■ A study of campus ministries in the U.S. finds that today’s college students are less likely to be seeking spiritual experiences and teachings in joining these ministries than looking for “a home away from home” that provides a source of social support. The five-year study, directed by John Schmalzbauer at the University of Missouri, who presented its results at the August meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion in Montreal, which RW attended, was based on 250 interviews in 20 campus ministries of different faiths around the country. Schmalzbauer said that students are joining these campus ministries more for a sense of belonging, what he calls “dwelling,” rather than “seeking,” which was more characteristic of previous generations. This trend is tied in with the reports of growing loneliness on campuses.
Source: https://www.resonateglobalmission.org/campus- ministry
He found that, according to chaplains, the desire for a “safe space” is often referenced by students, by which they mean as much a space where they can ask questions about their faith as one where they can find refuge from “micro-aggressions” they may experience. Schmalzbauer adds that this can be seen particularly among Jewish students in the face of protests and tensions on campuses since October 7. But students from minority groups and religions may not feel the same degree of support, given their sparser number of campus ministries. While the Assemblies of God have 1,631 campus ministries, the African American Church of God in Christ has just 12. Muslim, Sikh and other campus ministries often cannot afford staff. Schmalzbauer adds that, all too often, religious groups on campus are “siloed and…often segregated” from each other.
■ While urbanism and youth are seen as key features in religious non-affiliation in Canada, today the major cities in Quebec are showing fewer “nones,” even among young adults, while smaller cities are showing more, according to a study by Jacob Legault-Leclair (University of Waterloo). The study, presented at the August meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, analyzed the Census (2001–2021) and the National Household Survey, finding that nones represent about 29 percent of the populations of Montreal, Quebec City, and Gatineau, which have all attracted many immigrants. In these cities 60 percent of the populations are “other religions,” with fewer immigrant residents being non-affiliated (25 percent in Montreal). Any increase of nones in a city such as Montreal tends to be at the expense of Catholics. Legault-Leclair states that the “historical trend of cities being at the forefront of secularization is gradually changing. The idea of the ‘secular city’ driven by immigration may have been the case in earlier years among older cohorts, but it changed with younger cohorts.” “However,” he adds, “it will take a few more years for the proportions of nones in Quebec’s regions to catch up with that of the cities.” But he speculates that Montreal, Quebec City, and Gatineau may come to resemble London and Sydney in being more religious than their respective countries.
A woman attending a rally against Quebec’s Bill 21 on April 7, 2019, holds up a sign stating that people should not lose their employment for wearing a religious symbol (The Canadian Press / Graham Hughes – https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/french-canada/challenging-secularism).
■ While religious non-affiliation is growing in Latin America, the “nones” in this region are less secular than their counterparts in the U.S. and Europe, according to Matthew Blanton of the University of Texas. Blanton, who presented a paper at the early August meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion in Montreal, found that, overall, Latin Americans show a persistent religiosity and belief in God, even if there is a weakening of religious institutions. Using the Americas Barometer surveys with data from Pew and the Cooperative Elections Study, the researcher compared patterns of belief and practice among nones in Latin America and those in the U.S. and Europe. He found that 13 percent of the nones in Latin America still attended church, compared to 7 percent in the U.S. and 0 percent in Europe. Twenty percent of the Latin American nones rated religion as important, compared to 9 percent in the U.S. and 2 percent in Europe. While there is a “weakening of the institutions…belief in the supernatural persists in Latin America.” As in other countries, Blanton observed a trend of slackening religious affiliation and church attendance among the younger generations.
Source: https://www.relationalmission.org/news/
2021/1/20/plantukreview
■ A study of church planting in the UK finds that new church plants, attempting to appeal to their secular neighbors, rarely use the term “church.”The study, conducted by the Centre for Church Planting Theology in Durham, found that although more than 900 new churches were established by 11 dioceses in the past 10 years, none of them used the word “church plant” or “church.” The study’s report, cited by Fox News (August 16), concluded that “Not one diocese used the term ‘church’ in their main descriptor. ‘Church plant’ is not used by any of the 11 dioceses. Only one diocese used ‘fresh expressions’ of ‘pioneering’ in its descriptor.” The study itself refers to these not-quite-church-plants as “new things,” as there was no specificity offered as to what these “things” are. Six of the 11 dioceses used the language of “worship” as their main descriptor for new church projects. Seven used “community,” and only two used “congregation.”
■ New research finds that Buddhists in Italy tend to see themselves less as converts to the religion and more as mixing and matching Buddhist practices and beliefs with others, even with Catholicism. ”In a paper presented at the early August meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion in Montreal, Giuseppe Giordan of the University of Padua estimated that there are 350,000 Buddhists in Italy, mostly represented by the Union of Buddhists of Italy (except Soka Gakkai). Among those Italian Buddhists he interviewed and observed, Giordan found they tended to be upper class, highly educated, and leftist in politics. He found that 1 in 10 were Catholics, while 52 percent claimed no religion. Sixty-seven percent said they did not convert to Buddhism, with many taking a mix-and-match approach, while others said that Buddhism was more of a philosophy than a religion. Eighty-seven percent said that many religions have a claim to the truth. There was also a perception among the respondents that the state treats Buddhism as equal to Catholicism. Giordan concludes that for Italian Buddhists, who combine “multiple belonging, multiple practice, and Mass on Sunday, there is no cognitive dissonance.”
Participants of a Kalachakra teaching at the Istituto Samantabhadra
(source: https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/buddhism-in-italy-an-overview/).
