Gathered together

Congregations in America

Mark Chaves

Harvard University Press, $29.95, 304 pp.

The United States has more than three hundred thousand congregations, parishes, synagogues, temples, and mosques, and sociologist Mark Chaves wants to know what makes them tick. How many members, how much money, and what kind of leaders do they have? What are the most common styles of worship? How do congregations foster the arts, sponsor social-service programs, and engage in political activities? How do they contribute to the nation's cultural, social-service, and political endeavors? Or are their contributions in these areas a mere blip on the radar?

Chaves gets at these questions using data from 1,236 congregations that were identified by a random sample of English-speaking U.S. adults in 1998. Three-quarters of the congregations are Protestant, 6 percent are Catholic, and the rest belong to other religious traditions, or have no ties to a discernible religious tradition. Chaves also makes excellent use of 1990 census data for each congregation and other studies documenting trends in U.S. religious practice.

In seeking answers to his questions, Chaves cuts right to the important questions, and his methodology is innovative. His focus on the cultural dimensions of congregational life is fruitful, and his "ecological" analysis of worship styles brilliant (positing that religious "newcomers adopt somewhat different practices from those already on the scene, and practices adopted at a movement's origins remain more or less constant throughout its history"). Many of his findings expand on earlier, but more limited, studies and have important policy implications. As Chaves notes, his findings regarding congregations' limited involvement in social services and political affairs are sobering in light of the Bush administration's faith-based initiatives in the area of social services.

Methodologically, Congregations in America makes its case by juxtaposing characteristic traits of congregations and congregants. For example, the median congregation has only seventy-five regular participants, a budget of $56,000, and one staff member. The median attendee, on the other hand, is in a congregation with four hundred other regular participants, a budget of $250,000, and more than one staffer.

On the whole, Chaves demonstrates that congregations are not highly involved in social services, civic affairs, or political activities. For example, the median congregation supports just one social-service program. Those most involved in social services are linked to Catholic, Jewish, and moderate-to-liberal Protestant traditions; have large staffs and big budgets; and are in poorer neighborhoods. Congregations tend to address immediate, short-term needs that require material resources (food and clothing), rather than long-term needs that demand sustained personal involvement. Social service is done mainly in collaboration with other groups--including the government. Comparing Chaves's findings with earlier research by H. Paul Douglass, Edmund deS. Brunner, and Staughton and Alice Lynd, Chaves concludes that congregations are no more involved in social outreach now than they were in the 1920s and '30s.

Not surprisingly, congregations are much more involved in worship. Liturgical practice varies along two cultural axes: high-to-low ceremony and high-to-low enthusiasm. Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopal, and Orthodox congregations offer the most ceremonial and least enthusiastic worship experiences--no shock there--while Pentecostal Protestants are far less ceremonial and far more enthusiastic. In this regard, Pentecostals exemplify the historical trend toward more enthusiastic, less ceremonial worship.

Congregations also foster participation in and exposure to the arts, especially music. They do so through worship, of course, but also by inviting outside groups to perform in their churches and arranging for their own members to attend musical or theatrical performances at other venues. Catholic congregations lag behind others in promoting such artistic experiences.

Worship, religious education, and the arts are the heart and soul of most congregations, and these practices actually constitute a significant part of the nation's aggregate cultural activity. In contrast, congregations' social-service and political activities make up only a small portion of society's total efforts in these arenas.

People wanting to learn about Catholic parishes will find that Congregations in America has limitations. For one, Chaves's decision to privilege the Protestant terms "denomination" and "congregation" is likely to be off-putting to Catholics, who are more accustomed to speaking of "the church," "dioceses," and "parishes." Moreover, his definition of congregations as "voluntary membership organizations," "coherent and autonomous organizations," and places where "individuals ... gather" reflects a Protestant understanding of church life far more than it expresses a Catholic view of parishes as geographically defined communities headed by priests who are accountable to bishops. Finally, because of the nature of the sample, Chaves's generalizations more accurately describe Protestant rather than Catholic experience. To his credit, though, he highlights many instances in which Catholic parishes differ from their Protestant counterparts. Still, readers looking to compare his findings with studies including more Catholic parishes will find Chaves's bibliography wanting. For the rest of the story, you'll have to check out other sources, such as the landmark Notre Dame Parish Life Project, or recent surveys conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.