StudyingCongregations.Org Launches Online Resource for Seminarians and Scholars
StudyingCongregations.org announces the launch of a new website that will be a premier online resource for researchers, ministers, and scholars working to understand congregations and religious communities today. The site compiles resources, toolkits, the latest congregational research from sociologists and practical theologians, and insights from leading experts in the field.
“This website is a gateway to accessible tools for gathering information and insightful ways to think about congregational life,” said Nancy Ammerman, project director of StudyingCongregations.org and professor of sociology of religion at Boston University. “If you’ve used our book, Studying Congregations: A New Handbook, in the past, I think you’ll like this new site.”
Four frames provide a research-based framework for analyzing a congregation: 1) a congregation’s social environment; 2) its culture; 3) its strengths and gifts; and 4) its formal and informal processes. A toolkit, created especially for seminarians and religious leaders, includes detailed guidance on using surveys to understand your congregation, using U.S. census statistics for demographic data, digging through archives and historical documents, interviewing congregants to understand how the organization works, employing “visual research methods,” and more.
The site’s “Ask an Expert” series explores in-depth analysis of big questions and conversations about congregations today, probing questions such as 6 Ways to Keep Congregational Conflicts Constructive, and “The Reality Behind ‘Spiritual But Not Religious.’” There is also a searchable database of published research on congregational life.
Timothy Snyder, Managing Director at StudyingCongregations.org, said, “The goal of StudyingCongregations.org is to make social science research methods accessible to a wide range of people: seminary students starting contextual education placements, pastors or religious leaders joining a new congregation, faith communities working through transitions, and people starting new churches and ministries.”
StudyingCongregations.org is a project of the Congregational Studies Team, an informal collaboration of scholars and researchers who share an interest in the disciplined study of congregations. Funding for the StudyingCongregations.org project is generously provided by The Lilly Endowment, Inc.