Growth or decline in the Church of England during the decade of Evangelism: did the Churchmanship of the Bishop matter?

The Decade of Evangelism occupied the attention of the Church of England throughout the 1990s. The present study employs the statistics routinely published by the Church of England in order to assess two matters: the extent to which these statistics suggest that the 43 individual dioceses finished the decade in a stronger or weaker position than they had entered it and the extent to which, according to these statistics, the performance of dioceses led by bishops shaped in the Evangelical tradition differed from the performance of dioceses led by bishops shaped in the Catholic tradition. The data demonstrated that the majority of dioceses were performing less effectively at the end of the decade than at the beginning, in terms of a range of membership statistics, and that the rate of decline varied considerably from one diocese to another. The only exception to the trend was provided by the diocese of London, which experienced some growth. The data also demonstrated that little depended on the churchmanship of the diocesan bishop in shaping diocesan outcomes on the performance indicators employed in the study

Parental and peer influence on church attendance among adolescent Anglicans in England and Wales

Drawing on data from a survey conducted among 7,059 students aged 13–15 in England and Wales, this study examines parental and peer influence on church attendance among 645 students who identified themselves as Anglicans (Church of England or Church in Wales). The data demonstrated that young Anglicans who practised their Anglican identity by attending church did so primarily because their parents were Anglican churchgoers. Moreover, young Anglican churchgoers were most likely to keep going to church if their churchgoing parents also talked with them about their faith. Among this age group of Anglicans, peer support seemed insignificant in comparison with parental support. The implication from these findings for an Anglican Church strategy for ministry among children and young people is that it may be wise to invest in the education and formation of churchgoing Anglican parents

Psychological type profile of a church : a case study

This study responds to the challenge offered by Meunier (2012) to explore how psychological type theory and measurement may assist churches in the search for an appropriate leader (rector) by taking into account the psychological type characteristics of the church. A case study is provided from one Anglican congregation in England (N = 76), the members of which completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales during the course of a normal Sunday service. The overall profile of these 76 individuals demonstrated preferences for extraversion, sensing, feeling, and judging (ESFJ). The implications of this ESFJ profile are discussed for leadership expectations

Preaching with all our souls: introducing the SIFT method

Preachers know all too well that preaching is not a simple task. As preachers we carry an important responsibility for proclamation, but also for interpretation. As preachers we engage seriously with reading the scriptures, but also with interpreting the scriptures. As preachers we engage seriously with reading the movement of the Holy Spirit in God’s world, but also with interpreting the Spirit. As preachers we engage seriously with reading the contemporary context in which we live, but also with interpreting that context. As preachers we are involved in the complex task of interpretation, whether we are aware of it or not; and generally it is better to be aware of what we are doing rather than to take too much for granted and to leave too many of our assumptions untested. The study of hermeneutics is the study of interpretation. Increasingly people concerned with studying scripture are taking hermeneutics seriously. The aim of this article, therefore, is to explore one relatively new theory of hermeneutics that is relevant both for studying scripture and for thinking about preaching. The theory is known as the SIFT method of biblical hermeneutics and liturgical preaching

Five loaves and two fishes : an empirical study in psychological type and biblical hermeneutics among Anglican preachers

The sensing, intuition, feeling and thinking (SIFT) method of biblical hermeneutics and liturgical preaching has its roots in three fields: a theology of individual differences situated within the doctrine of creation, an application of Jungian psychological-type theory and empirical observation. The present study tested the empirical foundations for this method by examining the psychological-type profile of two groups of Anglican preachers (24 licensed readers in England and 22 licensed clergy in Northern Ireland) and by examining the content of their preaching according to their dominant psychological-type preferences. These data provided further support for the psychological principles underpinning the SIFT method of biblical hermeneutics and liturgical preaching

Interpreting and responding to the Johannine feeding narrative : an empirical study in the SIFT hermeneutical method amongst Anglican ministry training candidates

Drawing on Jungian psychological type theory, the SIFT method of biblical hermeneutics and liturgical preaching maintains that different psychological type preferences are associated with distinctive readings of scripture. In the present study this theory was tested amongst two groups of ministry training candidates (a total of 26 participants) who were located within working groups according to their psychological type preferences, and invited to reflect on the Johannine feeding narrative (Jn 6:4−22), and to document their discussion. Analysis of these data provided empirical support for the theory underpinning the SIFT method

Rural is different: rural is special

Those of us who live, work, worship and minister in the countryside know all too well that rural is different, that rural is special. Yet for us country folk there remain so many frustrations that secular policies may be driven by an urban agenda and shaped by urban perceptions. Health care provisions, public transport, post offices, and retail distribution, to name but a few vital areas, so often seem to be planned with the urban economy in mind. It is tempting, too, to imagine that even the church may be driven by an urban agenda, say in terms of emphases in recruitment, selection and training for ministry, in terms of the design of liturgy, in terms of theories about lay leadership, and perhaps even in terms of reader ministry

Family, denomination, and the adolescent world view: an empirical enquiry among 13- to 15-year-old girls in England and Wales

The present study draws on a large survey of 16,581 13- to 15-year-old girls representative of the school population in England and Wales to examine the power of family denominational affiliation to predict the adolescent world view. World view was illustrated by reference to nine areas: personal well-being, worries, counseling, school, social concern, religious beliefs, paranormal beliefs, sexual morality, and attitudes toward substances. Comparisons were made between those who claimed no religious affiliation and those who claimed affiliation as Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, and Jehovah's Witnesses. The data demonstrated that each of these seven denominational groups offered a distinctive profile in areas of personal and social importance. These findings were interpreted as offering support for views advanced in Canada by Bibby, in Australia by Bouma, and in the United Kingdom by Fane regarding the continuing social significance of religious and denominational affiliation and as offering critique of the British Government's decision not to include denominational subdivision of the Christian category within the 2001 census conducted in England and Wales

Implicit religion, explicit religion and purpose in life : an empirical enquiry among 13- to 15-year-old adolescents

In his analysis of the construct "implicit religion" Edward Bailey speaks of those individuals "who believe in Christianity" but who do not display the behaviours of explicit religion, like church attendance. A recent research tradition has tried to operationalise this understanding of implicit religion by studying those who believe that they can be a Christian without going to church. A longer established research tradition has demonstrated the association between explicit religiosity and an enhanced sense of purpose in life. The aim of the present study is to test the hypothesis that implicit religiosity (in the sense of believing that you can be a Christian without going to church) is also associated with an enhanced sense of purpose in life. Data provided by a sample of 25,825 13- to 15-year-old adolescents support this hypothesis. In turn these findings support the notion that implicit religion (in the sense operationalised by this study) fulfils some functions similar to those fulfilled by explicit religion

Personality and religious orientation : shifting sands or firm foundations?

Beit-Hallami and Argyle (1997) concluded that individual differences in religiosity are inversely related to psychoticism but independent of extraversion and neuroticism. The aim of the present study is to test the generalisability of that conclusion within the context of Eysenck's dimensional model of personality by distinguishing between different conceptualisations of religiosity and by distinguishing between different overall levels of religiosity in the sample. A total of 517 undergraduate students in Wales completed the short-form of the Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire together with the New Indices of Religious Orientation. The data demonstrated that in the sample as a whole intrinsic religious orientation was associated with low psychoticism scores, but independent of extraversion scores and neuroticism scores; that extrinsic religious orientation was associated with low psychoticism scores and high neuroticism scores, but independent of extraversion scores; and that quest religious orientation was associated with high neuroticism scores and low extraversion scores, but independent of psychoticism scores. The pattern of relationships changed, however, when separate analyses were conducted among weekly churchgoers and among individuals who never attended church. These data suggest that the pattern of relationship between personality and religion may vary both according to the form of religiosity assessed and according to the samples being studied. The conclusion is drawn that Beit-Hallami and Argyle's conclusion is misleading unless nuanced in terms of the aspects of religiosity and the populations to which it applies