‘Give the Grant Money to the Youth’: From Youth Departure to Belonging in the Ethnic Church

This paper uses sociological theories of religious change to explain findings from action research on intergenerational relations at two ethnic churches in the U.S. At the outset of our study, immigrant adults felt threatened that younger congregants preferred non-ethnic churches. When these churche...

Descrizione completa

Salvato in:  
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori: Wu, Derek (Autore) ; Raffety, Erin (Autore)
Tipo di documento: Elettronico Articolo
Lingua:Inglese
Verificare la disponibilità: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Pubblicazione: 2023
In: Ecclesial practices
Anno: 2023, Volume: 10, Fascicolo: 2, Pagine: 182-201
Altre parole chiave:B Intergenerational relations
B Youth Ministry
B Action Research
B immigrant youth
B ethnic church
Accesso online: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Descrizione
Riepilogo:This paper uses sociological theories of religious change to explain findings from action research on intergenerational relations at two ethnic churches in the U.S. At the outset of our study, immigrant adults felt threatened that younger congregants preferred non-ethnic churches. When these churches used research funds to support youth development and outreach programs, they experienced intergenerational congregational belonging. We ask, do existing sociological theories sufficiently explain how these ethnic churches responded to the ecclesial problem of youth departure? Can we use action research to advance theories of how youth practice belonging within ethnic churches? We show how action research produced anomalous cases of intergenerational partnership that begs the integration of market-based and neo-institutional theories of religious change. We argue that future action research targeting youth ministries and civic activism in ethnic churches can explain how American religion is changing through the immigrant youth demographic.
ISSN:2214-4471
Comprende:Enthalten in: Ecclesial practices
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/22144471-bja10052