Topbar search

Gender and Congregational Life Survey

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...
Read More →

Female Catholic Priests: Muddied Organizational Waters

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,...
Read More →

Ordaining Women: Results from the National Congregations Study

The Huffington Post published an article about the role of women in clergy roles in the United States, looking at data from the most recent wave of the National Congregations Survey. One of the most interesting parts is interactive graphic timeline examining when women were first...
Read More →

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

My recent 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...
Read More →

Gender in the Pews

A recent 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...
Read More →