Moral and Civic Formation in Evangelical Protestant Schools

• In Event: 1580 - Section on Sociology of Religion Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 01. Evangelicals and Evangelicalism

Abstract

How do religious organizations influence the moral and civic formation of youth? This paper investigates the organizational culture and practices of evangelical Protestant high schools in the U.S. Based on qualitative interviews and field observations, the EP schools were found to have a central focus on holistic student formation and a relatively tight-knit school community that provided an important collective identity, a set of commitments for students, and models of self-sacrifice and care for the needs of others, which were embodied in the evangelical teacher role. The evangelical focus on practical, everyday faith channeled the individual faith relationship with God in a communal direction through daily obligations to others and opportunities for expressing faith through sacrificial actions. The intensity of the school community put potentially individualistic spiritual growth—a central mission focus of the schools— in the context of communal relations of accountability. The meaning of evangelicalism was learned through doing, which was strongly oriented to individual helping behaviors. However, student socialization in evangelical schools was not strongly oriented to civic engagement.

Author

• David Sikkink, University of Notre Dame