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Strictness and Congregational Growth in Middletown
Author(s) -
Tamney Joseph B.,
Johnson Stephen D.,
McElmurry Kevin,
Saunders George
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal for the scientific study of religion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.941
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1468-5906
pISSN - 0021-8294
DOI - 10.1111/1468-5906.00188
Subject(s) - modernization theory , asceticism , sample (material) , protestantism , growth theory , sociology , middle class , positive economics , economics , neoclassical economics , political science , law , theology , philosophy , economic growth , chemistry , chromatography
The relative effectiveness of strictness theory and modernization theory in explaining congregational growth is tested using a random sample of white, Protestant churches in Middletown (N = 98). Although the former theory predicts that growth is positively related to an authoritative structure and to enforcing rules of ascetic strictness, modernization theory predicts the opposite pattern. For our sample, authoritative leadership seemed not to produce congregational growth. The main finding was that strict rules positively related to growth among working‐class congregations, but negatively related to growth among middle‐class congregations.