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An unwilling, desperate nun trapped in the cloister, unable to gain release: such is the image that endures today of monastic life in early modern Europe. InBy Force and Fear, Anne Jacobson Schutte demonstrates that this and other common stereotypes of involuntary consignment to religious houses-shaped by literary sources such as Manzoni's The Betrothed-are badly off the mark. Drawing on records of the Congregation of the Council, held in the Vatican Archive, Schutte examines nearly one thousand petitions for annulment of monastic vows submitted to the Pope and adjudicated by the Council during a 125-year period, from 1668 to 1793. She considers petitions from Roman Catholic regions across Europe and a few from Latin America and finds that, in about half these cases, the congregation reached a decision. Many women and a smaller proportion of men got what they asked for: decrees nullifying their monastic profession and releasing them from religious houses. Schutte also reaches important conclusions about relations between elders and offspring in early modern families. Contrary to the picture historians have painted of increasingly less patriarchal and more egalitarian families, she finds numerous instances of fathers, mothers, and other relatives (including older siblings) employing physical violence and psychological pressure to compel adolescents into \"entering religion.\" Dramatic tales from the archives show that many victims of such violence remained so intimidated that they dared not petition the pope until the agents of force and fear had died, by which time they themselves were middle-aged. Schutte's innovative book will be of great interest to scholars of early modern Europe, especially those who work on religion, the Church, family, and gender.

The sociological study of youth religion is a growing field of research. This essay focuses on the rising number of young Korean adult believers from five downtown religious congregations in Seoul who are leaving their congregations due to increased cynicism and as they re-examine their religious faith. Based on a series of in-depth interviews (Focus Group Interviews (FGIs)) conducted with both young adult believers and priests, this paper examines several key factors including why young adult believers decide to leave their congregations, how their congregations react to the changing environment, and whether they can develop innovative approaches to deal with the emerging situation. Although each and every one of the congregations considers this phenomenon to be a serious issue, the solutions they have applied to retain and attract young adult believers in and to their faith have so far been ineffective. Nonetheless, it is likely that the reason behind the failure to keep more young adults in their faith and congregation may correlate to how competitive and innovative solutions provided by the congregational leadership are as they attempt to tackle the ongoing issue of retaining and attracting young adult congregational members.

Religion is an important part of many people's lives and there is some evidence that attending church or other religious congregations is positively associated with psychological well-being. However, religious participation is declining in Western Europe and North America. Sunday Assembly is a non-religious gathering that intends to provide a similar communal experience and a sense of spirituality to the church, but without the religious element. In the current study, we aimed to explore the experiences of and motivations for attending a non-religious congregation in relation to well-being. A qualitative approach was taken, gathering data through semi-structured interviews with participants from Sunday Assembly congregations across England. Thematic analysis was used and three key themes were found: (1) searching for meaning and community, (2) Sunday Assembly as protective of mental health, and (3) loneliness in a crowd. Sunday Assembly can provide a sense of belonging and improvement in mental health through shared experience and spirituality, and it can act as a coping mechanism during difficult times. Further research could explore the benefits of Sunday Assembly upon attendee's mental health, test the effectiveness of Sunday Assembly as a coping mechanism, and whether continued attendance improves mood over time.

Religious congregations are a significant setting for volunteerism in the United States, and increasing rates of volunteerism correlate with age. Because of their prolonged health and increased longevity, the large boomer generation represents a potentially significant volunteer resource for congregations. But current research on boomers and congregational life provides little information about this age cohort for engaging them in community ministry. Using a large purposive sample (n = 2883) drawn from Protestant congregations in four regions of the U.S., we explore differences between boomer volunteers and non-volunteers including self-reported motivations, barriers, and outcomes. Despite similarities in most demographics and barriers to volunteering, volunteers and non-volunteers report differing levels of motivation for and outcomes of volunteering. Using service-learning concepts to explore how characteristics of volunteer opportunities influence the faith of volunteers, we found that certain program characteristics indeed correlate with positive outcomes while other characteristics are generally absent. Based on these findings, we provide guidance for both congregation and community agency leaders to increase and enhance opportunities for boomer volunteers.

1766).6 His father William ministered to the Baptist congregation in King's Stanley, a village about 48 kilometres from where he lived.7 While growing up in Coleford, Isaiah Birt was sent to Bell's Grammar School at Newland, but, due to his Baptist background, he experienced violent prejudice.8 John Birt recalled that his companions, having imbibed the notion that there was no law to protect those who were not christened, took the opportunity of their going and returning, to inflict upon him every annoyance which boyish wantonness and ingenuity could contrive. After a severe conflict, he thoroughly thrashed them both; and from that time forward they ceased to meddle with him.11 Remarkably, John Birt noted that 'these early contests prepared [his father] zealously to advocate his principles as a Baptist, when they became the principles of his understanding and his choice [...and] though he ceased to employ carnal weapons, he continued occasionally to give hard knocks'.12 Isaiah Birt experienced conversion after hearing Edward Burn (17621837), a Methodist preacher who at the time was probably studying at the Countess of Huntingdon's (1707-1791) Trevecca College.13 He then was baptised and joined Usk Baptist Chapel in Monmouthshire, Wales, under the ministry of Edmund Watkins (1720-1798).14 According to his biographer, Birt's baptism took place on a day of such hard frost that 'it was necessary to break a hole in the ice' for the ordinance.15 With Watkins' encouragement, Birt was sent to study under Caleb Evans (1737-1791) at Bristol in 1779.16 Meanwhile in Plymouth, though Philip Gibbs (1728-1800) had Bristol graduate John Norman (d. 1782) as his assistant, the latter died in 1782.17 Thus, in January 1782, the congregation called Birt, upon Evans' recommendation, to assist Gibbs and it was during this probationary period that Samuel Pearce (17661799) came to faith through Birt's sermons.18 Though the Plymouth congregation was formed in 1640, it had suffered severe declines since 1722, and by 1748 there were only eight members.19 Since Gibbs was called in 1749, the congregation experienced growth. [...]two years later, the congregation tore down their dilapidated building and built a new meeting house on the same site in the Pig Market.20 A year before Birt's arrival, the congregation planned a new site in Liberty Fields (now Pembroke Street) at Plymouth Dock (Devonport) for members living in the area.21 After a period of probation, Birt was ordained on 15 January 1784 to minister to the Plymouth Dock congregation. Five years later, since the Pig Market congregation had moved to Howe Street, and the relationship between the two congregations became strained, the Plymouth Dock congregation decided to separate themselves from their mother church.22 As the congregation grew, Birt personally purchased the vacant Wesleyan chapel in Morice Square to form a second congregation.23 In June 1798, the Plymouth Dock congregations welcomed William Steadman (1764-1837) to assist Birt.24 Like the Pig Market congregation, Pembroke Street and Morice Square were considered as one church under the co-pastorate of Birt and Steadman.

Since 1894, Rosemont has been home to the Church of the Good Shepherd, an Anglo-Catholic parish that was independently founded but has long been affiliated with the Diocese of Pennsylvania. Standing at the center of the altar, the priest then sings the Opening Acclamation in a resonate tenor voice, followed by a said Collect for Purity and Summary of the Law. The ushers then pass plates among the congregation, but most do not contribute - as they most likely are contributing online or by a bank's bill-pay service.

If approved, such a commemoration would mark a long-overlooked signal event in the life of the church-an event, it can be argued, as consequential as the ordination of women to the priesthood in 1974, as it opened a path that for centuries had been closed to women who sought to lead lives of consecrated service in the church. Tyler, widowed three years earlier, and Guild joined Eveline Black (1825-1875) and Catherine Minard (1837-1917), who for several months had been living in the rectory with Stringfellow and his family, having agreed to engage in the work of caring for the neighborhood poor sometime in 1855. Recounting the genesis of the infirmary, Stringfellow declared his ardent desire to alleviate \"the destitution both temporal & spiritual\" he encountered in \"hunting up the poor\" who were \"wandering about like lost sheep many of them dragging out a wretched existence deprived not only of the comforts but of the actual necessities of life-hurrying on to the bar of God with no preparation made for the day of trial.\" The work of the parish's Holy Guild, established by Southgate and a group of laymen in 1852 (women were admitted within a year), offered a fertile field of endeavour for Tyler, whose widowhood in 1853 brought to a close a quarter-century of caring for her invalid husband.

Studies have pointed to politics as an important force driving people away from religion—the argument is that the dogmatic politics of the Christian Right have alienated liberals and moderates, effectively threatening organized religion in America. We argue that existing explanations are incomplete; a proper reconsideration necessitates distinguishing processes of affiliation (with specific congregations) from identification (with religious traditions). Using three data sets, we find evidence that qualifies and complements existing narratives of religious exit. Evaluations of congregational political fit drive retention decisions. At the same time, opposition to the Christian Right only bears on retention decisions when it is salient in a congregational context, affecting primarily evangelicals and Republicans. These results help us understand the dynamics of the oft-observed relationship between the Christian Right and deidentification and urge us to adopt a broader, more pluralistic view of the politicization of American religion.

Although the positive association between religiosity and life satisfaction is well documented, much theoretical and empirical controversy surrounds the question of how religion actually shapes life satisfaction. Using a new panel dataset, this study offers strong evidence for social and participatory mechanisms shaping religion's impact on life satisfaction. Our findings suggest that religious people are more satisfied with their lives because they regularly attend religious services and build social networks in their congregations. The effect of within-congregation friendship is contingent, however, on the presence of a strong religious identity. We find little evidence that other private or subjective aspects of religiosity affect life satisfaction independent of attendance and congregational friendship.