs

Jun62014

The Alley News is a very local newspaper, based in the Phillips Neighborhood in Minneapolis. In 2014, they published an account and explanation of St. Paul Lutheran Church’s “Notes of Growth and Change.” This looks a lot like the basic facts people would want to have about their particular churches for a congregational timeline. The…

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The Strengths of Committees

By Ellen Childs

May212014

Dan Hotchkiss at the Alban Institute wrote an interesting piece on the strength of committees. Committees, he argues, are instituted to reduce decision-making from a large group to a small group. Most “committees” he sees in congregations are actually in charge of a particular activity, and thus work as leading and organizing the ongoing needs…

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Using Ritual to Assist in Change

By Ellen Childs

May162014

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Using the Census:
A Case Study from Oak Park, IL & Anderson, IN

By Ellen Childs

May142014

An important part of any congregational study is understanding the history and ecology of the community. These changes can involve racial or cultural changes to the community, like the example from Oak Park Illinois. Other important changes can be the growth or decline of local industries, such as the example in Anderson Indiana. [To read more about…

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Making a Megachurch: Hebron Baptist Church

By Ellen Childs

May92014

In the book A Particular Place: Urban Restructuring and Religious Ecology in a Southern Exurb, Dr. Nancy Eiesland outlines how two particular congregations grew in an area outside Atlanta. Notice how she describes the changes in the local ecology of the community that led to the rise of the congregation: “Founded in 1942, Hebron Baptist…

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Vision in Ministry: Developing a Vision Statement

By Ellen Childs

May72014

Vision statements are organized statements outlining an organization’s vision for itself. Many organizations (both secular and religious) prominently display vision statements, so many congregations feel they must too. Developing these vision statements can become empty rituals, resulting in a paragraph that is printed on a poster in the pastor’s office but that doesn’t actual enter…

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The Particular Roles of Interim Pastors

By Ellen Childs

May52014

The Billings Gazette featured an article discussing interim pastors and the particular roles they play. The article begins: Billings pastors Tom Hall, Joel Westby and Aline Russell enjoy getting together once a month to chat. None of the three recent acquaintances will be in town for more than a year or two, and they come from…

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One Building, Two Rabbis, Alternating Services

By Ellen Childs

Apr282014

The New Jersey Jewish News reports two interdenominational congregations are sharing one building. The two congregations will hold separate services, alternating Friday night services. They have chosen to blend organizational and administrative styles during worship. Beth Shalom is a part of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ), whereas the Jewish Congregation of Kinnelon is affiliated…

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Interfaith Experiences, Individual Growth

By Ellen Childs

Apr232014

The blog post below was written by Congregational Studies’ Team Engaged Scholar Ria Van Ryn for her college newspaper. ——————————— In a 2014 article in the Observer Rachel Renz defends her decisions to attend a Catholic Christmas Eve service and to write about her experiences in a medium representing a Modern Orthodox institution. Renz notes with disappointment that these decisions…

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The Spirit’s Tether: Family, Work and Religion among American Catholics

By Mary Ellen Konieczny

Apr162014

My book The Spirit’s Tether: Family, Work and Religion among American Catholics, was the product of a comparative ethnographic project which began with the simple question: Why are contemporary conflicts about the family—such as abortion, women’s social roles, same-sex marriage, and contraception—so emotional, and so resonant among American Catholics? We know that the media and…

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What do we know about congregational size?

By Ellen Childs

Apr72014

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Space Tour: Queen of Heaven Parish

By Brett Hoover

Mar282014

Pilar spoke to us in a rapid clip as she gave us a parish campus tour at Queen of Heaven parish in Southern California (all names here are pseudonyms). As graduate assistant Liz Castro and I walked with her alongside the parish school, we learned that her children had attended the school, and that she…

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Changing the Way “Things are Done”: Process Review

By Ellen Childs

Mar192014

The Process Frame is the frame that helps us consider the way things get done within a local congregation. From the page about the process frame, “by examining the processes of a local congregation, you can examine the ways in which a congregation makes decisions, discusses and solves its problems, and plans for the future.” But what happens…

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By The Numbers: How Many Were There?

By R. Stephen Warner

Mar172014

Question: What can survey research tell us about church attendance? Social scientists have been tracking self-reported religious service attendance for over seventy years. At present, over 40% of adult Americans claim to attend church (or other religious services) nearly every week. That figure is 25% lower than at its peak in the 1950s, but it…

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Thinking about Congregational Mission

By Ellen Childs

Mar142014

The Minneapolis Star Tribune posted an article about the 50th anniversary of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church moving to a new church building. That article highlights how the congregation’s mission orientation shaped their decision to stay in the city. The article states, On March 22, 1964, church members hailing from as far away as Plymouth and Bloomington marched eight blocks…

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Why would anyone attend a Megachurch?

By Gerardo Marti

Mar102014

Question: Why would anyone attend a Megachurch? It just seems to be about hype and money and the pastor promoting himself. That’s not what church should be about. I never expected to become an apologist for the Megachurch when I began my research years ago, but I’ve been shocked by the extent to which people…

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Commitment to the Congregation: Measurement Best Practices

By Ellen Childs

Mar82014

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…

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Environmentalism and the Black Church: New Frontiers

By Ellen Childs

Mar12014

An article from the Religion News Network highlights Trinity United Church of Christ, a Black congregation in Chicago, that focuses much of its energy on the environment, and much of its congregational cultural focus surrounds issues of the environment. The article reads, They recycle their church bulletins, plan to renovate their building with a “green”…

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The Introduction of Newcomers

By Ellen Childs

Feb132014

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…

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Lower Denominational Control: Effects of Changing Church Forms

By Ellen Childs

Feb112014

Mark Chaves’ 2011 book, American Religion: Contemporary Trends, outlines a number of ways in which denominations have less and less control over individual congregations: 1 in 5 religious congregations in the United States are now unaffiliated (Chaves 2011). Moreover, 1 in 5 people who attend church attend congregations that are unaffiliated. This is a change…

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Rituals as an Indicator of Congregational Culture

By Ellen Childs

Feb82014

One important way to examine your religious community’s culture is through its rituals. Rituals say something about who we are and what we hold dear, pointing to deeper meanings. In religious communities, these religious rituals outline how a deity is worshiped. Examine how individuals pray to understand more about the relationship with God. Listen to how God…

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Toys are not Guns: Churches Changing the Way Children Play

By Leah Gunning Francis

Feb62014

In February 2013, our congregation had a month long celebration of Black History Month activities. From film viewings to forums, the Washington Tabernacle Baptist Church of St. Louis, MO, had an array of opportunities to learn about historical and current issues that are directly related to African Americans. Our forum, titled “From Newtown to Our…

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Building Strong Church Communities: A Sociological Perspective

By Patricia Wittberg

Feb32014

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…

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Church Shouldn’t Be This Hard

By Ellen Childs

Jan282014

Tom Ehrich wrote a commentary at the Washington Post outlining why “church shouldn’t be this hard.” He explains, My conclusion: Religion shouldn’t be this hard. An assembly that exists to help people shouldn’t be so willing to hurt people — by declaring them worthless, unacceptable, undesirable or strangers at the gate. An assembly that should…

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Whitebread Protestants – Social Food to Create Community

By Ellen Childs

Jan132014

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…

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Growing Churches: Religious Vitality in Canada

By Ellen Childs

Jan82014

A National Post article examines Protestant mega-congregations in Canada and offers interesting insights into what makes them work. Broadway Church, in Vancouver Canada, shuffles 2,000 congregants through churches on a given Sunday. The large, auditorium-esq sanctuary, modern music, and casually-dressed pastor give attenders the sense of a new type of religious movement.

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Perceptions of “Black Worship” in Multiethnic Congregations

By Ellen Childs

Dec112013

In Gerardo Marti’s book, Worship Across the Racial Divide, he discusses the life and vitality of a multiethnic congregation. One of his early findings is that many members of the congregation, particularly those who are not Black, assume that “black worship” is a superior form of worship (p. 52). Marti writes, “Blacks singing gospel are…

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Bishop Tests Congregation’s Compassion

By Ellen Childs

Dec92013

A Mormon bishop from Salt Lake City, David Musselman, recently transformed his appearance to that of a homeless person, attempting to better understand how people of difference were treated in his congregation. The UK Telegraph reported the story. The article states, “The main thing I was trying to get across was we don’t need to…

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Gender in the Pews

By Ellen Childs

Dec62013

A 2013 article in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Journal Sentinel explores the issue of gender in the pews. It outlines statistics that suggest that the average congregation is 60% female, and it’s even higher for Catholics, where 64% of members are female. There are a number of explanations for this gendered separation in the pews. One…

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Worship Songs and Theology

By Ellen Childs

Nov272013

The Baptist Standard published a short piece about the ways in which theology shapes and is shaped by music within a congregation. Terry York, professor of Christian ministry and church music at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, is quoted as saying I don’t know if there are any biblical concepts that are not singable, but there are…

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Multiculturalism In Congregations Is More Than Just Diversity

By Ellen Childs

Nov102013

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…

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Understanding “Chreasters” – Members who Attend at Christmas and Easter

By Ellen Childs

Nov92013

The issue of how members become “Chreasters” – people who attend at Christmas and Easter – was raised by George Bullard in the American Baptist Press. The members he focuses on were once regular attenders: they were involved in Sunday School and were active in the congregation. Bullard writes, Then something happened. I do not know…

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Search Our Archives: Coming Soon!

Since 2012, StudyingCongregations.org has published over 200 articles on how and why people of faith gather. And soon you’ll be able to search our complete archives! Explore a wide range of topics such congregational conflict, the Nones (non-affiliation), race & ethnicity, and civic engagement. Learn more about various methods of study including demographics, interviews, and walking the neighborhood. Or focus your curiosity on religious & cultural traditions such as African American congregations, Latinx congregations, Catholic parishes, and more.