wfn.org | New Interfaith Research Reveals Surprising Data

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EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE. HOLD UNTIL NOON ON TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2001

For further information, contact:
David Barrett, Director of Public and Institutional Affairs
Hartford Seminary
77 Sherman Street
Hartford CT 06105
Tel: 860-509-9519
Email: dbarrett@hartsem.edu <mailto:dbarrett@hartsem.edu>
Web: http://fact.hartsem.edu

NEW YORK, March 13, 2001---The typical American has a faulty picture of the
nation's churches, synagogues and mosques, a prominent sociologist said here
today.

	"When we see President Bush go to church it is to a Texas-size
United Methodist Church," Professor David A. Roozen explained.  "And
newspaper pictures show Roman Catholic Cardinal Edward Eagan in the vast St.
Patrick's Cathedral where he is flanked by a group of other priests."

	The reality, according to Roozen, is demonstrated by a new study of
religion in the United States today.  "Half of all congregations have fewer
than 100 regularly participating adults.  And fully 52 percent are located
in small towns and open country," he said.

	He cited the most extensive and inclusive research survey ever
conducted of American congregations, called Faith Communities Today or FACT.

	Another scholar, Professor Carl S. Dudley, reported that among
congregations enjoying financial health, a whopping 71 percent see
themselves as "moral beacons" in their communities.  "Personal morality is
an important factor for healthy congregations," he says, citing the example
that "69 percent of such congregations emphasize the importance of
abstinence from premarital sex."

	Dudley and Roozen, who co-directed the FACT study with major support
from the Lilly Endowment and 41 faith groups, are faculty at the Hartford
Institute for Religion Research, Hartford Seminary.  More than 100 other
researchers, teachers and communicators from a wide spectrum of religious
groups helped design and conduct the survey and have already developed
follow-up plans.

	Dudley told a news conference at the Greek Orthodox Holy Trinity
Cathedral here today that the study reveals how faith-based programs of
human services provide a national, personal network that reaches into nearly
every community in America.  Day care and health clinics, for example,
already have government connections or meet government standards.

	More than two out of three congregations report sponsoring or
supporting a thrift shop, for example, and more than one of three are
involved in tutoring.  Their responses suggest that more than 200,000
congregations sponsor thrift shops and 120,000 help tutor children and youth
nationwide.  "Even if we modify the projections on the assumption that a
third of the congregations work with other groups providing shared services,
the religious contribution to community welfare is far greater than other
estimates suggest," Dudley explained.

  "The FACT study shows that these programs often are located in remote or
impoverished communities where other services are absent or would be more
expensive than recipients can afford," he said.  The Bush Administration
currently is encouraging these so-called  "charitable choice" efforts,
promising more federal assistance to "faith-based programs."

	"Our data shows that nearly all faith groups-from liberal and
evangelical Protestants to Catholics, Orthodox and such world religions as
Jews, Muslims and Baha'i's-support these outreach ministries," he said,
acknowledging that the historically Black protestant groups "are slightly
more active than the others."

Roozen called attention to charts in the 68-page FACT Report on Religion in
the U.S. Today that show how "clarity of mission and purpose" and
"strictness of member expectations" contribute to membership growth.  FACT's
research, based on responses from 14,301 congregations located in every
state, show that half of these congregations report membership growth. The
findings also show that social ministries and working for social justice
have contributed to growth.

Other topics covered by the massive study include public worship, spiritual
growth, and how congregations are managed and led.

Faith Communities Today is thought to be the first major research on
congregational life that also includes wide-ranging efforts to help local
religious groups use the data to strengthen their own programs and
ministries.  One innovative approach, an on-line interactive workbook, was
also made available today to churches, synagogues and mosques across the
nation.  Three years in the making, that workbook is known as "Interact with
Fact" and may be accessed on the Faith Communities Today website at
http://FACT.hartsem.edu

Copies of the Report on Religion in the United States Today are available
from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford Seminary, 77
Sherman Street, Hartford, CT 06105. Call 860-509-9543 or write to
FACT@hartsem.edu for copies.

-----------------------------
David Barrett
Director of Public and Institutional Affairs
Hartford Seminary
860-509-9519
dbarrett@hartsem.edu