The problems that this article seeks to address are those that are raised in the context of the bilateralism that is established when we think in terms of secularism as primarily orientated towards reason and post secularism, towards faith. The objective of the article is to show that the distinction between the two can be collapsed. Post…

This article aims to explore the key concept of religious representations that reflect an individual's relational world and indicates the individual's religious maturity. While the term "representations" is originally used in psychodynamic studies, the article discusses the idea that religious representations provide important indications of an…

Worshipers in a national random sample of 309 conservative and mainline Protestant congregations in the USA completed surveys during religious services in 2001. An index was created to capture a dimension of congregational identity: worshipers' vision for their congregation's future and their commitment to it. Results show that worshipers in…

This article highlights the importance of considering the flow of newcomers into church life and the inadequacy of relying solely upon changes in numbers of attenders in assessing the effectiveness of churches. Drawing upon data collected in four countries, Australia, England, New Zealand and the United States of America, this article looks at the…