The current study sought set to replicate and extend previous findings regarding Norris and Inglehart’s (2004) “Secure Society Theory” (SST) of religiosity, which states that religiosity varies as a function of the extent to which one feels secure in their environment. However, the relationship between individual perceptions of societal security—as opposed to national indicators—and religiosity has yet to be tested. The current study addressed this by analyzing data from the General Social Survey, supplemented by FBI and U.S. Census data. Results indicated that the extent to which one feels safe walking around their neighborhood at night is a significant predictor of religiosity, even when crime rate, poverty rate, age, sex, and race are also considered. Additionally, time series analyses of data from 1980 to 2012 with a lag of 10 years provided partial support for SST, with neighborhood fear and poverty significantly predicting future religiosity. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Thesis (B.A.)--Bi-College (Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges) Dept. of East Asian Studies, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

This study has the principle goal of showing that Christian institutions and practices are powerful forces for social management within the Tongan community, and, more precisely, that congregations are a primary means for facilitating social control, cooperation, competition, and conflict management. My ethnographic research, including discourse analysis, reveals the distinct nature of conflict management in a range of situations within the congregation and community. Comparison of a number of congregations of different denominational affiliation exposes the factionalization as well as the unification within and among congregations. The study of conflict management processes reveals that congregations are the primary institutional social force in Tongan communities are the primary means for organizing labor, distributing resources, and delegating responsibility for a wide range of activities. Congregations' management of conflicts engenders the expression of opposing beliefs and viewpoints within and between congregations, fuels an ongoing process of congregational identity, and furthers the means by which religious groups are agents of cultural transformation in regard to definitions of self, family, kin group, and community.

<p>Church leaders have historically used attendance and membership as indicators of church health and leader effectiveness, yet church attendance in America is declining. 131 senior ministers in mainline Churches of Christ in the state of Texas participated in an ex post facto study to explore the relationship between the leadership styles of senior ministers (IV) including, transformational, transactional, and passive avoidant leader styles, measured by Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and church attendance (DV) patterns, including declining, static, or growing congregations between 2009 and 2012. The findings show that all three MLQ leader styles are present in declining, static, and growing churches. The data suggests there is no relationship between leader style and church growth trends. Churches declined, remained static, or grew with each leader style. The study indicates that senior ministers in Churches of Christ in the state of Texas demonstrate transformational leader behaviors. However, transformational leader styles may not be influencing church growth as measured by attendance more significantly than transactional or passive avoidant leader styles. Because the study did not find a statistically significant difference in church growth patterns for the three leadership styles, this suggests there may be other factors at work that are influencing church growth in Churches of Christ. </p>

<p> Catholic colleges and universities in America have significantly changed philosophically, demographically, legally, and financially during the past 5 decades. Since the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council in 1965, there has been considerable focus on attempting to accurately describe the Catholic identity for institutions affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Called to embrace the modern world, Catholic institutions of higher learning have been challenged to retain their distinctiveness even as they have become more closely aligned with secular institutions within the academy. Because of this convergence of institutional similarities, how does a potential student come to understand institutional Catholic identity during the search process? With over 230 Catholic degree-granting institutions to choose from in the United States alone, the task of determining a &ldquo;best-fit&rdquo; for the student can be challenging. It is important to have a framework for independently determining the strength of institutional Catholicity for a student seeking a uniquely Catholic undergraduate experience.</p><p> Specifically, this research identifies a set of 15 signal features for identification of a distinctively Roman Catholic institution of higher education within a framework for understanding institutional positioning with respect to the Roman Catholic Church from an external, or off-campus, perspective. In addition to the exploration of public documentation and the campus environment, select faculty and student leaders were interviewed at &ldquo;Holy Catholic College&rdquo; (a pseudonym) to understand their perspectives on the strength of Catholicity of their particular institution in the development of the framework and associated signal features.</p>

<p> The Church of the Nazarene asserts that homosexuality is a perversion of human sexuality, and that homosexual acts are sinful and subject to the wrath of God. The denomination also states that all people should be treated with dignity, grace, and holy love&mdash;regardless of sexual orientation&mdash;while firmly maintaining its position that a &ldquo;homosexual lifestyle&rdquo; is sinful and contrary to scripture. Nazarene clergy experience a tension between the denomination&rsquo;s position on homosexuality and ministering to LGBT people. This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of thirteen Nazarene clergy responses to homosexuality and their interactions with LGBT people. The resulting themes offer implications for Nazarene clergy, the Church of the Nazarene, LGBT people, counselor educators, and clinical practitioners.</p>

<p>The purpose of this ministry project was to help 1^st United Methodist Church of Glassboro, NJ connect with their community. The intent was to strengthen the outreach and hospitality ministry in the church in such a way that it became a part of the church&rsquo;s DNA. The goal was to set up a process that was an integral part of all decisions in the church and would be used to connect with the community. </p><p> The project proved that community could be taught and nurtured. It also helped show the importance that scripture places on community. We used sermons, bible study, teaching, and projects to find ways to engage with each other and the community around us. During the project, attention was taken to involve every aspect of the church and to encourage the church to participate in community building ways. </p>

<p> While the reform of Catholic liturgy that followed the Second Vatican Council by no means rejected Latin as a language of liturgical celebration, the Latin Mass quickly became the province of traditionalist groups that refused to accept the revised Order of Mass and offered the pre-conciliar Tridentine Mass in defiance of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. Nevertheless, there have always been some Catholics who either obtained permission to celebrate the Tridentine Mass or found celebrations of the post-conciliar Mass in Latin that maintained certain practices associated with the pre-conciliar Mass. This dissertation focuses on this latter group of Latin Mass Catholics, who have remained within the bounds of the institutional church and who, since 2007, have had permission to celebrate the Tridentine Mass as an &ldquo;extraordinary form&rdquo; of the Mass of the Roman Rite.</p><p> In particular, this study seeks a better understanding of the motives of contemporary Latin Mass Catholics in America. Critics sometimes view attachment to the Latin Mass as an example of modern Catholicism&rsquo;s still incomplete liberation from &ldquo;dead ritual.&rdquo; Supporters, on the other hand, often valorize the same attachment as a sign of resurgent interest in &ldquo;the sacred&rdquo; following Vatican II&rsquo;s alleged desacralization of the liturgy. As an alternative to both of these positions, this study explains adherence to the Latin Mass as the embodiment of one particular approach to the formation of an &ldquo;authentic&rdquo; human subject of liturgical prayer. Personal sincerity and continuity with tradition are both essential to how Latin Mass Catholics evaluate authenticity in liturgical prayer and cultivate authenticity in their own selves. In practice, these modes of authentication are held together by an acquired <i>habitus</i> of &ldquo;reverence.&rdquo; </p><p> An ethnographic account of contemporary adherence to the Latin Mass fleshes out the particular practices associated with this inculcation of reverence. Fieldwork in four Latin Mass communities and interviews with Latin Mass adherents reveal the viability of this approach to liturgical formation. It is argued that the liturgical reform and adherence to the Latin Mass can provide complementary insights into the formation of an authentic human subject of liturgical prayer in the modern world.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.). / Written for the Dept. of History. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/07/24). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Div.)--Emmanuel School of Religion, Johnson City, Tennessee, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-176).