Introduction
Religion can be defined as a particular essential set of beliefs and practices which are usually agreed upon by a group of people or sect, for instance, the Islamic or Christian religion. People generally believe in religion and follow it devotedly. There are various faith groups that are aimed at safeguarding certain religions and facilitating their operations. This paper will give a summary on a religious website on Faith Communities Today (FACT), which provides essential information on a variety of issues in regard to congregational life in the United States of America.
The issues include; conflict, leadership, finances, growth, and technology among others. The reports in the website are very rich with information as they combine research findings from different groups, for instance, the Cooperative Congregation Studies Partnership brings efforts from different faith groups, the Hartford institute for religion research and Hartford seminary together and hence provides rich resources to various religious groups for utilization to better their practices (Hartford Seminary 1).
Religious Congregations in the US
There are various religious congregations in the US as there are the faith groups. The faith groups usually govern all the activities that are undertaken by the congregations. The different faith groups have different theologies, although they are surprisingly comparable in their urge to search for new ideas aimed at improving their work and in so doing promoting the future of their congregations.
The faith groups in the United States of America include the National Spiritual Assembly of the baha’is, protestant faith groups like the American Baptist churches, Assemblies of God, Christian reformed church, Christian church, churches of Christ, and church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints, Christian historically African American religious bodies like the African Methodist Episcopal church and national Baptist convention of America, Christian orthodox like the orthodox church of America and Romanian orthodox archdiocese in America, Christian roman catholic, Jewish faith groups like the synagogue 3000, Muslim faith groups and other organizations like the American bible society (Hartford Seminary 3).
Topics Addressed By Each Faith Group Findings
The general topics addressed by different faith groups are conflict, leadership, finances, growth, assimilation of new members and reinforcement of lay leadership, clergy time usage, clergy education and congregational health, attracting and tracking new members, worship, identity, the youth issues and technology among others in relation to different United States congregations. Cooperative Congregations Studies Partnership (CCSP) through the Faith Communities Today (FACT) provides reports on different congregational groups giving clear similarities and differences among the faith groups as well as the changing aspects of the congregational life among people in the United States.
Congregational practices and the major challenges that face congregations and faith groups are also discussed. It also conducts comprehensive research with an aim of getting insights to various aspects regarding congregations and thereafter provides useful findings to the congregations and the leaders involved helping them strengthen and reinforce their missions (Hartford Seminary 1).
Interesting Research Results and How Religious Groups Could Apply the Research Results
Religion is usually considered as an instrument through which hope, peace, and reconciliation can be achieved. However, conflicts are experienced within and among congregations and according to the Faith Communities Today series of National survey of the United States congregations, a majority (eight out of ten) of congregations have had instances of conflict. The conflicts leads to quitting by the members especially where they touch on worship and leadership as members do not feel well represented.
Some members may also opt to withdraw their normal contributions towards the particular congregation from which they belong. Those congregations without conflicts are reported to have excellent fiscal health as opposed to those faced with conflicts. This shows that although the religious groups should act as agents of peace and harmony, there are some limitations in them and they should therefore try their best to solve their differences and continue to play their role as role models and instruments of hope, peace, and reconciliation.
The research results of the effects of conflict can also be used by faith groups to improve their conditions for instance by creating beneficial interpersonal bonds among leaders and lay members, making it known to all the mission and purpose of the congregation, and the establishment of a congregational culture, which is flexible and therefore can accommodate changes when needed. All this will help manage conflicts therefore limiting their effects (Hartford Seminary 1). Financial health decline is another notable finding.
In regard to worship, the commitment in worship practices among American congregations has been declining. This can be linked to the social changes that have necessitated changes in the worship style and when the styles do not change members tend to quit or move to other congregations. The findings also show that there is usually a strong relationship between the spiritual vitality of a faith group and the experience of God’s presence when it comes to worship and that the quality of worship determines God’s presence within the congregation.
These findings are very essential especially to congregation leaders as they see the need to change their worship styles to be in line with social changes so as not to lose members but retain them while still fulfilling their mission and purposes. They also gives the leaders a deeper understanding of the advantages of change, for instance, the adoption of several services which are different in style so as to be at per with the world of diversity where people like to be presented with a range of activities from which to make choices. This will act as a way of attracting new members as well as retaining the existing ones.
The youth ministry as part of the congregation is also very essential. Recently, there has been an increase in the study of youth in faith groups in terms of attendance and also other practices like worship, musical groups, counseling groups, retreats, conferences, and contribution. Most youths in the United States of America are not active when it comes to religious aspect and this raises concern among parents and also leaders of the various congregations.
The findings show that youths involvement in religious activities varies from one family to the other and also from one congregation to another for instance it has been found that evangelical protestant congregations are likely to have more youth ministers and counseling groups as opposed to Catholic congregations which are more likely to involve their youths in retreats, conferences, and youth camps.
The youths should under all circumstances be given chances in congregations and be allowed to voice their needs and take part in various activities of the faith groups so as their faith can be reinforced as they are the members of our tomorrow’s congregations. They should also be presented with a variety of options from which to choose so that they can be motivated to be actively involved in religious activities.
Another critical finding is that of clergy education and congregational health. This is a very contentious finding as people expect that the higher one goes with clergy education, the better the performance and hence the better the congregational health. This is however not the case as the educated leaders seem to perform poorly on general issues for example resolving conflicts, clarifying the congregation mission and purpose, and spiritual vitality as opposed to the uneducated.
They however do well in certain aspects for instance advocating for social justice and participation in ecumenical ministries. This finding shows that continuing education is more essential than formal education when it comes to congregational vitality and that education should not be used as a gauge towards performance of religious leaders and that what matters is how they disseminate the information and lead to growth and reinforcement of their congregations (Hartford Seminary 9).
What Was The Website About?” And “What Is The Overall Feeling Of The Site Or What Was It Promoting”
In conclusion, the website is about the general picture of congregations in the United States of America giving insights to the positive aspects as well as the challenges faced by the congregations and ways through which the problems can either be eliminated or reduced. The website bring about the feeling that the congregations in the United States of America are not perfect and in a way tries to promote peace, hope, and reconciliation within the faith groups through provision of findings and ways of dealing with the challenges. It generally fosters unity and harmony within and among congregations.
Work Cited
Hartford Seminary. “Faith Communities Today.” Hartford Seminary, 2010. Web.