This study provides new insights on the state of participation in a contemporary ethnoreligious group organization, the Greek Orthodox Church. I examine the ethnoreligious identities and practices of participants who were diverse along lines of church activity, gender, age, generational status, marital status, ancestry, and even religion in two Pittsburgh-area churches. Data were collected through one-on-one in-depth interviews as well as participant observation within the churches organizations to capture the attitudes and experiences of the Greek Orthodox Church participant and to understand the reasons for participation amidst the predominant white ethnic climate of symbolic ethnicity. Two major themes emerged from the data. First, unmarried Greek Orthodox Americans in these organizations definitely considered how the ethnic/religious background of their chosen mate would impact their own, as well as their childrens, future in the church. Second, participants of varying generational statuses referenced different sources of attraction to the churchs activities: earlier generation (first and second) participants commonly identified the ethnic and ethnoreligious appeal of the church, while later generation (third) and convert participants acknowledged a primarily religious connection to the church. These findings suggest that theories of assimilation and symbolic ethnicity, which predict a decline in ethnic adherence, may not apply to ethnic groups who also share an exclusive religion. On the contrary, the two organizations studied here are gaining membership as Greek Orthodox Americans increasingly marry outside their ethnicity/religion but bring in their convert spouses to the organizations. Given their changing social composition, however, these churches are facing a crucial issue for their future: whether to maintain the current balance of religious and ethnic activity or to change the focus of activities to cater to the growing interest in religious-based activity.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04112007-103230 |
| Date | 19 September 2007 |
| Creators | Alex, Christine |
| Contributors | Kathleen Blee, Lisa D. Brush, Edward Muller, Peggy Lovell |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04112007-103230/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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