Beyond the Ordinary

For Your Congregation’s Sake, Read a Book!

By Joelle Anderson

It’s fall!  Now’s the time to enjoy pumpkin spice lattes, sweaters, and cozying up with a good book on a crisp evening.  Beach reads are over, so dive into something a little more substantial—pick up the second edition of A Field Guide to U.S. Congregations: Who's Going Where and Why (2010).

The first edition of A Field Guide to U.S. Congregations (2002) provided a comprehensive view of worshipers and congregations across the country using data from Wave 1 of the U.S. Congregational Life Survey.  The new edition features results of Wave 2 of the survey when almost 1,600 congregations and 163,000 worshipers took part. This latest volume has been revised to reflect Wave 2 findings and includes up-to-date statistics, tables with the latest information about worshipers and congregations, and original cartoons (!!)  (It's OK to admit that the cartoons are your favorite part of our books. We love them, too!)  The second edition also features two new chapters: one on pastoral leadership and another that describes the significant changes in congregational life between Wave 1 in 2001 and Wave 2 in 2008 and 2009.

The second edition is practical as well as informative.  Fast Facts (signposts for congregations moving toward data-driven decisions) and Myth Traps (tempting assumptions about congregational life that can trap congregations in dead ends) are interspersed throughout the book. 

 
Take steps toward congregational change by ordering the new edition of A Field Guide to U.S. Congregations from Amazon or from Cokesbury today.

 

Faith Training

By Joelle Anderson

Q:  What do past-president Jimmy Carter, comedian Stephen Colbert, and novelist John Grisham have in common? 

A:  They have all taught religious education classes for their churches!

Religious education classes (also known as Sunday school or church school classes) train people in the faith.  These classes first popped up in the United States in the 1790s, and they continue to be a staple of congregational life.  While many people might love to attend religious education classes led by celebrities, churches don’t need famous teachers to have successful Sunday school programs. 

Virtually all congregations provide religious education.  All Catholic parishes and conservative Protestant congregations offer religious education classes, while nearly all mainline Protestant congregations do (99%). 

 
Conservative Protestant congregations offer religious education classes for all ages.  More conservative Protestant congregations than mainline Protestant congregations offer religious classes for children and adults.  Fewer Catholic parishes provide adult religious education classes, compared to Protestant churches.

Larger numbers of children and youth attend Catholic religious education classes.  Each week, Catholic parishes have an average (median) of 107 children and 59 youth in faith development classes.  In Protestant congregations, many fewer children and youth attend Sunday school, on average.  These findings speak largely to the size differences by faith group.  Catholic parishes have an average attendance of 656 worshipers each week, compared to an average of 89 worshipers for mainline Protestant congregations and 85 worshipers for conservative Protestant congregations.  

 
 Quality Over Quantity

It is impressive to find that most congregations offer religious education for their worshipers.  However, even more important than the quantity of opportunities to learn about the faith is the quality of religious education being provided.  The good news is that, among worshipers who are familiar with their congregation’s programs for children and youth (which include religious education), 79% are satisfied with these ministries.

How can your congregation make sure that it is providing fun, engaging and helpful religious training for worshipers?  Check out The Parish Paper’s free resources on Sunday school for children and adults.

 

Back to School

By Joelle Anderson

In the movie You’ve Got Mail Tom Hanks says to Meg Ryan, “Don't you love New York in the fall?  It makes me want to buy school supplies.  I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils . . . .”  Many people connect September to the start of a new school year.  While the majority of our country’s students attend public schools, some parents choose to send their children to religious schools.  Do many churches provide religious schools?  What are the most common age groups served by these church schools?

More Catholic parishes provide educational opportunities.  Half of Catholic parishes provide some type of schooling for children.  One in four mainline Protestant congregations offer schooling or school-related programs (27%), while one out of six conservative Protestant congregations do (18%). 

 

Catholic parishes offer a wide array of religious education opportunities.  One in three Catholic parishes provide pre-school or daycare (34%), before or after school programs (28%), and elementary schools (38%).  Protestant congregations most often offer pre-school or daycare (24% of mainline Protestant congregations; 15% of conservative Protestant congregations). Very few Protestant congregations run elementary schools or junior, middle, or high schools.

Catholic schools have a long history in the United States.  Droves of Catholic immigrants began coming to the United States in the mid-1800s.  These Catholics were disheartened by the Protestant approach to U.S. public schooling.  Due to this discouragement, and anti-immigration sentiments in this country, Catholics created their own school system.  (For more on the history of religious schooling in America, read this article.)  As our survey results show, Catholics still dominate religious education in the United States.

Religious schools can nurture and challenge students both academically and spiritually.  However, students attending public schools are exposed to a variety of beliefs, which can also promote spiritual growth and maturity.  What can your congregation do to help students develop a solid spiritual faith, no matter where they attend school?

 

How Do Worshipers Feel About the U.S. War on Terror?

 By Joelle Anderson

Some people have commented on the difference between Norway’s response to its recent terrorist attacks and the U.S. response to its past terrorist attacks.  While Norwegian leaders have elevated the values of free speech and democracy in the wake of the country’s attacks, the U.S. response to the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11 was to dramatically increase security measures and retaliate against the offenders.

Do worshipers support the U.S. military’s fight against terrorism, or are they opposed to these efforts?  In 2008 we asked worshipers what their opinions were of the war in Iraq or other U.S. military actions against terrorism when these actions began (in October 2001).  We also asked these same worshipers for their current opinion of the government’s anti-terror campaign.  While people’s recollection of their stance seven years earlier might be flawed, these responses let us examine how worshipers believe their opinions have changed.

Worshipers have diverse views on U.S. military actions to fight terrorism.  The largest group of worshipers said that in 2001 they favored military actions against terrorism (41%).  Yet many other worshipers reported having mixed feelings about these actions (32%) or opposing them (26%).  In 2008 the proportions of worshipers favoring, opposing, and having mixed feelings about the U.S. military response to terrorism were even more equally distributed.

 
Worshipers have largely stable opinions about the U.S. government’s actions against terrorism.  More than seven in ten worshipers held the same opinion about these actions in both 2001 and 2008 (73%).  Three in ten worshipers report consistently favoring U.S. military responses to terrorism, while another 23% continue to have mixed feelings about the U.S. government’s fight against terrorism.  One-fifth of worshipers (20%) have always been opposed to the U.S. military’s war on terror. 

The remaining 27% of worshipers report that they changed their opinion of the U.S. military’s pursuit of terrorists from 2001 to 2008.  Among worshipers with changed opinions, nearly two out of three became less favorable in their opinions about U.S. military intervention against terrorism (63%; 17% overall) and the other third became more favorable in their opinions (37%; 10% overall).

 
U.S. worshipers are not a monolithic voting bloc.  Worshipers’ diverse opinions about U.S. responses to terrorism evidence the political diversity between and within our country’s congregations.  These diverse opinions reflect those of the general U.S. population.  Americans do not always support (or reject) the government’s actions against terrorism.  These varying opinions suggest that fighting terrorism is an issue filled with ambiguity and complexity.  No matter how the U.S. government responds to terrorism, some people are going to be pleased and some are going to be disappointed.

How do you personally feel about U.S. military actions against terrorism?  Do your religious beliefs have any bearing on your opinion?