Major Projects

The Clergy & Public Affairs Survey is underway!

The Clergy & Public Affairs Survey is underway! In cooperation with Corwin Smidt, the Henry Institute, and several cooperating scholars, CSR is in the midst of launching a major quadrennial post-presidential-election survey of clergy in several denominations.

We have already mailed surveys to the clergy of many denominations, including the Christian Reformed Church, the Reformed Church of America, the Disciples of Christ, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. As the project progresses, we will continue processing and mailing out surveys to clergy of the remaining denominations. As of February 20, over 300 responses have already arrived, and even more are expected in the coming days! Special thanks to all clergy who have responded and increased our ability to understand and analyze religious thoughts on public affairs.

Please see the FAQ page for more specifics on this project and its collaborators.

Posted by Neil Carlson on Friday, February 20, 2009 at 05:42 PM
(1) Comments • (0) TrackbacksPermalink

Visualizing vision statements

Happy 2009 from CSR!

An online tool called Wordle is all the rage; we found it after FlowingData gave Wordle honorable mention in its 5 Best Data Visualization Projects of the Year. We couldn't resist feeding the 55 of the "most quotable" vision statements from respondents to the Kent County Congregations Study into Wordle. Here's the result:

Click the image to see a larger version on Wordle.

Posted by Neil Carlson on Monday, January 05, 2009 at 11:55 AM
(0) Comments • (0) TrackbacksPermalink

KCCS presentation to religious leaders

November 10 was a great day. About 150 religious leaders from 72 diverse congregations in Kent County gathered with other civic, community and academic leaders at the Pinnacle Center in Hudsonville for the Kent County Religious Leaders Symposium. Many participants have suggested further meetings to keep energy high, and efforts to fulfill this wish are under way.

Thanks to Calvin student videographer Kyle Berkompas for recording the event.

READ MORE...

Posted by Neil Carlson on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at 12:18 PM
(0) Comments • (0) TrackbacksPermalink

Gatherings of Hope report released from the Kent County Congregations Study


Download the report
(PDF, 100pp., 4.7Mb)

Order bound copies from the Calvin College Campus Store.

 

Our report on the Kent County Congregations Study of 2007 is now online! The report, entitled Gatherings of Hope: How Religious Congregations Contribute to the Quality of Life in Kent County is downloadable now in PDF format and bound, full-color copies are available for purchase from the Calvin Campus Store.

As reported on Sunday in the Grand Rapids Press, the KCCS is the most comprehensive study of religious congregations and how they contribute to the quality of life in Kent County. Inspired by the philanthropic vision of Doug and Maria DeVos and funded by their foundation, the project affirms the need for educational, community and religious sectors to collaborate in efforts to improve the lives of children and their families.

These major findings of the report are found in the Executive Summary:

  • Kent County is an unusually religious community. Compared to congregations across the country, Kent County residents are significantly more likely to attend religious services. Kent County congregations are larger in size, have more leaders, are better funded, and are more likely to have participated in or supported a social service program.
  • Hundreds of congregations are located in areas of poverty and great need. Compared to majority White congregations, Black and Hispanic congregations in the county average three to four times the proportion of people with household incomes under $25,000.
  • Local congregations transfer $75.6 million annually to denominations and to international, domestic and county aid and missions—but only 14 percent is clearly designated for Kent County.
  • Worship services in Kent County take place in 28 different languages, reflecting cultural and ethnic diversity. At times multiple languages are spoken in the same congregation.
  • Religious attendance is strongly associated with service to others. Almost 5,200 people from Kent County congregations—including paid staff and volunteers—participate in community service activities. Congregation leaders spend time worth $8.8 million annually on civic and social efforts.
  • Congregations supply 2,827 volunteers for educational programs, but only a third of congregations report any involvement with public schools.
  • Kent County congregations offer higher numbers of social service programs than comparable national averages—2,338 programs in all. Religious participation is not required by 70 percent of these programs.
  • Other institutions would have to generate from $95 million to $118 million to replace the services and programs that Kent County congregations provide annually in their community-serving ministries.

Gatherings of Hope is being distributed today to over 200 religious and community leaders at the Kent County Religious Leaders Symposium, held at the Pinnacle Center in Hudsonville.

Posted by Neil Carlson on Monday, November 10, 2008 at 03:39 PM
(0) Comments • (0) TrackbacksPermalink

“Gatherings of Hope” report from the KCCS due out November 10

[UPDATE: see the main weblog post on this report for a downloadable copy of the report.]


Gatherings of Hope, available November 10 [update: now available, see this post!]

A report on the Kent County Congregations Study of 2007 is ready for the presses! The report, entitled “Gatherings of Hope: How Religious Congregations Contribute to the Quality of Life in Kent County,” will be released on November 10 at the Kent County Religious Leaders Symposium at the Pinnacle Center in Hudsonville. The report will be available to the general public via the web shortly thereafter [update: the report is now available, see this post!]. The KCCS is the most comprehensive study of religious congregations and how they contribute to the quality of life in Kent County. Inspired by the philanthropic vision of Doug and Maria DeVos, the project affirms the need for educational, community and religious sectors to collaborate in efforts to improve the lives of children and their families.

Figure 6 from the report (below) shows that the 583 participating congregations reported 443,586 "people associated in any way," a substantial proportion of Kent County's 600,000 residents, even after allowing for overlap between congregations and visitors from outside the county. Congregations are a potentially powerful source of volunteer mobilization for the welfare of the needy, and the report seeks to document ways in which we can begin to capitalize on this power.

Posted by Amanda Stek on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 09:02 AM
(1) Comments • (0) TrackbacksPermalink
Page 3 of 6 pages  <  1 2 3 4 5 >  Last »