Item Detail
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27704
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0
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0
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English
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Social Capital and Religion : A Church is Not a Building, A Program, or an Idea, but Rather a Community of People
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Salt Lake City, UT
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Westminster College
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Master's Thesis
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"This study addresses the local and national condition of religious social capital in Utah, specifically Salt Lake County, and the United States. The literature addresses significant contributors to social capital and religious social capital, the impact of a majority religious culture on voluntary participation in Christian minority communities, and the effect of increasing technology use on social capital creating environments. The Williams Religious Social Capital Index, proxemics and channel capacity serve as the primary frameworks in research design and data analysis. Four Evangelical and Protestant churches participated in the study. Five ministers described their perspectives on social connectedness through a series of interviews. Two-hundred-eighty-four church participants responded to an online survey. Data analysis revealed that each church community is demographically homogeneous, influenced by dominant Mormon religious norms, and well-connected across all four categorizations of social capital. Ministers expressed a variety of perceptions affecting social connectedness including a high emphasis on Sunday service participation, self-selection, and territoriality. Discussion underscores the need for ministers to concretely understand the social dynamics at play within their communities."--Author's abstract.
Author's keywords: social capital, proxemics, channel capacity, religion, religious, minority, bonding, bridging, linking, Mormon, Christian, Christianity, Utah.