Church Planting Movements and Young Middle-Class Christians: Complicating the Secularization Debate

• In Event: 3184 - Section on Sociology of Culture Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 15. Culture, Cohesion, and Community

Abstract

While surveys of Christians in America show an increase in those who identify as "unaffiliated" or "questioning," more qualitative studies are needed to determine why people stay in church and why some groups show increased membership. Specifically, this study looks at the religious behavior of individuals who participate in forming or “planting” new church communities despite being part of the cohort that most often leaves church altogether. These young, white, middle class adults experience dissatisfaction with established Christianity but unlike many of their peers who choose to eschew organized religion, they opt instead to address their discontent by becoming more not less involved in church community. This study takes a qualitative look at a neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago where several new church “plants” have recently been formed. This study uses in-depth interviews and participant observation to understand the benefits people receive and the sacrifices they make in order to be part of these "planted" churches and how these churches form, recruit members, and interact with the neighborhoods around them. These findings further confirm as others have suggested that research needs to go beyond understanding if religious adherence is up or down in the U.S. and focus instead on what religious participation and commitment looks like in various people’s lives. The religious commitment of these church planters is not merely moral or based in tradition. Rather it is a practical response to social, emotional, and cultural needs. These new church planters do not see their religious efforts as primarily for making converts or gentrifying neighborhoods. Instead, these new church communities represent an attempt to create new social opportunities and individual meaning.

Author

• Libby Trudeau, University of Notre Dame