Beyond the Ordinary

Be not afraid: Love, acceptance of disabled bring gifts of faith to congregations

by David Briggs

Want to put the joy of Christ back into Christmas?

Attend the annual “Our Journey to Bethlehem” service for people with disabilities and their loved ones in Cleveland.

One cannot help but feel the biblical accounts of Christ’s ministry come to life as some 20 blind, deaf and physically and mentally disabled worshipers bring up the gifts in the offertory procession, and serve as readers, liturgical dancers and Eucharistic ministers.

It is a place where people so hurting they need to cry out frequently during the service will never be asked to leave. A place where a woman with cerebral palsy, her face almost frozen in a gaping smile, will be hugged repeatedly. And a place where her sibling can share a joyful time with a 49-year-old sister severely disabled from birth.

 "It's such a welcoming feeling here. You just belong. You just feel the love and the warmth," said the woman, standing over the wheelchair of her sister. "Everybody's equal here. You feel God's warmth and love, and you see everybody loves everybody."

 And no one is left out.

 Would that this biblical tableau stretching back 2,000 years could be experienced more often in local congregations.

 Yet research, and the experiences of people with disabilities, suggests many congregations are not so welcoming.

 A 2010 survey found that while 57 percent of people without disabilities attend religious services at least once a month, just half of people with disabilities attend with the same frequency. And the percentage is even lower for people with moderate and severe disabilities.

 The gap in attendance was the same as in a 2004 study, “suggesting that not much has changed in the way of removing architectural, communications, and attitudinal barriers that prevent people with disabilities—especially people with severe disabilities—from regular attendance,” concluded the final report issued by the Kessler Foundation and the National Organization on Disability.

 In a separate survey of 416 parents of children with disabilities who were attending or have attended congregations, just 43 percent described their religious community as “supportive.”

 Almost a third of parents reported having changed their place of worship because their child had not been included or welcomed and more than half had kept their sons or daughters from participating in a religious activity because of a lack of support. In addition, more than half of parents said they had never been asked about the best way to include their daughter or son in congregational activities.  Researchers Melinda Jones Ault and Belva Collins of the University of Kentucky and Erik Carter of Vanderbilt University reported the study findings in the journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

 The lack of inclusion in religious communities is of special concern because the positive outcomes associated with religion – from being a place to develop supportive social networks to helping provide hope and optimism in challenging situations – may be particularly beneficial to people with disabilities who face discrimination and prejudice in other areas of their lives.

 The more frequently children with special needs attended religious services,  the higher parents rated their family lives together, researcher Andrew Whitehead found in analyzing data from the 2011-2012 National Study of Children’s Health.

 Religious service attendance is significantly and positively associated with “family functioning,” including coping with the day-to-day demands of raising children with special needs, Whitehead, director of the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, reported at the recent annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Religious Research Association in Boston.

 The pain and loss of exclusion, however, is not limited to the disabled community.  A theological history associating suffering with sin has left many people facing challenges in life reluctant to seek social support in congregations for fear of being judged as less than faithful.

 And just as small signs of inclusion, such as including women and men of differing ages and racial and ethnic groups in prominent roles in services send a message that all are welcome, so, too, does excluding people with disabilities because they may read a little slower or require special attention contribute to a hardening of hearts.

 And a loss of joy.

 The journey to Bethlehem service in Cleveland doesn’t always start on time, and not everyone sits and stands in unison. But it is one joyous celebration.

 Worshipers get the up-tempo, not the mournful, version of "Amazing Grace" and people boom out, rather than mumble, "Merry Christmas" in response to the celebrant's prompt.

 "I feel Jesus inside of me," one of the liturgical dancers, a 53-year-old man, told me at one of the services. "We're all of us Jesus."

 If you and I have the eyes to see and the ears to hear the unconditional love that is present in welcoming all people in a spirit of mutual respect and dignity, what can we do to make our congregations more welcoming places for people with disabilities and their families?

Breaking barriers: Women pastors may be paving way for gay, lesbian leaders

by David Briggs

The long struggle for women to break the stained-glass ceiling in houses of worship may be easing the way for openly gay and lesbian leaders, new research indicates.

Congregations that allow women to be head clergy are nearly twice as likely to accept gays and lesbians as members.

And the odds of congregations being open to gays and lesbians as leaders are three times greater in congregations that permit women pastors than in congregations that do not allow women to be head clergy, researcher Andrew Whitehead found in analyzing data from the 2006-2007 National Congregations Study.

“Greater numbers of female clergy, or greater numbers of congregations that allow for women to be head clergy, could lead to a greater level of acceptance of gays and lesbians as members or leaders,” Whitehead writes in an article on “Gender, Homosexuality and Inequality Within Religious Congregations” in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

Close to half of all congregations in the 2006-2007 National Congregations Study allowed women to be head clergy, while 37 percent of congregations accepted gays and lesbians in committed relationships as members. Just 19 percent allowed gays and lesbians to be leaders.

Whitehead, director of the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, found a congregation’s openness to women pastors was significantly associated with its acceptance of gays and lesbians. The relationship remained significant even when taking into consideration factors such as religious tradition and theological conservatism.

The findings suggest the possibility that barriers broken in one area of congregational life could lead to greater equality in others. Simply focusing on creating equality in a dimension such as women clergy could make congregations more inclusive across the board, Whitehead notes.

What may be less clear is how influential women clergy will be in advocating for greater acceptance of gays and lesbians.

Some research has shown clergywomen are more likely than male clerics to speak out for gay rights. And, Whitehead says, “Usually female clergy are much more open and inclusive of gays and lesbians and really any group of disadvantaged” individuals.

In their book “Leadership That Fits Your Church,” US CLS researchers Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce note that women clergy are more likely to be “transformational” leaders, pastors who work in a collaborative way with congregants to help worshipers think about issues in new ways.

However, it can also be more difficult for women clergy to address controversial issues because for many church members having a woman pastor is a major change in itself. More than male clergy, women pastors may face a greater need to prove themselves and gain acceptance before pushing for new directions in an area such as gay rights.

To illustrate the difference, a married, male pastor generally comes into a congregation with “four aces,” cards he can play to deal with conflict or push for change in a congregation, Woolever says.

“Coming in as a woman, you’ve already got a couple of cards down on the table,” she says.

But times are changing.

The percentage of women clergy in mainline Protestant churches increased from 20 percent in the 2001 U.S. Congregational Life Survey to 28 percent in the 2008-2009 survey. The 2012 National Congregations Study found nearly three in ten U.S. congregations permit gays and lesbians in committed relationships to hold volunteer leadership positions, a major increase from the 19 percent of congregations in 2006-2007 that allowed such opportunities.

As more congregations embrace different forms of leadership, that may well open more doors for women clergy and gay and lesbian leaders.

The war at home: Congregations may play important role for combat veterans

by David Briggs

About half of U.S. worshipers say they pray for world peace or an end to war at least a few times a week.

And when it comes to the war in Iraq or other U.S. actions against terrorism, many people in the pews are ambivalent.

Thirty-five percent say they approve of such action, while 29 percent are opposed. Many people, 36 percent, reported mixed feelings, according to a random sample of 846 worshipers as part of the 2008-2009 U.S. Congregational Life Survey.

What is becoming clearer, however, is the value religion can have in helping soldiers cope with their experiences.

An analysis of two studies of World War II veterans found soldiers were likely to pray more as combat became more frightening and, some 50 years later, veterans who had the most negative experiences in heavy fighting were more likely to be religiously active.  Researchers Brian Wansink from Cornell University and Craig Wansink from Virginia Wesleyan College reported the findings on combat intensity and religious behavior in a recent issue of the Journal of Religion and Health.

In the first study, based on U.S. Army research data from infantrymen in the Pacific in 1944, the Wansinks found that soldiers increasingly turned to prayer as combat fears heightened.

Barely more than four in 10 respondents said they found motivation through prayer when the battle became less frightening or never was frightening. However, 72 percent of the soldiers said they found motivation through prayer when the battle became more frightening or was frightening all the time and they had high levels of fear.

An analysis of the second study, a random sample of World War II veterans conducted in 2000, indicated that soldiers who had more negative experiences  in combat during the war were more likely to be active in congregations.

For veterans with positive military experiences, the heavier the combat they experienced, the less frequently they attended church. But those who said their military experience was negative attended church more frequently the more they had experienced heavy combat.  Similarly, in comparison with veterans who did not experience combat, heavy combat was associated with a 10 percent increase in church membership for those who claimed their war experience was negative, but an 8 percent decrease for those who claimed it was positive, the Wansinks reported.

One takeway, according to the Wansinks, is the need to recognize the spiritual needs of active-duty military and combat veterans.

“Religious participation—such as joining or attending a church—may help combat veterans who have had a negative military experience better deal with the aftermath of combat in important spiritual or social ways,” they write. “Encouraging such participation might be especially important for combatants who consider their military experience as having been negative.”

 Congregations have not always been at their best in dealing with issues of religion and mental health. Yet research has indicated that belief in a loving God, along with the social support of being part of a congregation whose members care for one another, leads to positive physical and mental health outcomes, including lower rates of depression and anxiety and greater overall happiness.

Military men and women have made and continue to make great sacrifices. An important service worshipers can do in return is to be welcoming, caring communities for veterans and their families.

 

 

Private prayer and public good

by David Briggs

Religious folks often pray for personal needs. Three-quarters of worshipers responding to the U.S. Congregational Life Survey said they pray for themselves and their closest loved ones every day or most days.

But they also direct many of their petitions outward, praying for the victims of poverty, injustice and natural disasters. So does time spent in private devotional activities such as prayer, meditation and Bible reading make a difference when it comes to caring for all their neighbors?

The answer is yes, a new study indicates.

Worshipers who spend more time in private devotions were more likely to give a loan, care for the sick and to help someone find a job, according to a study analyzing data from the 2008-2009 U.S. Congregational Life Survey.

“Prayer can connect us with others, and even help us identify with their suffering,” said researcher Jennifer McClure of Pennsylvania State University.

McClure analyzed data from more than 37,000 US CLS respondents to measure which factors of congregational life were associated with attenders providing social support to non-family members.

What did not necessarily make a difference was religious attendance.

Worshipers who attended services more frequently were less likely to provide a loan or help someone find a job and just slightly more likely to care for the sick.

However, their relation to other congregation members and their private spiritual practices were associated with meeting social needs.

Worshipers who had more close friends in the congregations were more likely to care for the sick, lend a financial helping hand and assist an unemployed neighbor.

The finding supports other research that suggests congregational involvement may encourage social support for several reasons, including the opportunity to learn more about needs in the community, being part of a peer group with strong expectations to help others and the greater likelihood of being recruited for volunteer projects, McClure noted.

Some religious leaders may focus on how full the church is, “but in terms of a lot of pro-social outcomes … it can be even more important to be involved in activities,” McClure said.

Still, the most consistent association with social support came from private devotional activities.

The results suggest that private devotions can have powerful social consequences, McClure said.

“The most exciting finding for me was showing that private devotions matter,” she said. “Yeah, social networks matter. But private devotions do, too.”

The takeaways for congregational leaders are that encouraging private devotions that are sensitive to the plight of others and fostering congregational involvement may be effective ways of helping members live out their faith by helping those in need.

And just about any congregation can be effective in helping members provide a helping hand to their neighbors. Membership numbers did not appear to the significant, the study found. For example, worshipers in larger congregations, which may be more likely to be seen as impersonal, were more likely to help someone find a job.

“If a minister is tempted to say this can’t be done in our congregation because it’s too big, or it’s too small, the findings do not support that,” McClure said.

 

Different Congregations, Different Views of the Divine

by Andrew Whitehead

In an earlier blog post we shared how there is significant diversity within congregations concerning whether worshipers believe God is actively involved in the world or angered by human sin. In many congregations, fellow worshipers may not hold similar views of God.

 This finding raises a related question: what types of congregations have more worshipers who believe God is actively involved in the world, or angered by human sin? Does a small congregation of highly educated individuals located on the east coast view God differently than a megachurch in the south?

 Findings from the 2008 U.S. Congregational Life Survey show a number of congregational traits are related to how many worshipers view God as actively involved in the world or angered by human sin.

 First, there is a strong education effect. Even when holding religious tradition, region, and the congregation’s theological and political stances constant, if the average level of education in a congregation is high, fewer worshipers will view God as actively involved or angered by human sin. The figure below illustrates this relationship.

 

If the average education level of a congregation is near the high school end of the spectrum, over 65 percent of the congregation will view God as actively involved in the world. Over 55 percent will view God as angry over human sin. However, if most worshipers have earned a graduate degree, the percent of congregants that view God as active or angered by human sin falls to close to 25 percent.

 How a congregation’s worshipers view the Bible matters, too. The following figure shows that as the percentage of people who believe the Bible should be read literally rises, the percentage of worshipers who view God as angered by human sin or actively involved in the world rises as well.

Here we see that beliefs about the word of God are strongly connected to beliefs about God in congregations.

 A final figure illustrates an additional finding. Congregations that involve a high number of worshipers in prayer, discussion, or Bible study groups tend to have more worshipers who hold each of these views of God. 

Measuring small group involvement shows us the level of interconnectedness of worshipers within a congregation. People involved in small groups do not just show up on Sunday and avoid interacting with those around them. Rather, they spend time outside of the Sunday worship service with fellow worshipers. As the figure above shows, congregations filled with individuals who are actively involved in each other’s lives tend to view God as actively involved in the world, and angered by human sin.

 Beyond education, beliefs about the Bible, and involvement in small groups, data from the 2008 U.S. Congregational Life Survey show the following as well:

•  Congregations that identify as “politically liberal” have fewer worshipers who view God as active or angered by human sin.
•  Larger congregations have more individuals who view God as actively involved in the world.
•  Congregations in the east and west regions of the United States have fewer worshipers who view God as angered by human sin compared to congregations in the south.

 When inspecting the religious mosaic of the United States, we find that views of God differ dramatically between and within congregations. Vital to these differences are the demographics, religious beliefs, and religious behavior of worshipers.

 At least for now, this means that the small congregation on the east coast has a considerably different image of God than the megachurch in the south.

Places of Promise: How location matters to congregations

by David Briggs

“Surely, the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.”

Genesis 28:16

Location, location, location is the maxim of many real estate professionals when it comes to putting a value on a house.

But when it comes to congregations, perhaps a better mantra would be ministry, ministry, ministry.

And replacing negative expectations with an openness to meet the spiritual needs of the community wherever the congregation is located.

“Many beliefs about the power of location are simply myths,” researchers Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce state in their book, “Places of Promise: Finding Strength in Your Congregation’s Location.” “Congregations are growing and can grow in all locations.”

In the high-water mark for some congregations in the 1950s and 1960s, there was the idea that if you “plop a church down in the right location, it will magically grow,” notes Woolever. Today, as many churches are losing members in a more secular culture, there is the temptation to blame the church’s location for the losses.

Yet what matters is not so much the location, Woolever says, “but what you are trying to do in that place.”

In analyzing data from the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, Woolever and Bruce found the one location factor related to numerical growth was if the congregation had spent more years at its current location. Whether a congregation was in the South or the West, a red or blue state, in a growing suburban community or a high-mobility urban community, was not related to growth.

Consider also these findings:

• Thirty-five percent of numerically declining congregations were located in growing-population areas.
• Twenty-four percent of “numerically plateaued” congregations were located in growing-population areas.
• Thirty-eight percent of numerically growing congregations were located in growing-population areas.

Many times, what congregations claim about ways their location is holding them back “is completely irrelevant,” says Woolever, the former director of the US CLS.

This does not mean some areas are not more difficult than others to have numerically growing or vital congregations. For example, congregations in rural communities with declining aging populations will find it tougher to attract new members.

Yet each location also offers unique strengths, Woolever and Bruce found. Rural communities, for example, do particularly well in areas such as providing meaningful worship, involving many worshipers, caring for children and youth and building a strong sense of belonging among members, all factors associated with growth. Congregations in economically distressed urban communities excel at sharing their faith with others.

Woolever and Bruce encourage congregations to get rid of the “negative scripts” that see their location as determining or limiting what they are able to accomplish in their community.

Instead, they encourage congregations to view their location as a God-given gift that suggests their church is “in this place at this time for a reason—God’s reason.”

When a congregation is viewed as a place of promise, religious communities can look to the future with a sense of hope that “allows for change and an openness to God’s work in the world,” the researchers state.

In practical terms, that could mean being open to new styles of worship or new programs that best serve the spiritual needs of people in the surrounding neighborhood, including the vital demographic of young adults too often missing from the pews.

The key to making congregations stronger? Identify the congregation’s strengths and prayerfully discern “what God is calling the congregation to be and do in this place,” state Woolever and Bruce.

“What are the unmet needs in this community, and what can our congregation do to meet those needs?” is a question that should be asked, Woolever says. “If you do that, your congregation’s location is not a liability, it’s a place of ministry.”

The devil is in the theology: Supernatural evil and religious commitment

by David Briggs

Americans find it is a lot easier to contemplate an eternal paradise than a place of everlasting damnation.

In the 2006 Faith Matters Survey, 49 percent of respondents said they were “absolutely sure” of the existence of Hell. Two-thirds of respondents said they were “absolutely sure” there is a heaven.

Ask people in the pews, and slightly less than four in five worshipers say they believe in Hell, while 94 percent say they believe in heaven, according to the 2008-2009 U.S. Congregational Life Survey.

But is something lost when only the more rewarding side of religious teaching is emphasized?

A new study suggests this may be the case.

Analyzing data from the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey, Baylor University researcher Brandon Martinez found a strong positive correlation between belief in supernatural evil and church attendance, tithing and sharing faith.

Believing in the devil, Hell and demons also appeared to be a powerful predictor of self-perceived religiosity, with the odds of considering oneself “very religious” being 32 percent greater for each step up a scale measuring belief in supernatural evil.

In an article in the latest issue of the Review of Religion Research – “Is Evil Good for Religion? – Martinez notes past research indicating that belief in divine punishment appears to be related to greater cooperation and less selfish behavior. Heaven and Hell, some researchers have said, allow people to be more certain of what to expect from God, and in turn what is expected of them.

“I argue that the belief in supernatural evil is a pivotal component in religious commitment. … The belief in supernatural evil should hinder the natural tendency to free-ride and produce a greater sense of devotion to one’s religion,” Martinez writes.

Both themes, the promise of heaven and the dangers of Hell, can be found throughout the Bible, and are emphasized in traditional Christian teaching.

So it should not be surprising that those who are the most religiously active are the most likely to believe in Satan.

Nearly nine in 10 respondents to the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey who reported attending services weekly or more said they “absolutely” believe the devil exists. Less than half of respondents who attend several times a year hold the same belief in Satan.

However, there are significant differences among religious groups.

In the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, 96 percent of conservative Protestant worshipers and 82 percent of Catholics said they believe in Hell. Just 64 percent of mainline Protestant worshipers said they believe in Hell.

The differences narrow significantly when it comes to heaven. Ninety-eight percent of conservative Protestants, 95 percent of Catholics and 87 percent of mainline Protestants reported believing in heaven.

The temptation is great to downplay Hell and the devil, particularly competing in a secular culture that idolizes immediate gratification. But delivering churchgoers from the concept of supernatural evil may tend to empty rather than fill the pews.

 

 

Make room at the table: Congregations and The Lord’s Supper

by David Briggs

“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.”

John 6:56   

Congregations hungering for spiritual community are finding answers in an ancient tradition: The Lord’s Supper.

Liturgical renewal movements and ecumenical gains lifting up Christian unity have led over the last half-century to more frequent celebrations of Communion.

Nearly four in five U.S. congregations share Communion in their largest worship service at least monthly, according to the 2008-2009 U.S. Congregational Life Survey.

And with good reason.

Next to worshiping or experiencing God, sharing in Holy Communion, the Eucharist or The Lord’s Supper was the most cited reason for why people attend services, the 2001US CLS found.

But there may be a significant cloud on the horizon. Generations of young people who have been less likely to sit in the pews or learn about the faith in Sunday School place less emphasis on the practice.

In the 2008-2009 US CLS survey, 55 percent of respondents ages 70 and over said sharing in Holy Communion, the Eucharist or The Lord’s Supper was one of the top three things they value most about the congregation. Just 31 percent of those younger than 30 placed the same value on The Lord’s Supper.

The roots of the tradition go back to The Last Supper, when Jesus in the Gospel of Luke takes a piece of bread, breaks it, and gives it to his disciples, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in memory of me."

Reformation-era controversies focusing on the meaning of the ritual extended in many cases to the frequency of celebrations. Some groups separating themselves from the Catholic practice of offering Holy Communion at nearly all services decided to share it quarterly or on even rarer occasions.

In recent decades, with movements to both recapture early worship practices and to emphasize Christian unity despite differing beliefs over whether the Communion host represents the real presence of Christ, several Protestant communities have moved to monthly and in some cases weekly celebrations of Communion.

Two-thirds of congregations share The Lord’s Supper often or always, the 2010 Faith Communities Today study found. Seventy percent of respondents to the February 2013 Evangelical Leaders Survey said their church serves Communion once a month.

While younger people do not appear to be embracing the practice with as much fervor, there are also reasons to believe celebrating The Lord’s Supper may be particularly appealing to newer generations. Many seek to experience a sense of wonder in worship as opposed to being passive recipients in liturgies.

 “It brings in a more experiential, touch-feel, symbolic dimension,” said David Roozen, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.

Overall, many of the essential features of the Lord’s Supper, a shared experience evoking a connection to the deity, also are associated with more spiritually vital congregations.

And, in a world where secular and religious demands compete for the limited time of their followers, Communion stands out.

The majority of people who go to church on Sunday want something that feels like religion, Roozen said.

“The Lord’s Supper is uniquely religious,” Roozen said. “You don’t get this at the Lion’s Club.”

 

‘Miracle’ of reaching young adults related to openness to change

by David Briggs

Sometimes, congregational leaders may be tempted to think it will take a miracle to reverse declining memberships as fewer young adults can be found in the pews.

It is not easy developing vital congregations in an age of economic uncertainty when religious observance is more of a choice than an obligation. There can be a tendency to hunker down and spend more energy on preservation than taking the risks necessary for growth.

Just a quarter of worshippers in the 2008-2009 U.S. Congregational Life Survey reported a sense of excitement about the congregation’s future, down from a third of respondents excited about the future of their house of worship in 2001. Just 30 percent of respondents to the 2008-2009 survey said they believe their congregations are already moving in new directions.

The real miracle may lie in the willingness of congregations to leave their comfort zones and implement changes that are welcoming to young adults and others in the community.

Yet there lies the path to vitality and growth, research indicates.

The congregational life survey has found that vital congregations are open to multiple ways to reach worshippers from young adult singles to young families to older worshippers. Cultivating an active laity open to welcoming and supporting newcomers can involve practices from planting new churches to offering multiple small groups to employing social media and new technology to offering more services with different worship styles.

And now a new report analyzing the 2010 Faith Communities Today study of more than 11,000 congregations lends more support for innovative ways to reach young adults. The profile by researchers Monte Sahlin of the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership and David Roozen of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research explores the characteristics of the mere 16 percent of those congregations where 21 percent or more of participants are ages 18 to 34.

A major part of what makes those congregations distinctive is an openness to change:

• Congregations that either grew or declined by more than 10 percent in the last decade were more likely to have large numbers of young adults than congregations that experienced modest growth or decline. “Does this suggest that there is something about relatively stable-state congregations that is least attractive to young adults?” Sahlin and Roozen asked.
• Congregations that offered many programs and activities were nearly twice as likely to have significant young adult participation as congregations with few or no programs.
• Religious communities organized in the past decade were more than three times as likely to have a significant number of young adults as congregations organized before 1976.
• Congregations that reported multiple uses of technology such as social media and websites were twice as likely to have a significant percentage of young adults as those that reported marginal use.

What has not changed is that spirituality is a key element of attracting people to congregations.

Congregations that indicated they place "quite a bit" or "a lot" of emphasis on spiritual practices such as prayer and Bible reading  were twice as likely to have a significant number of young adult participants as those who placed only "some" or "little" emphasis on such practices.  Congregations reporting high levels of spiritual vitality were three times as likely to have significant numbers of young adults as congregations with low spiritual vitality.

What the findings appear to show is that one size does not fit all when it comes to meeting the diverse spiritual needs of congregants.

For example, three-quarters of worshippers ages 65 and over in the US CLS survey said traditional hymns are one of their two favorite styles of music in worship; less than three in 10 worshippers ages 15 to 24 have similar preferences.

It may take a miracle, but there is no magic path to congregational vitality, Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce of the congregational life survey note in their book “Places of Promise: Finding Strength in Your Congregation’s Location.”

Citing the distinction made by Beverly Prestwood-Taylor and Karen Nell Smith of the Brookfield Institute, Woolever and Bruce say congregation members place their faith in magic when they are not willing to change, take no risks and are disappointed when nothing happens.

However, those who place their faith in miracles:

• Are realistic about the facts.
• Are willing to take risks and make sacrifices.
• Open their hearts, seeking to know the change to which God is calling us.
• Discover that God “is with us in the risk.”

Do you believe in miracles?

 

Do Fellow Worshipers Hold Similar Views of God?

 

By: Andrew Whitehead

Recently the United States Postal Service pulled a planned ad campaign before it ever made it to many local post offices. The offending slogan? “In Priority We Trust.” Apparently, they received backlash for its close approximation to the sacred American motto, “In God We Trust.”

 For many in the United States, belief in God is a necessary component of what it means to be American. Our Declaration of Independence references the Creator, our money reminds us of where we place our trust, and our politicians invoke God’s blessing after every major speech.

 It is not surprising, therefore, to find that a majority of Americans believe in God. The 2012 General Social Survey, the largest and most representative survey of Americans, reports that over 90 percent believe in at least some form of a higher power.

 This finding begs the question: While belief in a God or a higher power is widespread, what do people imagine God to be like? When people say, “God bless you,” does their picture of God differ from yours?

 Sociologists Paul Froese and Christopher Bader explore this puzzle in their 2010 book America’s Four Gods: What We Say about God – and What That Says About Us. Using a national random sample of Americans they find that there is considerable variation in what Americans believe God looks like. Froese and Bader tell us that, yes, the person saying “God bless you” in the supermarket probably does not view God in the same way you do.

 But what about the people in the pews? Data from the 2008-09 U.S. Congregational Life Survey tells us that even within our congregations there appears to be considerable variation in how Americans view God.

 In an average congregation in the United States almost three-quarters of worshipers view God as actively involved in world affairs. This leaves 25 percent who do not view God as actively involved. So, when a congregant who believes God is actively involved in the world shakes hands with three other people on Sunday morning, odds are one of those people holds an opposite view of God’s involvement in the world.

 There is even more variation regarding belief that God is angered by human sin. In an average congregation, less than two-thirds of worshipers view God as angry at human sin, leaving over 35 percent of the average congregation disagreeing with that view of God.

 These graphs demonstrate the considerable variation in views of the divine within American congregations. Bars at either end of the horizontal axis represent widespread agreement within congregations concerning each image of God, with bars in the middle representing more disagreement. The height of each bar represents more congregations with a particular degree of agreement among worshipers. 

 

We find that there are very few congregations with greater than 90 percent agreement among worshipers that God is either active in the world (or not), or judgmental of it (or not). Most congregations have between 70 percent and 80 percent agreement that God is actively involved in world affairs, with 60 percent to 70 percent agreement that God is angered by human sin.

 While pastors and religious leaders may be happy to hear that most of those within their congregations still believe in God, it might be a bit unsettling to realize that what that God looks like can vary from person to person.

 Such variation, found even within religious communities, brings new perspective to the meaning of “In God We Trust,” “God Bless America,” and “God Bless You” during Sunday morning conversations. Clergy and worshipers who assume those next to them hold an identical picture of God may elicit a passionate reaction.

 Just ask the Postal Service.