A Wolf Amongst the Sheep: A Sociological Approach to Understanding the German Church Struggle

Researchers pursuing the Kirchenkampf, Church Struggle, have persistently concentrated on anti-Semitism to explicate why the Protestant Churches failed at stopping the Holocaust. Former studies indicate that the Protestant Churches were ineffective at limiting the Nazi regime Essentially, this failure was accredited to the following: anti-Semitism (both past and modern), post-war resentment, common enemies or shared values between the regime and the Protestant Churches (including, Communists, Bolsheviks, Jews, and the secularism/liberalism of the Weimar Republic), and a strongly ingrained nationalism. Despite the facts that the validity of this past research has been supported numerous times over, this research observes features of why the Protestant Churches failed from a structural perspective. The Mainstream Protestant Churches were a bureaucracy when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime took control. This study emphasizes that the organizational structures of the Protestant Churches were perhaps the most crucial cause of the Protestant Churches’ inability to sufficiently bind the Nazi regime’s tactics

“Does The Church Really Care?”: The Indigenous Policies of the Anglican, Presbyterian, and United Churches of Canada, 1946-1990

Abstract This dissertation analyzes the Indigenous policies of the Anglican, Presbyterian, and United Churches of Canada from 1946 to 1990. In 1951, upon examination of its Indigenous policies, the federal government’s Indigenous education policy shifted from religious segregated residential schools to educating Indigenous children in secular provincial schools with non-Indigenous children, a process called school integration. With the federal government’s decision to close down the residential school system, the Protestant churches, facing a decline in their role in Indigenous education, sought to re-examine their Indigenous policies. This dissertation argues that, although the timelines were different, all three Protestant churches’ Indigenous policies evolved from assimilation to recognizing their detrimental role in colonization. This shift was evident in 1960 as the Protestant institutions supported Indigenous people retaining their special rights, including Indian status and treaty rights, and culture while integrating into Canadian society, thus marking a distinct departure from assimilation. The Protestant churches’ Indigenous policies shifts are further evident throughout the 1970s and 1980s when the institutions supported Aboriginal rights, and by 1990 all three churches had Indigenous-driven governance structures in place at the national level. This dissertation further argues that the changes to the Protestant churches’ Indigenous policies from 1946 to 1990 developed the groundwork for future reconciliation efforts regarding the residential school system. When the residential school legacy surfaced in the 1990s, the Protestant Churches were shocked. However, after signing the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement in 2007 the Protestant Churches were able to focus on reconciliation efforts and fall back on the work they had done in reforming their relationships with Indigenous people prior to the legacy surfacing. The relationship of the Protestant churches with Indigenous people in post-World War Two Canada is understudied. This dissertation of the comparative analysis of the Protestant churches’ evolution of their Indigenous policies is a first of its kind. It contributes to Canadian history, Indigenous history, and Church history while filling a historiographical gap in Indigenous-Church history in Canada

Conflicts Within the Black Churches

This essay examines conflicts concerning sex, sexuality, and gender within Black churches. Black churches are American Protestant churches with a predominantly Black leadership and congregation. Often serving the oppressed and underprivileged, Black churches have a history not only of providing for the spiritual needs of Black Americans, but also of fighting for social justice. Increasingly, controversies have begun to emerge within these churches, about gender equality, HIV/AIDS and safer sex education, and, perhaps the most controversial, about homosexuality and same-sex marriage. This essay discusses how Black churches have responded to these issues and the impact that HIV/AIDS has had on this response. Additionally, examples of the role of women and sexual minorities in Black church denominations and congregations will be provided

Dynamics and Growth Prospects of the Protestant Denominations in Ukraine

The intensity and nature of changes in Protestant communities in Ukraine is analyzed on the basis of broad empirical material (statistics, sociological surveys). The confessional specificity of the spread of Protestant communities in the Ukrainian territories is revealed, as well as their dynamics, geographical conditionality, and more. Changes in institutional, socio-political, cultural, and educational spheres of life of Protestant churches in modern Ukraine are recorded. Social legalization, the legal recognition of these movements as the churches and religious organizations equal to other traditional churches, as well as dynamism of Protestantism in evangelical and missionary sphere and public life, have contributed to the formation of a new type of confessional institutionalization and contributed to the outreach of Protestant communities to the public space. Protestant communities find it necessary to initiate moral responsibility of citizens before society, to encourage people to unite in various non-governmental organizations (charitable, medical, legal, educational, creative, etc.); they are focused on charitable goals. However, it is important to understand that the Protestant milieu in Ukraine is not homogeneous. It differs in character and has its own internal problems, among which is a confrontation between conservative Baptists, socially active Evangelical Christians and Pentecostals, and new Protestant movements, especially neo-charismatic. There are also a number of problems related to the occupation of the Crimea and the war in the East of Ukraine. Such problems are caused by the infringement of the rights of Protestant denominations by the occupation authorities. In general, the Protestant communities try to give priority to civil society, equality and impartiality of the structure of Ukrainian society and are in solidarity with the principles of the Constitution of Ukraine. In situations of social upheaval, Protestant communities as part of inter-religious and inter-denominational associations demonstrate a willingness to take on the role of a mediator in fostering dialogue between the parties

Discovering the current opinions of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and questioning individuals towards the evangelical protestant churches

This research addressed the current opinions held by the LGBTQ community toward Evangelical Protestant churches. As a Pastor of a church that is concerned about this subject, the researcher developed and implemented a survey instrument that attempted to discover the over-all opinions, differences among sexual orientations in opinions, factors that encouraged and discouraged LGBTQ individuals’ involvement within Evangelical Protestant churches, and various levels of involvement by the participants in Evangelical Protestant churches. The researcher used the services of Survey Gizmo to distribute the survey tool amongst those self-identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning to complete the survey instrument. The survey instrument consisted of three sections, with each section having a different set of questions to specifically target the four research questions proposed in the research project. The results indicated that the overall opinion of the LGBTQ community is negative towards Evangelical Protestant churches and that there are no differences among sexual orientations regarding their opinions

On elective affinities: Pentecostalism and immigration. The case of pentecostal african churches in Catalonia

Protestantism is the most widespread minority religion in Catalonia. There are more than 430 Protestant churches in the country, more than a half of which belong to the Pentecostal vein. The growing importance of immigration is a key to understanding both the rise in Protestantism and the predominance of Pentecostalism. The worshippers at the new Protestant churches in Catalonia are mainly from Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe, regions where Pentecostalism is growing considerably. This article seeks to explore the emergence and success of the so-called “ethnic churches” based on an analysis of African Pentecostal churches in Catalonia. It is based on the fieldwork carried out by the project El mapa religiós de Catalunya (ISOR) (“The Religious Map of Catalonia”) and on the ethnographic work performed at African churches in Catalonia

Development and Changes in the Ergo Design of Protestant Churches in Ukraine (1991-2021)

The article presents the evolution of ergonomics and design of Protestant churches in Ukraine in the period from 1991-2021. Since Ukraine left the Soviet Union, the Soviet worldview of Ukrainian Protestants has gradually changed, which, in turn, influenced the formation of the subject-spatial environment and, in general, the ergo design of Protestant churches. The concept presented in the article is that ergo design is similar to a living organism, which changes under the influence of external factors, such as the emotional feeling of believers, political and economic changes, etc. This influence was especially evident during the transitional period on the territory of Ukraine, beginning on August 24, 1991, when the Verkhovna Rada adopted the “Act of the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine,” which led to the achievement of religious freedom by the churches. The newfound freedom for Protestants in Ukraine opened the way for the implementation of design solutions in their churches, despite a significant lack of funds. The Protestant worldview, freed from the influence of Soviet ideology, was reflected in the pictorial features of the spatial and artistic environment of the sacred structures. The contrast of changes in the ergo design and architecture of Ukrainian Protestant churches is summarized in this study

3. The Reformed Formulation

The Protestant movement on the Continent may be divided into three parts: a conservative expression in Lutheranism, a diverse radical expression typified by Anabaptism, and a medial expression in the Reformed churches. The latter arose from two separate representations of the Protestant spirit, both in Switzerland: the Zwinlian in Zurich and, later, the Calvinist in Geneva. [excerpt

Marketing In America's Large Protestant Churches

The current study assesses, from a quantitative perspective, the extent to which marketing and planning are being effectively used by large, Protestant churches to meet their goals. Even though the debate over whether religious organizations should apply business world concepts continues, the use of management and marketing practices from business in churches, particularly large churches, does occur

The Criteria of Liturgical Worship and Analysis of Wesley‘s Theology and How His Approach Challenges Contemporary Christians, Especially in Terms of Worship

Although liturgical traditions were introduced during the Modernism Era, they continue to play an influential role in churches today. The worship and teaching practices applied in Roman Catholic Churches reflect how important traditional liturgy is in the Post-Modernism Era. While many catholic congregations are aware of the significance of liturgy, many Christian and Protestant Churches are not. There is missing knowledge regarding liturgical traditions in these churches. This study will propose liturgical worship in contemporary Christian and Protestant congregations as an alternative proposal from the perspective of John Wesley. This proposal will discuss the criteria of liturgical worship and analyze Wesley’s theology and how his approach challenges contemporary Christians, especially in terms of worship. Through a methodological approach of survey questions, this study will compare and contrast the responses of a group of choir members who are most familiar with contemporary worship styles before and after they take a 5-week course based on Christian liturgy. Although Wesley is not a modern figure, his voice on liturgical worship provides significant components and perspectives that contemporary Christian and Protestant Churches need to be exposed to. This proposal may suggest a way for modern Christian and Protestant members to gain a deeper understanding of the liturgical practices that influence their forms of worship today so that they may grow closer as a congregation and to God