The Children Shall Lead Us: The Relationship Between the U.S. Birthrate and Episcopal Church Membership
The Episcopal Church's rise and fall in membership closely parallels the rise and fall in the U.S. birthrate, and is statistically correlated to a significant degree. This historical study tested statistical correlation between birthrate and Episcopal Church membership, Sunday School enrollment...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Soc.
1985
|
| In: |
Historical magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church
Year: 1985, Volume: 54, Issue: 3, Pages: 253-260 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The Episcopal Church's rise and fall in membership closely parallels the rise and fall in the U.S. birthrate, and is statistically correlated to a significant degree. This historical study tested statistical correlation between birthrate and Episcopal Church membership, Sunday School enrollment, and baptisms by zero through ten year lags from 1950-1982. The birthrate is most closely related to total membership seven years later lag (.89); to Sunday School enrollment four years later (.90) and to baptisms one year later (.91). This high degree of correlation (1.0 is a perfect statistical correlation) is significant, although it does not "prove" a causal relationship between birthrates and Episcopal Church statistics. It does suggest that birthrate is the most verifiable factor which can be isolated to explain the rise and fall in Episcopal Church membership between 1950 and 1982. Other explanations are open to debate. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2377-5289 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Historical magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church
|