church & denomination

7/28/2019 Church & Denomination

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Religious organisations, including cults, sects,

denominations, churches and New Age movements and

their relationship to religious & spiritual belief in practice:Typologies of churches, denominations, sects, cults with examples

of each.

New Religious Movements and typologies of NRMs eg world

rejecting/accommodating/ affirming; millenarian beliefs, with

examples of each.New Age movements and spirituality, with examples.

The relationship of these organisations to religious and spiritual

belief and practice.

The relationship between different social groups and

religious/spiritual organisations and movements, beliefs

and practices:

Reasons why people join NRMs, NAMs and other organisations.


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Typologies of religious organisations: churches,

denominations, sects and cults with examples of each.

Church Denomination Sect CultStructure Large hierarchical religious

organisationLarge formal religious

organisationSmall voluntary group Small group

Organisation Based on priesthood andrituals

Based on priesthood and lay

(or non official members)

Charismatic leadership and

authorityCharismatic leadership

Relationship

with secular

societyGenerally recognises state

and accepts norms and

values of society

Usually recognises value of

state and shares most norms

and values

Critical of mainstream

society

Often reclusive and

withdrawn from society with

differing prevailing norms

and values

Relationship

with members Little formal commitmentrequired from membersStronger commitment of

members following rules

such as teetotalism or non-

gambling

Exceptional commitment of

members

Flexible commitment, but

exceptional while in place

New members Children join at birth Adults join, but childreninducted earlyMembers converted, though

some second generation

membership. Members can

be expelled.

Membership is flexible and

movement between cults

can take place

Expulsion possible

Time Scale Often developed overcenturies

Often more than a hundred

years of development

Can continue beyond death

of leader, but generally have

a discernible life span. May

evolve to denomination

status.

Often short-lived and die

with the leader


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Identify the key characteristics of churches and

denominations. Recognise the possible links between church, denomination

and sect.

Explore some examples of churches and denominations in

society today.

Lesson 1: Learning Objectives


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A large, formal religious organisation mostcommonly associated with Christianity.

Worldwide examples are the Anglican

(Protestant) or Roman Catholic Churches A national example is the Church of England.

A Church is?????What do you think a

church is?


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Developed the classification of religiousorganisations.

Identified a church as having several features whichdistinguish it from other organisations.

Came to a definition based on Western Christian

Organisations, which is still applicable to othersocieties and faiths.

Troeltschs classification focuses on 16th CenturyEurope so does not account for the wide variety of

religious groups in modern society.

Ernst Troeltsch (1931)


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A Church: Defining Features

Large, Formal

organisation


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A hierarchy of

paid officials


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Automatic

Recruitment


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Tries to appealto all members

of society


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May have a

close relationship

with the state


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Accepts wider

society


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Claims a

monopoly on

religious truth.


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Part of the worldwide Anglican church spans

several societies. Huge size so has to be bureaucratically organised

with a hierarchy of professionals: bishops, ministers,archbishops.

Draws members from all social classes. Is traditionally conservative and supports the status

quo appeals to the upper classes.

Case Study: The Church of England


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Weaker now than in the middle ages, but the Queen

is still head of the church and the state in England. Automatic recruitment still applies but infant

baptisms have fallen from 70% in the 1930s to 30%during the 1990s.

Now tolerates a wide range of coexisting faithswhich have contrasting versions of religious truth.

Participates in the Ecumenical Movement unitingChristians against the threat of non Christian groups.

Church of England and The State


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Bruce (1996) suggests the concept of the church is out-dated inmost Christian countries now and should only really be applied in

cases where a single religious organisation really does dominatesociety and can reasonably claim to be administering to all membersof society. E.g. the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, Spain or Italyor Islam in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan.

Many Western societies are now experiencing religious pluralism

and many churches do not expect or get a high degree of religiouspluralism.

Churches are becoming more tolerant of other groups and beliefsand coexist quite happily with other groups.

The term denomination may now more accurately describe the

major religious organisations in societies with religious pluralism.

Is the concept of the church nowobsolete?


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Robertson (1987) argues that there has been an increasein church-state tensions throughout the world.

Churches are increasingly distancing themselves from theState. Examples of tensions between churches and the state:

o Shiite fundamentalists in the Middle East.o

Coptic Christians in Egypt.o Sikhs in India.o Islamic Fundamentalists in Pakistan, Indonesia and thePhilippines.

Churches are increasingly transnational organisations. In International trade and diplomacy theological issuesare not seen as important so national governments tend tocome into conflict with the concerns of domestic churches.


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Contemporary churches do retain some of theirtraditional features in some areas: They tend to be larger and more conservative thanother religious groups. Bruce and Wallis (1986) argue that where it isdominant, the Roman Catholic Church acts as auniversal church which claims authority over society

as a whole e.g. In Spain, Portugal and the Republic ofIreland. In Iran there is a close identification of Islam and thestate.


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A smaller, formal religious group.

First identified by Neibuhr (1929) Have steadily increased in number over the last 200

years.

Developed from sects which originated asbreakaway groups from the main church.

Share some characteristics with the church.

A Denomination is


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The relationship

Sect Denomination

Church Growth in sizeand influence

Increase in

Membership

or influence

Formal, large, more

socially acceptable

Militant or

deviant behaviour,

dwindling numbers

Rejection of

the church and or

organised religion.

Extremist groups.

Often led by a

charismatic leader.


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Denomination: Defining Features

Large, formal

organisation


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Hierarchy ofpaid officials


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Tries to appealto all members

of society


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No claimto monopoly on

religious truth


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Accept

religious

diversity


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No close

relationship

with the state


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May not fullyaccept wider

society


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A variety of denominations can exist within a single society therefore impossible to offer a monopoly of truth.

Brierley (2001)claimed there were 250 Christiandenominations in Britain at the start of the 21st Century.

Bruce (1995)argues the most significant differencebetween them and a church is the acceptance of other

beliefs. Are conservative, but advocate a split of the church from

state to focus on religious not political matters.

Tend to place a few minor restrictions on members

participation in social life.

Denominations: The Info


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Methodists are advised against drinking and

gambling.

Denominations Case Study: Methodists


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Have a lesser appeal in society than the church.

Brierly estimates there were 340,500 Methodists inBritain in 2005 compared to 1,549,940 for AnglicanChurches.

It is difficult to define membership. Other examples: Pentecostalists, Baptists

The appeal of Denominations


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Acrostics

WA OF THINKING

FORMAL SET OF ID AS

OFTEN SUPPORTED BY ESEARCH

ISTORICAL MOMENTLINKED TO A SPECIFIC

INVI E CRITICISM

PEN TO DEBATE


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Try your own


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Churches

Troeltsch (1931) who was one of the 1st writers to try to distinugish

between different types of religion defined a church as a large

religious organisation which stabilises and determines the political

order.

Claims a monopoly on religious truth.

Dont have to demonstrate faith often born into it so children

automatically recruited. Accepts and affirms life in society, members can play a full and

active part in society and are not expected to withdraw.

Claims to be universal welcoming everyone but not always in

practice.

Upper classes particularly likely to join.

Often closely linked to State, particularly in the past.

Likely to be ideologically conservative and support the status quo.

Formal organisations with a hierarchical structure.


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Bruce (1996) believes that Troelschs definition is only really applicable to

premodern Christian societies.

He believed that the development of religious pluralism in modern times

undermined the maintenance of church type organisations as it became difficult

for the state to only support one religion.

Bruce says that the Church of England is now a denominations.

Support for Bruce:

Percentages of people who are members of churches vary widely.

Many churches no longer claim to have a monopoly on the truth. Ecumenical movement seeks unity between different Christian religious

groups shows how far churches are willing to compromise their beliefs.

Churches are not always ideologically conservative and do not always

support the dominant groups. The General Synod of the C of E clashed with

the UK Conservative government in the 1990s over things like poverty andpoor conditions in inner city areas.

In some circumstances churches are not linked to the state and may even

oppose them e.g. The Roman Catholic Church in Poland who opposed the

Communist Government.


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Denominations

Niebuhr (1929) was the first sociologist to differentiate clearly thedenomination from the church. He says that denominations have the

following features:1. Does not have a universal appeal in society.2. Draw members from all areas of society but are not closely linked to the

upper classes like Churches. All members are freely accepted.3. Does not identify with the state and approves the separation of church

and state.

4. Do not claim monopoly on religious truth. Tolerate and work with otherreligions.

5. Usually conservative: members generally accept the norms and values ofsociety. They may be expected to do slightly different things to widersociety e.g. Methodists are encouraged not to drink to excess or gamble.

6. Hierarchy of officials.

Stark and Bainbridge (1985) see denominations as sharing several, but not allof the features of a church. They are a kind of watered down church whichhave some similarities to a sect.


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Bruce (1995) sees the lack of claim to a monopoly of thereligious truth as the defining feature of denominations. He

sees them as increasingly important in society.The concept covers a wide range of organizations fromJehovahs Witnesses to Methodists to Pentecostalists toBaptists.

Some organisations are classified as sects by somesociologists but as denominations by others.

In 2000 the UK Christian Handbook listed 250 differentChristian Denominations.

church & denomination

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