Faith Communities Today:

2021 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 198-211
Author(s):  
David Roozen
Keyword(s):  
Faith Communities ◽  
Research Association ◽  
Church Member ◽  
Congregational Development ◽  
Congregational Studies ◽  
National Surveys ◽  
Regular Cycle ◽  
Faith Traditions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Unique Experience

The Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership is the sponsor of the Faith Communities Today series of national surveys of American congregations. It started out as a conversation about “church” member surveys at the 1995 annual meeting of the Religious Research Association and by 2000 had grown into a multi-faith coalition of 27 denominations and faith traditions that, assisted with matching funds from the Lilly Endowment, conducted the largest national survey of American congregations ever undertaken, as a research-based resource for congregational development. In 2003 the partnership became a self-sustaining program of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, and established a regular cycle of decadal and mid-decadal such surveys, with an occasional qualitative study sprinkled in, which has continued to this day. This article tells the history of how this unique experience of practical ecclesiology came to be, how it evolved, and what it has produced.

Martin Luther and the Rise of World Christianities

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Erling
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Faith Communities ◽  
The West ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Faith Traditions ◽  
Theological Foundations ◽  
History Of ◽  
Important Input ◽  
And Migration

Scholars use the concept of World Christianity both to account for the growth of Christianity beyond Western Christendom and to recognize the changing map of vitality and leadership within Christian churches beyond the European and North American context. Scholars who use this concept have also committed to documenting the history of all of the churches around the world, making special efforts thereby not only to note the contributions of founders and missionary agencies, but also to investigate the important input of local teachers, evangelists, and pastors, so that a more inclusive history may be made available to these faith communities for their own self-understanding and direction. The spread of Christianity beyond the borders of Europe, a subject once envisioned by Kenneth Latourette as the result of the great century of missionary advance, cannot be understood solely as the accomplishment of the Protestant and Roman Catholic missionaries sent from western Europe and North America. Through all the centuries of Christian expansion and migration, scholars need to document and explain not only the theological foundations of various faith traditions, but also how multiple Christianities have adapted and thrived and become rooted in multiple cultural contexts, and exhibit a special vibrancy today in the postcolonial, post-missionary churches in Africa and Asia. Luther’s influence on the rise of World Christianities is an important element in the vitality of contemporary churches in Africa and Asia, but his theological contribution to Christianity beyond the West awaits a fuller articulation and application to the questions and concerns of these emerging centers of Christianity.

Studying the Writings as Postexilic Literature and Canon

2018 ◽  
pp. xx-16
Author(s):  
Donn F. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Faith Communities ◽  
The Third ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Scholarship

This chapter argues for the import and value of studying the Writings, the third canonical division of the Hebrew Bible. Special attention is given to the postexilic background of the Writings and the history of scholarship devoted to this literature as canon in the last fifty years. The challenges of studying this division are named and discussed, including the following: diversity and difference within the corpus; the puzzle of its structure; the use of many methods to evaluate and articulate its characteristics and message; its relationship to Torah and Prophets; and the much debated history of canonization. The significance of studying the Writings for both scholars and the faith communities that use them as scripture is a constant theme.

God is Doing a New Thing in the ELCA: Trends from the FACT Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-266
Author(s):  
Deborah L. Coe ◽  
Brad Petersen
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Faith Communities ◽  
Congregational Studies ◽  
Lutheran Church ◽  
The Past ◽  
Evangelical Lutheran Church ◽  
Protestant Denominations ◽  
Evangelical Lutheran ◽  
The Church

For decades, mainline Protestant denominations in the United States have experienced steady membership declines. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is no different, and our research team has been exploring this topic for years. Faith Communities Today (FACT) is an interfaith project consisting of a series of surveys conducted by the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership, of which the ELCA is a long-standing member. In this article, we examine data collected from the three decennial FACT surveys to discern where, despite declining membership, God is, to quote the prophet Isaiah, “doing a new thing.” We find that over the past twenty years, the typical ELCA congregation has had a gradually increasing: sense of vitality, belief that it is financially healthy, desire to become more diverse, willingness to call women to serve as pastors, openness to change, and clarity of mission and purpose. Because there are multiple possible explanations for these positive trends, we recommend approaching such trend lines cautiously, viewing them through a critical-thinking lens. Even though there is an increased perception of congregational well-being, overall finances and the number of people involved in the church continue to decline. There is still much work to be done.

Climate, Catastrophe, and Faith

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Remote Memory ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Religion And Spirituality ◽  
Mass Migration ◽  
Faith Traditions ◽  
History Of Religions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Social Upheaval ◽  
Climate Crisis

Repeatedly through history, the world has been subject to severe climate-driven shocks, which have caused famine, disease, violence, social upheaval, and mass migration. Commonly, such episodes have been understood in religious terms, through the language of apocalypse, millennium, and Judgment. Often too, such eras have sparked far-reaching changes in the nature of religion and spirituality. Depending on the circumstances, the response to climatic visitations might include explosions in religious passion and commitment; the stirring of mystical and apocalyptic expectations; waves of religious scapegoating and persecution; or the spawning of new religious movements and revivals. In many cases, such responses have had lasting impacts, to the point of fundamentally reshaping particular faith traditions. From those eras have emerged passionate sects—some political and theocratic, some revivalistic and enthusiastic, others millenarian and subversive. The movements and ideas emerging from such conditions might last for many decades and become a familiar part of the religious landscape, although with their origins in particular moments of crisis increasingly consigned to remote memory. By stirring conflicts and provoking persecutions that defined themselves in religious terms, such eras have redrawn the world’s religious maps and created the global concentrations of believers as we know them today. Whether we are looking at the Christian tradition or at Jews, Muslims, or Buddhists, the history of religions must take account of this climate dimension. In the modern world, it is very likely that the growing climate crisis will likely have a comparable religious impact across much of the global South.

scholarly journals The influence of the traditions of eastern art on the painting of Michael Guyda

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Min
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
General Structure ◽  
Deep Penetration ◽  
Chinese Painting ◽  
Artistic Style ◽  
History Of ◽  
Unique Experience ◽  
History Of Culture ◽  
High Standards ◽  
Historical Comparative

The purpose of the article. To analyze the work of Ukrainian painter Mykhailo Huida in the context of cultural integrations of China and Ukraine in the last decades of the XX - beginning of the XXI century. as an expression of trends in contemporary art. Methodology. General scientific research methods, chronological and historical-comparative, historical-biographical, figurative-stylistic, semantic, analysis are applied. Theoretical and art terminological structures are used. The scientific novelty lies in elucidating the peculiarities of Mykhailo Huida's work and the formation of the meaningful, compositional, stylistic and aesthetic beginnings of his painting in the context of cultural integrations of China and Ukraine in the last decades of the XX - early XXI centuries. Conclusions. The peculiarities of the creative path of the Ukrainian painter Mykhailo Huida, his unique experience of work in China, which became the basis for the creation of the artist's personal artistic style, are analyzed. The study of works of art by Mikhail Guida revealed the consistent formation of features and peculiarities of his painting over the decades as a result of: a) acquaintance with the art of the East in Japan; b) stay in China, including among Chinese cultural and artistic figures; c) study the history of culture and art of China; d) deep penetration into the world of China through understanding of its nature, customs, traditions due to travel, stay in different provinces of the country, teaching in Chinese universities. The figurative and artistic content of his works reveals an innovative combination of European, including Ukrainian, and Chinese stylistics, artistic means and various linguistic methods of traditional Chinese painting. It is also important for the artist to comprehend the semantic foundations of Chinese traditional and modern art, which turned out to be in agreement with Mikhail Guidi as a person. It was found that the imagery of Mikhail Guida's painting has an internal form that embodies the image in the general structure of the subject-spiritual world. It is concluded that the involvement of the traditions of Chinese and Ukrainian art in a single work involves a philosophical understanding of the artistic heritage of both countries and their transformation into modern forms. The artist's creative path, discovering the techniques of painting in the East, enriched and elevated his work to exceptionally high standards.

Prescriptions and Proscriptions

2020 ◽  
pp. 141-161
Author(s):  
Jeff Levin
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Special Reference ◽  
Clinical Setting ◽  
Medical Decision ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Medical Decisions ◽  
Faith Traditions ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Life Course

A history of the important contributions of religious and theological scholars to the birth and growth of the field of medical ethics. Religious values influence medical decision-making in the clinical setting and across the life course for many controversial issues, such as abortion and euthanasia. However, conclusions regarding those procedures or courses of action that are proscribed (forbidden or discouraged) or prescribed (mandated or recommended) by respective religious codes (e.g., halachah, or Jewish law) often differ across and among Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish bioethicists and those of other faith traditions. The work of leading scholars in this field is discussed, with special reference to difficult medical decisions at the beginning and end of life.

scholarly journals A brief history of the British Neuroscience Association

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 239821281879924
Author(s):  
Steven P. Rose ◽  
Yvonne S. Allen ◽  
Ian M. Varndell
Keyword(s):  
Life Science ◽  
Brain Research ◽  
Discussion Group ◽  
Professional Society ◽  
Research Association ◽  
Neuroscience Research ◽  
History Of ◽  
Key Events ◽  
The Brain

As the British Neuroscience Association commemorates 50 years of existence in 2018, this article recalls its founding as a discussion group, its establishment as the Brain Research Association, its transition to a professional society encompassing all aspects of neuroscience research, both clinical and non-clinical, and its re-branding as the British Neuroscience Association in the late 1990s. Neuroscience as a branch of life science has expanded hugely in the last 25 years and the British Neuroscience Association has adapted, frequently working with partner societies, to serve as an interdisciplinary hub for professionals working in this exciting and crucial field. The authors have attempted to highlight some key events in the Association’s history and acknowledge the contributions made by many people over half a century.

American Parishes

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Racial Diversity ◽  
Sociology Of Religion ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Congregational Studies ◽  
American Catholicism ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sociological Studies ◽  
Relationship Of

Parishes are the missing middle in studies of American Catholicism. Between individual Catholics and a global institution, the thousands of local parishes are where Catholicism gets remade. American Parishes showcases what social forces shape parishes, what parishes do, how they do it, and what this says about the future of Catholicism in the United States. Expounding an embedded field approach, this book displays the forces currently reshaping American parishes. It draws from sociology of religion, culture, organizations, and race to illuminate basic parish processes—like leadership and education—and ongoing parish struggles—like conflict and multiculturalism. American Parishes brings together contemporary data, methods, and questions to establish a sociological reengagement with Catholic parishes and a Catholic reengagement with sociological analysis. This book highlights how community, geography, and authority intersect within parishes. It illuminates and analyzes how growing racial diversity, an aging religious population, and neighborhood change influence the inner workings of parishes. Five parts explore thematic topics: (1) seeing parishes with a sociological lens; (2) parish trends; (3) race, class, and diversity in parish life; (4) young Catholics in (and out) of parishes; and (5) the practice and future of a sociology of Catholic parishes. Contributors explore the history of sociological studies on parishes; consider parish research vis-à-vis the larger field of congregational studies; empirically examine parishes using multiple methods; highlight parish diversity and particularity; explore cultural and identity production within parishes; consider the tenuous relationship of younger Catholics to parishes; and provide direction for future sociological research on parishes.

scholarly journals VERHOVSKIY AND HIS METHODICAL HERITAGE: “СHEMICAL ALPHABET”

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 28-37
Author(s):  
Sergei Teleshov ◽  
Elena Teleshova
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Teaching Methodology ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Chemistry Teaching ◽  
History Of Chemistry ◽  
History Teaching ◽  
History Of ◽  
Form Design ◽  
Unique Experience ◽  
Chemical Experiment

This article plunges us into the history of chemistry teaching methods - one of the most interesting methodological sciences. This paper focuses on a methodical review of the most, perhaps, the famous Russian and productive practitioner. Vadim Verhovskiy known for his books and instruments created by him, and his famous «Techniques and methods of chemi-cal experiment». This article briefly describes the didactic activity of the largest Russian prac-titioner of the first half of the twentieth century. He was a leading expert in the theory and methodology of school chemical experiment. He also was the author of a workbook, school textbooks, books to read, various means of visibility: models and instruments. «Сhemical alphabet», which he created in 1927, allows students in visual form design formula of various classes of substances. This «Alphabet» and guidelines for it, made specifically for students can promptly be consciously formulas of substances and write the equations of chemical re-actions. His advice and experience, we can actively and usefully applied in working with con-temporary students. The unique experience should not be lost. It was to be hoped that the methodical heritage of V. Verhovskiy will be in demand also in the 21st century too. Key words: chemical alphabet, history teaching methodology, learning tools, Verhovskiy.

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