Mapping Christian Outreach: A Multiple Correspondence Analysis of Centrifugal U.S.-based Protestant Mission Agency Activities

• In Event: 341 - Section on Sociology of Religion Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 10. Religion: Methodological Approaches

Abstract

Systematic research on non-traditional religious organizations that are neither churches nor denominations is still in its early stages. While efforts have been made to develop a better understanding of what these organizations do and how these activities relate to one another, most of the proffered typologies have yet to be tested empirically, remaining only as theoretical conceptualizations with limited use in social science research. My study contributes to a better understanding of organized religious activism by adapting and testing a typology of religious nonprofit activity, first proposed by Scheitle (2010), on new data about U.S.-based Protestant mission agencies with overseas ministries. My results suggest that the distinction between activities based on the extent of their focus on the communication of the Christian Gospel message is empirically supported, and activity sectors tend to cluster together along this scale as part of agencies’ established repertoires of religious activism. In addition, the results also suggest that, at least amongst transnationally-active religious organizations, agencies will also tend to differ based on whether their activities require more or less international presence in the various countries in which these agencies operate. I conclude with a discussion of how this framework can be used in future research on religious organizations.

Author

• Jared Bok, Emory University