Worshipping Local? Congregation Proximity, Attendance, and Neighborhood Commitment
The growth of suburban and exurban areas pushed many Americans into commuter lifestyles. People drive automobiles to work, to shop, to play, and presumably to worship. Yet, recent decades have birthed a countermovement that pulls people back to urban centers and an emphasis on local environments, i....
| Published in: | Review of religious research |
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| Authors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Springer
[2020]
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| In: |
Review of religious research
Year: 2020, Volume: 62, Issue: 1, Pages: 27-44 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
USA
/ Tagespendler
/ Church attendance
/ Nahbereich
/ Neighborhood
/ Social engagement
|
| RelBib Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality CH Christianity and Society KBQ North America |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | The growth of suburban and exurban areas pushed many Americans into commuter lifestyles. People drive automobiles to work, to shop, to play, and presumably to worship. Yet, recent decades have birthed a countermovement that pulls people back to urban centers and an emphasis on local environments, i.e. to “go local.” Recognizing these centrifugal and centripetal forces, this study seeks to answer two interrelated questions: Are Americans traveling further to a place of worship than in the past? And, does the proximity of a person’s place of worship impact religious participation and neighborhood commitment? We use data from the 2017 Baylor Religion Survey to test three hypotheses. Our findings indicate that Americans lived further from their place of worship in 2017 than they did in 2001 or 2009. The benefits of worshipping local are mixed. People who belong to a congregation in their neighborhood attend more frequently, but they do not report feeling closer to their neighbors or more satisfied with the neighborhood. Rather, attending religious service, regardless of location, is associated with higher neighborhood commitment. |
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| ISSN: | 2211-4866 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Review of religious research
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/s13644-019-00387-w |