Keeping the Faithful: Patterns of Membership Retention in the Christian Reformed Church
Why do persons stay members of a conservative Calvinist denomination? Conservative Calvinism is a very demanding meaning system in North America; one that should find a modern, post-industrial society rather inhospitable. The fact that it does have little appeal to those who were not raised with it...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
1980
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| In: |
Sociological analysis
Year: 1980, Volume: 41, Issue: 3, Pages: 259-264 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Why do persons stay members of a conservative Calvinist denomination? Conservative Calvinism is a very demanding meaning system in North America; one that should find a modern, post-industrial society rather inhospitable. The fact that it does have little appeal to those who were not raised with it suggests that this contention is true. The question becomes, how are members retained in this uncongenial atmosphere full of alternative, perhaps more appealing, less demanding meaning systems. This analysis of a survey of former and present members of the Christian Reformed Church indicates that persons leave the CRC because they find the CRC community too demanding, constricting, and intolerant. Those who stayed members of the CRC cited commitment to its conservative Calvinist theology and worship as their primary reasons for continuing. They also mentioned the positive importance of the CRC community to them. |
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| ISSN: | 2325-7873 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Sociological analysis
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/3710402 |