عنوان

Bonding During the Night of the Churches Converging and Differing Experiences of Churchgoers and Non-Churchgoers

Number

LA109063

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

Bonding During the Night of the Churches Converging and Differing Experiences of Churchgoers and Non-Churchgoers

General Material Designation

[Article]

First Statement of Responsibility

Elpine M. de Boer, Henk de Roest, Elpine M. de Boer, et al.

Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.

Leiden

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

Brill

Text of Note

How should we understand the paradoxical phenomenon that people are showing substantial interest in new events organized by the church in a western-European society that is characterized by dwindling church attendance? An explorative questionnaire study among churchgoers (n = 1016) and non-churchgoers (n = 317) was conducted who chose to attend the so-called Night of the Churches in the Netherlands. The majority of the respondents indicated that they experience the Night of the Churches to be a qualitatively different phenomenon from other festivals (e.g., museum night or music festival). Our data suggest that for both churchgoers and non-churchgoers shared bonding experiences (e.g., a special feeling of connectedness, contact with a higher spirit, together with unknown people) are what makes a Night of the Churches unique. Additionally, the results reveal that this event hardly changed respondents' image of the church and that more churchgoers (22%) than non-churchgoers (13%) were interested in new forms of being church. Again, shared bonding experiences make the difference when it comes to being open to new ways of being church. How should we understand the paradoxical phenomenon that people are showing substantial interest in new events organized by the church in a western-European society that is characterized by dwindling church attendance? An explorative questionnaire study among churchgoers (n = 1016) and non-churchgoers (n = 317) was conducted who chose to attend the so-called Night of the Churches in the Netherlands. The majority of the respondents indicated that they experience the Night of the Churches to be a qualitatively different phenomenon from other festivals (e.g., museum night or music festival). Our data suggest that for both churchgoers and non-churchgoers shared bonding experiences (e.g., a special feeling of connectedness, contact with a higher spirit, together with unknown people) are what makes a Night of the Churches unique. Additionally, the results reveal that this event hardly changed respondents' image of the church and that more churchgoers (22%) than non-churchgoers (13%) were interested in new forms of being church. Again, shared bonding experiences make the difference when it comes to being open to new ways of being church.

Date of Publication

2016

Physical description

47-71

Title

Archive for the Psychology of Religion

Volume Number

38/1

International Standard Serial Number

1573-6121

Subject Term

bonding

Subject Term

community

Subject Term

ecclesial practices

Subject Term

Night of the Churches

Subject Term

religiosity

Subject Term

religious experience

Subject Term

spirituality

Elpine M. de Boer

Henk de Roest

Call Number

10.1163/15736121-12341317

Electronic name

p

[Article]

275578

a

Y