This week in class groups of students took turns presenting case studies from books they read. These case studies each dealt with different religious groups. One dealt with Catholics, another with orthodox Jews, one dealt with a cult from the late 20^th century, one dealt with newer mega churches, and there were one or two others. Each of these case studies dealt with particular places that the authors of the books focused in on for their study samples. The authors spent certain amounts of time at these places, getting to know the people and the way they did things, and they even participated in activities sometimes. They also would interview people within their case study groups as well. Then in their books, they wrote down what they discovered. For example, the case study my group talked about and presented was about a Catholic community church in the Midwest that was dealing with the changing demographic of its attendance. (The Shared Parish, Hoover) Before, it had been primarily attended by Euro-American families. (The Shared Parish, Hoover) However in more recent years, immigration from Latin America created a parish that now has both Caucasian and Hispanic families attending services. (The Shared Parish, Hoover) The book talked about this change, how it affected both groups, and how it created two separate church communities who just happen to share the same church facilities. (The Shared Parish, Hoover) It really had some interesting stuff to talk about. Another case study that was presented talked about why certain women were converting to Orthodox Judaism. Another talked about the properties of mega churches and why they’ve become so popular with people. In the end, this is all interesting stuff to read and learn about, and it offers people a glimpse into these communities and what they’re about.