This past week we took our midterm.  The midterm consisted of 3 questions and I was very intrigued by the questions that were asked.  The one question that stood out to me was about my first congregation visit, New Life Redlands Church, and it asked questions from that McGuire’s or Chave’s book can answer.  For example, one of the questions was “Which of the contemporary trends by Chaves can you see operating in this congregation’s religious life?” In my essay, I explained mainly two trends of Chaves that I’ve noticed that I can see operating in this congregation’s life.  The first trend that I saw during my visit was the increase in technology. As I explained in my first congregation visit essay, the church Facetime called another church from a different location. I’m almost certain that churches back in the days were unable to do that because their technology was not as advanced as today’s society.  I also noticed that many people were on their phones. I couldn’t tell if they were using their phones as a distraction or they were on some sort of bible app. However, they were still using technology and people back in the day were not even able to use a bible app. The second trend that I noticed was the increase of attendance of more older people.  There were only about 3 youth age members, 8-10 high school through college age members, and the rest of the members were around 40+ years old. I’m still not sure if it’s because majority of the people have been going to that church ever since they were little kids or not. Though I did have a conversation with a two people and the women did say that she has been going to the church ever since she was a little girl.  She even pointed out her mother to me. Nevertheless, these were the two major trends of Chaves that I was able to see that was occurring at New Life of Redlands Church. I’m eager to see what other trends I can identify during my second congregation and compare and contrast the two.

In his book, American Religion: Contemporary Trends, Mark Chaves describes America’s changing religious landscape, one aspect of this being diversity within religion. Chaves explains how immigrants moving from their home country have diversified the religious congregations here in the United States. The rise of ethnic churches has become something crucial to the integration of immigrants in the U.S., as even Meredith McGuire— author of Religion: The Social Context— acknowledges in chapter 8 of her book, that congregation-level religious groups have provided an important site for integration of immigrants. Several recent studies of immigrant churches have “documented the importance of religious communities in giving new immigrants both a connection with their former countries and a toehold in the new” (Religion: The Social Context, 291). This was illustrated to me at my congregation visit where I attended a service at the Indonesian Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Within this traditional, Protestant Christian denomination, an outsider could visibly see the community fostered within the church walls. I had never been in a religious setting that was not solely Hispanic or a combination of different ethnicities, but I had stepped into a church made up of a homogenous group different from my own brownness. The congregation was full of South East Asians and the only signs of diversity were myself, another student, and a white man all attending the service. Now, I do not know and cannot say if many, if at all, of these members are immigrants, but I had never really been in an ethnic church other than my own. In my own church experiences, I hadn’t paid much attention to the fact that I was among those like me, I simply was; I was comfortable in a space. Much like my experience, the members at the Indonesian SDA church appeared to be just as comfortable having found a community with people of a similar culture. Having this support allows one to feel welcomed and accepted— something new immigrants seek out in a new and uncomfortable space. A church for immigrants to go to helps them establish new and meaningful relationships while undergoing the process of integration in a new location; it is important to have such spaces to feel welcomed and seen, and as more ethnic churches arise we continue to take more progressive steps. 

In an article by TIME news, it is explained how the United Methodist Church votes to strengthen bans on same sex marriage and gay clergy. This church, which is America’s second-largest Protestant denomination, recently met at the end of February of this year 2019, to discuss the strengthening the faith’s divisive bans. There seemed to be an about even split in the church between the percentage of delegates that supported the ban and delegates that did not. Many Reverends around the nation and the globe stated how this so-called “Traditional Plan” is going to hurt and negatively impact the Church significantly. One went so far to even say that the church “will lose an entire generation of leaders in America.” The intention behind the “Traditional Plan” is to increase the discipline against those engaged in defiance creating a more hostile, divisive environment. Even though, as TIME news points out, the Methodist church has increased in pro-LGBT clergy the ban remains strong and in place.

It is interesting to recognize why and to what extent this decision is a reflection of the church’s values. There appears to be a great tension and divide in the church even though this ban has been apart of the church for years now, yet just with no enforcement. I’m curious as to what prompted this movement to greater enforcement when it seems like it would do more harm than good. This is a significant example of how religion and modern progressive ideas clash.

While reading chapter 8 of McGuire’s book, I was struck by her concept of privatization as a version of secularization. Privatization seems so familiar to me because that is how I have always seen my religion. Growing up, religion was taught to me as a personal relationship between you and God. As I got older, I began to lean more towards the forgiving teachings of the Christian faith and away from stricter Catholic teachings. I wanted my religion to be more tailored to fit me. This is a religion in the modern world.

In the world today you can find people everywhere who make religion individualized. Religion as a part of personal life used to create a moral code or as a buffer for stress. Everyone practices in different ways and defines their religious or spiritual life differently. More and more people are attending non-denominational churches and mega churches to be able to practice their way.

Americans are also strong supporters for separation of church and state, another way to keep religion a personal aspect.

The week before spring break, I found out that a friend of mine from home overdosed and passed away. He was my age and amazing person, and has been all that’s on my mind since then, so I figured I might as well right about him here. Until this past week, I never realized how religious the mourning process is, regardless of the mourners’ affiliation or lack thereof.

While mourning, I couldn’t help but let my thoughts spiral into all that is unknown about the afterlife. There are so many different explanations for what happens when you die, both religious and nonreligious, yet nobody knows for sure. The most common religious belief about the afterlife in the United States is probably that of some kind of reward or punishment for life, but other religions have very different beliefs. Jews, for example, are famously vague on the matter because it is mentioned so little in the Old Testament. As a Jewish person, this didn’t help me much. However, the Old Testament does mention the immortality of the soul, and this did give me something to grasp to.

My friend’s wake, on the other hand, was completely nonreligious, and all about love and remembrance. The jargon used at the wake and by most of my friends did not reference utopia or damnation or even G-d. They spoke of him “moving on to a better place”, “watching over us”, and how he’d “always be with us”. While these phrases sort of align with religious beliefs, they are certainly more focused around my friend being remembered than of him facing judgement.

I find it interesting that these people in mourning tended to use secular verbiage despite the religious experience they were going through. There was unspoken agreement that remembering the short life of a fine young man was more important than potentially competing religious worldviews.

Our seventh week of Sociology was fun because we got to revisit Chaves’ book chapters five and six.  In which, he discusses the size of an average congregation is declining; however, the ones people currently attend are getting larger.  This feels like a contradiction, but actually makes sense once you realize the informality of worship and attendance is increasing—thus making a more casual church setting more popular.  Additionally, the leadership of churches are declining since most tend to be older, white males.  The leader of an organized religion is less trusted due to multiple factors; mostly in the fact that people don’t like to be told and instructed what to do, or how to believe.  So, women ministries are growing as a result to further enhance a feminist perspective in a role that has been, to long dominated by men.

Then, on Thursday, we watched a movie titled “Born Again”.  A documentary short film chronicling the life of a few of the members of a Fundamentalist Baptist Church.  Some of the couples had deep personal issues; which resulted in them splitting.  All throughout, the members looked or answers to those everyday/individual problems in Scripture.  The pastor would meet with some of them regularly to discuss the Bible and their own problems and they would consult the Bible together.  It gave them a sense of constancy, a rulebook to follow.  However, we talked in class how this inadvertently creates a wall between them and the outside world; thus putting them in the category of a sectarian church.  To be honest, I don’t think they care about what denomination they are categorized.

It is amazing how much of an influence devout faith can have on the social dynamics within a community. It was very interesting to get such a personal view of these social dynamics in the video about the Fundamentalist Baptist Congregation. It was fascinating to see what members of the congregation valued in their lives. It seemed that the majority of the adult members of the congregation valued family, children, marriage, and faith above all else. They were extremely passionate about spreading the teachings of Christ and maintaining a stable home. However, these passions caused some of the members of the congregation to display toxic behaviors. The men in the film were so driven to maintain a Godly home that they tended to undermine the opinions and feelings of the women in the film. For example, the pastor tried to reconnect a broken and abusive marriage against the wishes of the woman. He told her that her current love interest would leave her and that she was not fit to parent her own children. In addition, members of the congregation tended to be overbearing towards those who did not share their beliefs. They claimed that evolution was bogus and that public schools were reprehensible. Even though there was a display of toxic behaviors in the film, it was nice to see how connected the community was. They were all very supportive of one another (for the most part) and they genuinely cared about the well being of their friends and family. In conclusion, I learned that fundamental religion has a huge impact on the social dynamics of a community.

Before we left for spring break, we watched a film called Born Again, which followed the lives of several members of a Fundamentalist Church in Massachusetts in 1978. One thing that struck me initially was how all the members of the church seemed to unwaveringly believe in the word of God and believed that he answered all questions. This made me think of the Chaves reading which has discussed the trend of declining confident belief in God and made me wonder if unwavering belief was still the case in members of the congregation. Throughout the course of the film, we observe how members of the church struggle with their relationships with each other and desire for a relationship with God. The church runs its own school, and, in the school, the insular nature of the community becomes more evident. The children pledge allegiance to both the American flag and the Christian flag, which seems to be an attempt to impress the importance of religion on the children by equating allegiance to religion as equivalent in importance to allegiance to one’s country. In addition, the way Bob speaks about his wife Emma, and his refusal to allow the children to see her because she “lived in sin” outside of the community, also impressed on me the insular nature of the church. The pastor’s daughter even comments on her interest in the way people live outside of the church indicating its all-encompassing influence on members lives. I previously wrote a post regarding the psychological damage suffered from negative, forceful religious experiences and watching the film I was struck by the aggressive way some matters, like the talk that was had with one church members brother to attempt to bring him to God and become born again where instead of talking it was a bunch of church members speaking loudly over the man and pressing him to the point he was clearly emotionally exhausted. I wonder if insular religious communities are more likely to result in people suffering from some sort of religious trauma. This is of course not to say that all religious communities are bad and trauma-inducing, but I wonder if the full-time religious influence and pressure has a more profound effect on people living within it.

This past week was spring break so I was able to relax and enjoy my time at home.  Just yesterday I went to my local church back at home and the sermon really touched me.  I go to Mission Valley Free Methodist of San Gabriel, CA. I live about 10 min away from there so it’s not too far.  The reason why I started going there was because of the senior pastor, Dave Fukuyama. He is our old family friend. My family and I actually attended a previous church before where pastor Dave spoke at.  However, when we heard the news that he was leaving to attend Mission Valley Free Methodist, we followed him. Pastor Dave is one of my favorite pastors that I have ever listened to. All of his sermons are really meaningful and he tries to connect them to ways in which everyone can relate to.  

Yesterday his sermon talked about how there are people who lose the hunger and thirst for God.  He explains it how other things may come in to distract you from your relationship with God that can get in the way.  For example, if you have a stressful job, you would focus more on your job than your relationship with God.

This sermon really touched me because I have been getting distracted lately.  With classes, homework, exams, midterms, basketball practice and games, my relationships with my friends and family, it’s hard to keep up.  There are times where I would go months without talking to God because I’ve been so busy and stressed. However, instead of distancing myself from God, I need to build my relationship even more.  With God’s love in my life, I can do great things. I am so eager to get back to my normal routine this week. However, I will need to learn to focus more on my relationship with God as well.

In class the Thursday before break, we watched a film that revealed the everyday lives of members in a Fundamentalist Baptist Congregation. The film itself was incredibly intriguing, and it was shocking to see such an accurate and honest depiction of the lives of these members. Something that stuck out to me however, was the treatment of women in this particular church. Repeatedly throughout the film, women are subservient to men. This is a fairly common practice within most Abrahamic Religions, but what was shocking to me was the dialogue that went on about women and just how submissive women were seemingly forced to be. The whole plot line with Bob, the man whose wife left him and the church, illustrated this best, I believe. Through his dialogue with John and others, you hear him accuse her for driving him away, not his alcoholism or abusive tendencies. He is waiting for God to “reveal to her that she is in the wrong” and taking responsibility for his actions seems out of the question. The wife obviously loves her kids and wants to see them, but Bob will not let her until she is “no longer living in sin.” This behavior seems to take the Judeo-Christian Patriarchy to an unhealthy extreme. My question is whether this behavior comes naturally to a sectarian congregation. Does the rejection of outsiders exist within as well?

From my observations, it seems that sectarian congregations seem to have an exceedingly intense Patriarchal system imbedded within them. Women are not placed on an equal level as men. In fact, they are not even close to being equal with them. I believe that it may be likely that there is a sense of “otherness” within these congregations. Those in leadership have a sense of superiority that detaches them from the rest of the group. This imbeds itself in the doctrine and practices of the group, leaving those in an inferior position with the idea that they belong in said position.

(I also still find it hilarious that the boys’ shorts were a good foot shorter than the cheerleaders’ skirts.)