The fourth wave of the National Congregations Study (NCS‐IV) was conducted in 2018–2019 with a nationally representative sample of congregations from across the religious spectrum. The NCS‐IV ...included a fresh cross‐section of congregations generated in conjunction with the 2018 General Social Survey and a panel of congregations that participated in the third NCS wave. Data were collected via a 65‐minute interview with one key informant from 1,262 congregations. The cooperation rate was 74 percent; the conservatively calculated response rate was 69 percent. Information was gathered about multiple aspects of congregations’ social composition, structure, activities, leadership, and programming. Approximately two‐thirds of the NCS‐IV questionnaire replicates items from previous NCS waves. This introduction to the NCS‐IV symposium describes NCS‐IV methodology and special features of the new data. The three symposium articles present NCS‐IV results about congregations’ political activities, racial and ethnic composition, and worship practices.
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2.
Changing Worship Practices in American Congregations Roso, Joseph; Holleman, Anna; Chaves, Mark
Journal for the scientific study of religion,
December 2020, 2020-12-00, 20201201, Volume:
59, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Worship is the core activity of American congregations and the primary way people experience religion collectively in the United States. We use data from the National Congregations Study (NCS), ...notably including data from the fourth wave, collected in 2018–19, to examine two key trends in worship practices among American religious congregations. First, the trend toward more informal and enthusiastic worship identified in earlier NCS surveys continues into 2019. Showing no signs of having reached a plateau, a more informal worship style has increased in prevalence across every major American religious tradition. Second, recently developed communication technologies have permeated congregations’ worship services in ways that change the collective experience. Collected on the eve of the COVID‐19 pandemic, NCS‐IV data on worship and technology provide a baseline for future examinations of worship changes caused by the pandemic, and a window into congregations’ technological preparedness for a world in which it is not safe to gather.
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3.
Racial Diversity in U.S. Congregations, 1998–2019 Dougherty, Kevin D.; Chaves, Mark; Emerson, Michael O.
Journal for the scientific study of religion,
December 2020, 2020-12-00, 20201201, Volume:
59, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Racially diverse congregations have become an important part of the American religious landscape. We use data from the National Congregations Study (NCS), notably including data from the fourth wave, ...collected in 2018–2019, to examine 20 years of racial diversity in congregations. We find that racial diversity within congregations has increased substantially between 1998 and 2019. There are more congregations in which no one racial or ethnic group comprises more than 80 percent of the people, congregations’ average diversity level has increased, and the percentage of all‐white congregations has declined. Nearly a quarter of evangelical churches now have no one ethnic group constituting more than 80 percent of the people, a rate comparable to what we observe among Catholic churches. Moreover, congregations that meet this 80‐percent threshold are more likely to be led by black clergy in 2019 than they were in 1998. We end with a note of caution about concluding that diverse congregations necessarily promote racial justice.
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Competition between social units has long been central to sociological theories of change. Understanding it has become particularly important in the sociology of religion with the theory of religious ...economies, a market model of religious change. Existing empirical tests of the theory are limited by (1) ambiguity regarding which religious groups are expected to compete with which other groups, and/or (2) a neglect of the local level (competition among congregations). Using an original compilation of the life histories of religious congregations in Manhattan from 1949 to 1999, I conduct event-history analyses that avoid those limitations. The chief results are the following: (1) the more congregations there were near a given congregation that were theologically dissimilar to that congregation, the less likely that congregation was to advertise; (2) when there was an increase over time in the number of nearby congregations that were theologically similar to the focal congregation, that congregation became more likely to advertise; and (3) when there was an increase over time in the number of nearby congregations that were theologically dissimilar to the focal congregation, that congregation became less likely to advertise. Implications for the study of religion include modifications of religious-economies theory; broader implications speak to understanding the social units that compete and what drives competition.
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1766).6 His father William ministered to the Baptist congregation in King's Stanley, a village about 48 kilometres from where he lived.7 While growing up in Coleford, Isaiah Birt was sent to Bell's ...Grammar School at Newland, but, due to his Baptist background, he experienced violent prejudice.8 John Birt recalled that his companions, having imbibed the notion that there was no law to protect those who were not christened, took the opportunity of their going and returning, to inflict upon him every annoyance which boyish wantonness and ingenuity could contrive. After a severe conflict, he thoroughly thrashed them both; and from that time forward they ceased to meddle with him.11 Remarkably, John Birt noted that 'these early contests prepared his father zealously to advocate his principles as a Baptist, when they became the principles of his understanding and his choice ...and though he ceased to employ carnal weapons, he continued occasionally to give hard knocks'.12 Isaiah Birt experienced conversion after hearing Edward Burn (17621837), a Methodist preacher who at the time was probably studying at the Countess of Huntingdon's (1707-1791) Trevecca College.13 He then was baptised and joined Usk Baptist Chapel in Monmouthshire, Wales, under the ministry of Edmund Watkins (1720-1798).14 According to his biographer, Birt's baptism took place on a day of such hard frost that 'it was necessary to break a hole in the ice' for the ordinance.15 With Watkins' encouragement, Birt was sent to study under Caleb Evans (1737-1791) at Bristol in 1779.16 Meanwhile in Plymouth, though Philip Gibbs (1728-1800) had Bristol graduate John Norman (d. 1782) as his assistant, the latter died in 1782.17 Thus, in January 1782, the congregation called Birt, upon Evans' recommendation, to assist Gibbs and it was during this probationary period that Samuel Pearce (17661799) came to faith through Birt's sermons.18 Though the Plymouth congregation was formed in 1640, it had suffered severe declines since 1722, and by 1748 there were only eight members.19 Since Gibbs was called in 1749, the congregation experienced growth. ...two years later, the congregation tore down their dilapidated building and built a new meeting house on the same site in the Pig Market.20 A year before Birt's arrival, the congregation planned a new site in Liberty Fields (now Pembroke Street) at Plymouth Dock (Devonport) for members living in the area.21 After a period of probation, Birt was ordained on 15 January 1784 to minister to the Plymouth Dock congregation. Five years later, since the Pig Market congregation had moved to Howe Street, and the relationship between the two congregations became strained, the Plymouth Dock congregation decided to separate themselves from their mother church.22 As the congregation grew, Birt personally purchased the vacant Wesleyan chapel in Morice Square to form a second congregation.23 In June 1798, the Plymouth Dock congregations welcomed William Steadman (1764-1837) to assist Birt.24 Like the Pig Market congregation, Pembroke Street and Morice Square were considered as one church under the co-pastorate of Birt and Steadman.
Conservative Christian movements have attracted the attention of political observers, but just how widespread are they? This paper draws on the National Congregations Study to answer this question. ...It finds that while conservative Christians are known for their political activism, Catholic and Black congregations are the most politically active. They distribute voter guides, register people to vote, form groups to discuss politics, lobby or march, and invite political candidates and elected officials as visiting speakers. Black churches are also the most likely to publicly support or oppose a political candidate, and Catholic churches are the most likely to declare themselves sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants. It turns out, however, that independent “evangelical” congregations did become more politically active in 2018, and while they represent only a small slice of American congregations, they may be able to exert an influence on U.S. political outcomes.
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically upended religious life and placed significant strain on religious congregations. However, the effects of the pandemic were likely not felt evenly across ...the religious landscape.
Purpose
We used data from the fourth wave of the National Congregations Study, gathered on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic in 2018–19, to identify the kinds of congregations that may have been especially vulnerable to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
Using bivariate and multiple regression analysis, we examined two aspects of congregations' preparedness for the pandemic: technological infrastructure and financial stability.
Results
We found that, while many congregations were technologically and financially equipped for a time of social distancing and economic recession, there were stark inequalities in levels of preparedness among congregations on the basis of race, class, size, urban/rural location, religious tradition, and the age of congregations' parishioners. In particular, Catholic congregations and congregations with older attendees tended to lack streaming or online communication capacities, and both rural and small congregations had more limited technological infrastructure and less financial cushion. Somewhat surprisingly, predominantly Black congregations were more likely to have worship streaming systems set up prior to the pandemic, though these congregations were more likely to lack other kinds of technological and financial infrastructure.
Conclusions and Implications
Though COVID-19's full impact on congregations will not be known for several years, these results highlight variations in congregations’ readiness for the pandemic's challenges, and they show that COVID-19's impact likely has not been felt equally across the religious landscape.
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We use data from the National Congregations Study (NCS), including data from the fourth wave, to describe congregations’ political activity in 2018–2019, and to examine change in that activity since ...1998. Congregations have become more politically mobilized since 1998, with the majority of congregations (56 percent) engaged in at least one of the political activities asked about in 2018–2019. Black Protestant congregations in particular experienced a surge in political activity since 2012, and congregations with politically liberal convictions or in traditions with more immigrant members have substantially increased their advocacy on behalf of immigrants in recent years. Overall, since 2012 and possibly since 1998, the political mobilization of congregations on the left has increased more than political mobilization of congregations on the right. We also find that 4 percent of (overwhelmingly Catholic) congregations have declared themselves sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants, and a surprisingly large minority (17 percent) of congregations would publicly endorse or oppose political candidates if doing so would not put their tax status at risk. Ironically, in light of the support for this tax law change among conservative leaders, African American and politically liberal congregations are by far most likely to publicly endorse a candidate if they could.
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The mental health of religious leaders is a serious concern as the emotional, psychological, and spiritual demands on clergy are incredibly high. These demands, however, are likely to vary by the ...demographic makeup of the congregation that leaders serve, which leads us to expect that clergy mental health is associated with congregational demographics. In this study, we use recently collected (2020), nationally representative survey data from the primary leaders of religious congregations (N = 636) to examine the associations between congregational demographics—the social class, gender, racial, age, and political makeup of religious congregations—and leaders’ mental health. The most robust finding from the full model is that political incongruence between leaders and attendees is strongly associated with worse mental health for clergy. We conclude with a discussion of what the results mean for the mental health of religious leaders in a time of declining religion, growing political polarization, and high rates of anxiety.
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