Topic: Sociology
Mark Chaves: What's the "right" sized staff?
Can you hire fewer people per worshiper the bigger your congregation is?
Mark Chaves: why are there (still!) so few women clergy?
Only about 5% of American churchgoers attend a congregation led by a woman. The year, in case you're checking, is 2009.
Gerardo Marti: Sociologists need to account for evangelicals' vitality
Many sociologists have reviled Christianity. More recently some have defended their version of it. It remains to account for the spiritual vitality of some churches—namely evangelical ones.
Mark Chaves: More worship is more informal
More worship is more informal than even just a few years ago, according to Mark Chaves and the National Congregations Study.
Mark Chaves: American politics has become increasingly polarized. Has theology?
Since debates homosexuality began to dominate the church landscape, more congregations have called themselves “conservative” and fewer are “in the middle.”
Mark Chaves: Declining confidence in religious institutions
Do religious institutions face a decline in public confidence? Well, yes, but the long view provides some nuance.
Mark Chaves: What congregations are more political?
You might think white conservative Protestants are more political than black or mainline Protestants or Catholics. You’d be wrong.
Mark Chaves: We’re fed up with church leaders’ political involvement
Disapproval of religious leaders' political activism has increased exponentially.
Mark Chaves: Gender, lay leadership and fancy rhetorical footwork
'Okay, you can give a talk from the pulpit -- but no preaching.'
Gerardo Marti: Our “tradition” is often a previous era’s cultural accommodation
Traditioned innovation will always have familiar elements. But let us all admit that innovation in church life is always taking place.
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