This section contains articles and research reports by current and former Institute faculty that are available online. Many of these articles are also featured in other sections of this or other Institute websites; however, this index may help visitors find a particular article more quickly. We will add works here often. The articles are listed alphabetically by the faculty person’s last name.
Current Institute Members
Charissa Mikoski
Mikoski, Charissa and Daniel V. A. Olson. 2021. “Does Religious Group Population Share Affect the Religiosity of the Next Generation?” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 60(3):611-27.
Allison Norton
“No Access for You: Insights on Gaining Entry in African Religious Spaces with Researcher Positionality in View.” With Felicity Apaah. In Studies in World Christianity. (Under review)
“Combatting COVID-19 and ‘Possessing the Nations:’ Insights from Ghana’s Megachurches.” With Felicity Apaah. In Journal of Religion in Africa.
“Immigration and US Congregations: Contemporary Trends and Issues” in The Identity and Mission of the Korean American Church, edited by Jesudas M. Athyal. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
“Negotiating a Multicultural Church.” in Pentecostals in Transition: Next Generation African Pentecostals in the West, edited by Caleb Opoku Nyanni. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock.
“The Role of Transnational Pentecostalism as Public Religion in Ghana and Beyond: Pandemic Realities and the ‘Flexibility’ Model” in Re-Visioning African Pentecostal-Charismatic Ecclesiology in the Public Sphere, edited by Christian Tsekpoe. Accra, Ghana: Pentecost University Press.
”Faith in a Time of Uncertainty: Hospital Chaplaincy Amidst Covid-19” in Imagining Megachurches in the Global South and Beyond: Trends, Trajectories and Impacts with Felicity Apaah, edited by Babatunde Adedibu, Felicity Apaah, Okelloh Ogera, and Benson Igboin. Lagos, Nigeria. (Forthcoming)
“Not Just Going It Alone: Megachurch Networking and Collaboration.” 2023. In The Routledge Handbook of Megachurches, edited by Afe Adogame, Chad Bauman, Damaris Parsitau, and Jeaney Yip. Milton Park; Routledge Press. Norton, Allison L., and Caleb Opoku Nyanni. (Forthcoming)
“New Generations, New Mission: Intergenerational Faith Transmission and the Missionary Function of African Immigrant Faith Communities.” 2018. International Bulletin of Missionary Research 47(2):216-230.
“Fanning the Pentecostal Fire: Faith Transmission and the Second Generation in African Immigrant Churches” in African Pentecostal Missions Maturing: Essays in Honor of Apostle Opoky Onyinah, edited by Elorm Donkor and Clifton Clarke. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock.
“African Diaspora Christianity: Mother Cooper and New York City” in Scattered and Gathered: A Global Compendium of Diaspora Missiology with Mark R. Gornik, edited by Tetsunao Yamamori and Sadiri Joy Tira. Oxford: Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, 2016.
“New Wine in Old Wineskins: A Critical Appraisal of Diaspora Missiology” with Matthew Krabill. 2015. Missiology 43(4):442-455.
“Migrant-Shaped Urban Mission: The Missionary Nature and Initiatives of The Church of Pentecost, USA.” American Society of Missiology Working Papers. Wilmore, KY: First Fruits Press.
Scott Thumma
Megachurches Today
A section of data reports from 2000-2020.
Nondenominational Congregations Study
A compilation of information from the US Religion Census 2010 and 2020, the Faith Communities Today project, and the Organizing Religious Work Project.
What God Makes Free is Free Indeed: Nondenominational Church Identity and its Networks of Support
A paper presented at an annual meeting for the Religious Research Association.
Exploring the Megachurch Phenomenon
A section from Thumma’s dissertation describing what megachurches are, their characteristics, and their resonance with the modern cultural context.
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: Megachurches in Modern American Society
Dissertation, Emory University, 1996.
“Connectionalism Beyond the Denomination: Local Religious Ecologies and Beyond”
A paper presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion/Religious Research Association annual meeting.
Eating Your Cake and Having it Too: US Megachurches and Factors Associated with Attending Multiple Congregations Katie E. Corcoran, Stephanie M. House-Niamke, Warren Bird, and Scott L. Thumma.
“The Pandemic Church?” in Hybrid Hope: Church of the Future for Churches with a Future. Editor Michael Piazza. 2022.
“A Portrait of the 2020 Faith Communities Today Study” Theology Today, Sage Press, 2021.
“Exploring the Dynamics and Challenges of Congregational Size” Theology Today, Sage Press, 2021.
“Talking Over the Back Fence: A Conversation between a Sociologist of Religion and a Practical Theologian about the Faith Communities Today Findings” with Gordon S. Mikoski, Theology Today, Sage Press, 2021.
Learning from Megachurches: An Interview with Scott Thumma, Reflections journal, Yale Divinity School.
“How Much Will Church Size Matter Post-Pandemic?” with Warren Bird, Outreach Magazine, 2021.
“Poised for Growth” with Warren Bird, Outreach Magazine, 2020.
“Virtual Now, But for How Long?” in The Distanced Church: Reflections on Doing Church Online, edited by Heidi A. Campbell, Texas A&M University, 2020.
“What Applied Implies: A Reflection on the Identity of the Religious Research Association” Review of Religious Research, April 2019.
“To Whom Is a Megachurch Accountable? A U.S. Case Study” in Megachurch Accountability in Missions: Critical Assessment through Global Case Studies. Eds. Kim, Jinbong, Dwight Baker, et al. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2016.
“Megachurches: Raised on Charisma, Sustained on Shared Leadership” with Charles C. Manz and Karen P. Manz in Share the Lead. Stanford University Press, 2014.
“Megafaith for the Megacity: The Global Megachurch Phenomenon” with Warren Bird. In The Changing World Religion Map: Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics. Edited by Stanley D. Brunn. Dordrecht: Springer, 2014.
“Creating a New Heaven and a New Earth: Megachurches and the Reengineering of America’s Spiritual Soil” with Elizabeth Leppman in Engineering Earth: The Impacts of Megaengineering Projects. Edited by Stan Brunn. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer Publishing, 2010.
“The Megachurch Phenomenon: Reshaping Church and Faith for the 21st Century” The Cambridge History of Religions in America. Edited by Stephen J. Stein, Cambridge University Press, 2010.
“The Shape of Things to Come: Megachurches, Emerging Churches and Other New Religious Structures Supporting an Individualized Spiritual Identity.” Chapter in Faith in America: Changes, Challenges, New Directions. Editor Charles Lippy, Praeger Press, 2006.
“What Can My Church Learn From A Megachurch?” Outreach Magazine, 2006.
“‘Open and Affirming’ of Growth? The Challenge of Liberal LGB-supportive Congregational Growth” in Why Liberal Churches Are Growing. Edited by Martyn Percy and Ian Markham. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 2006.
“Goliaths in the Midst: Lutheran Megachurches,” co-authored chapter in edited volume Contemporary American Lutheranism. Edited by Richard Cimino. Eerdmans Press, 2003.
“Methods in Studying a Congregation” in Studying Congregations. Edited by Ammerman, Carroll, Dudley, and McKinney. Abingdon Press, 1998.
“The Gospel Hour: Liminality, Identity, and Religion in a Gay Bar” in Contemporary American Religion: An Ethnographic Reader. Edited by Eiesland and Becker. Alta Mira Publishers, 1997.
“Amazing Grace: Gay Gospel in a Southern City” in A Rainbow of Religious Studies. Vol. 7, Gay Men’s Issues in Religious Studies. Edited by Clark and Goss. Monument Press, 1996.
“Megachurches of Atlanta” in Religions of Atlanta: Religious Diversity in the Centennial Olympic City. Edited by Gary Laderman. Scholars Press, 1996.
“Rising out of the Ashes: An Exploration of One Congregation’s Use of Southern Symbolism” in Religion in the Contemporary South: Diversity, Community, and Identity. Edited by White and White. Southern Anthropology Proceedings, No. 28 University of Georgia Press, 1995.
“Negotiating a Religious Identity” in Sociological Analysis. 1991. 52(4):333-347.
“Seeking to Be Converted: An Examination of Recent Conversion Theories” in Pastoral Psychology. 1991. 39:185-194.
B. Clarvon Watts
Former Institute Members
Nancy Ammerman
Doing Good in American Communities: Congregations and Service Organizations Working Together
A research report written by Nancy T. Ammerman from the Organizing Religious Work project.
New Life for Denominationalism
Reprinted with permission from The Christian Century (2000).
Golden Rule Christianity: Lived Religion in the American Mainstream
Reprinted from Lived Religion in America. Edited by David Hall (1997). Published by Princeton University Press.
Organized Religion in a Voluntaristic Society
1996 Presidential Address in Sociology of Religion (1997).
Telling Congregational Stories
The 1993 H. Paul Douglass lecture, in Review of Religious Research.
Waco, Federal Law Enforcement, and Scholars of Religion 1995. Reprinted from Armageddon in Waco. Published by the University of Chicago Press.
Report to the Justice and Treasury Departments
Jackson Carroll
Toward 2000: Some Futures for Religious Leadership
The 1991 H. Paul Douglass lecture for the Religious Research Association.
Growth and Decline in Presbyterian Congregations
Written with Wayne L. Thompson and Dean R. Hoge.
Carl Dudley
Welfare, Faith-Based Ministries, and Charitable Choice
A Closer Look at Charitable Choice
An article written for The Christian Century and reprinted with permission, March 14, 2001.
Significant Research: When Information Has Impact
The 1998 Presidential Lecture for the Religious Research Association.
From Typical Church to Social Ministry: A Study of the Elements Which Mobilize a Congregation
The 1989 H. Paul Douglass lecture presented at a meeting for the Religious Research Association.
Adair Lummis
“Heart and Head” in Reaching Pastors of Black Churches
A paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, Montreal, August 2006.
Program and Policy Research Dynamics in Authority Contained and Dispersed Church Systems
A paper presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion/Religious Research Association annual meeting in Rochester, New York, November 2005.
Numinous Experiences and Reflexive Spirituality in the Formation of Religious Capital Among Feminist Women
A paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, Philadelphia, August 2005.
The Middle Judicatory as a System of Congregations Connected to the Regional Office
A judicatory research report summary.
Judicatories’ Ways of Encouraging Congregations to Share or Covenant with one another in Ministry and Mission
A judicatory research report summary.
Encouraging Large, Wealthy Congregations to Share Resources with Small, Poor Congregations, Second Research Report, Part B
A judicatory research report summary.
Regional Leaders Ways of Working with Congregations
A judicatory research report summary.
Getting Pastors for Churches & Clergy for the Judicatory
A judicatory research report summary.
Finding Leaders at All for Part-Time and Rural Parishes
A judicatory research report summary.
Nonstipendiary and/or Non-M.Div. Pastors for Small Congregations: Education, Oversight and Impact on Community and Covenant Within the Judicatory
A judicatory research report summary.
Connections and Unity Among and Between Congregations, Middle (Regional) Judicatories and Their National Church
A judicatory research report summary.
Summary of Major Findings on a 2003 Survey of the NCC Justice for Women Network
Results of a 2003 survey with analysis and summary by Dr. Lummis.
Reaching Toward Wholeness II: Highlights of the 21st Century Survey, The Participation of Women in the Episcopal Church
Presented at the 2003 General Convention. Dr. Lummis provided research analysis for this survey.
Men’s Commitment to Religion: Perceptions of its Nature, Nurture, and Consequences
A paper delivered at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, October 2003.
Brand Name Identity in a Post-Denominational Age: Regional Leaders’ Perspectives On Its Importance for Churches
A paper delivered at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Columbus, Ohio, October, 2001.
The Art and Science of Subtle Proactivity: Regional Leaders and Their Congregations
A paper presented at the Religious Research Association annual meetings, Columbus, Ohio, October 2001.
Women Clergy Research and the Sociology of Religion
Written by Adair T. Lummis and Paula D. Nesbitt and printed in Sociology of Religion, January 30, 2001.
Clergy Women: An Uphill Calling. An Abstract of the Study
Written by Adair T. Lummis (1999).
Women, Men, and Styles of Clergy Leadership
A summary of the clergy women study by Barbara Brown Zikmund, Adair T. Lummis, and Patricia M. Y. Chang.
The Role of Judicatories in Interpreting Denominational Identity
A paper presented at the annual meeting of the Religious Research Association, Boston, 1999.
Judicatory Niches and Negotiations
A paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, San Francisco, 1998.
Women of the Cloth: A New Opportunity for the Churches
A 1983 out-of-print book about changes that cultural images are undergoing as increasing numbers of women enter the ordained ministry of several Protestant denominations.
William McKinney
Religious Leadership, Religious Research and Religious Renewal
The 1997 H. Paul Douglass lecture for the Religious Research Association.
Revisioning the Future of Oldline Protestantism
Daniel V. A. Olson
Why Do Small Religious Groups Have More Committed Members?
2006 RRA Presidential Address, Review of Religious Research 2008;49(4):353-378.
David Roozen
Oldline Protestantism: Pockets of Vitality Within a Continuing Stream of Decline
10,001 Congregations: H. Paul Douglass, Strictness and Electric Guitars
The 2001 H. Paul Douglass lecture presented at the annual meeting of the Religious Research Association.
Four Mega-Trends Changing America’s Religious Landscape
A presentation at the Religion Newswriters Association Annual Conference, September 22, 2001.
A Study of Doctor of Ministry Programs
This 1987 study was conducted under the auspices of Auburn Theological Seminary and Hartford Institute, then called the Center for Social and Religious Research.
Empty Nest, Empty Pew: The Boomers Continue Through the Family Cycle
Out-of-Print Books
Several important books by current or former Hartford Institute staff have gone out of print or were self-published. The following books are archivally available by download.
Building Effective Ministry: Theory and Practice in the Local Church (1983)
Edited by Carl Dudley
This seminal book in the field of congregational studies was the result of a project in which scholars from different academic disciplines reported on the distinctive perspectives each could bring to our understanding of congregations. Each chapter takes a different view of one congregation, Wiltshire Church, and shows just how complex and multifaceted a social reality the local church is.
Women of the Cloth: A New Opportunity for the Churches (1983)
Jackson W. Carroll, Barbara Hargrove, and Adair T. Lummis
Cultural images do not change easily, especially those weighted with the aura of sacred tradition. This book captured changes around woman’s religious leadership as increasing numbers of women entered the ordained ministry of several Mainline Protestant denominations.
Handbook of Congregational Studies (1986)
Edited by Jackson W. Carroll, Carl S. Dudley, and William McKinney
This book systematized the study of congregations for seminarians and religious professionals, placing the congregation itself, rather than individual scholarly disciplines, at the center of congregational analysis. It continues to provide techniques for studying the congregation as well as a framework for understanding the nature of the congregation.
Church and Denominational Growth: What Does (and does not) Cause Growth or Decline (1993)
Edited by David A. Roozen and C. Kirk Hadaway
Tackling the so-called church growth movement, Roozen and Hadaway (aided by a dozen other experts) examine the claims about what was happening, what was working, and who was helping to grow denominations and congregations in the USA and Canada. This valuable collection continues to offer insight into what contributes to church growth.
A Study of Doctor of Ministry Programs (1987)
This study was conducted under the auspices of Auburn Theological Seminary and Hartford Institute, then called the Center for Social and Religious Research. Written by Jackson W. Carroll and Barbara G. Wheeler, this study is based on research by Jackson W. Carroll, Adair T. Lummis, David A. Roozen, and Barbara G. Wheeler with special financial studies conducted by Badgett Dillard and Anthony Ruger.
Changing the Way Seminaries Teach: Globalization and Theological Education (1996) Volume I
David A. Roozen, Alice Frazer Evans, Robert A. Evans
The 1980s and 1990s produced a significant body of theoretical and normative literature on both the globalization of theological education and the character of seminaries. Almost totally absent in this discourse was any concrete attention to how one might embody such thinking in the life and practice of teaching institutions. This book is a critical analysis of the successes, failures, and learnings; with concrete examples of innovative courses and faculty reflection on mutuality, contextuality, and global economics of 12 seminaries that cooperatively worked for five years to sharpen their respective thinking about globalization and then try to incorporate it into the core of their respective institution’s ethos and curriculum. This book developed the first systematic organizational theory of seminaries for assessing bridges and barriers to change.
Changing The Way Seminaries Teach: Pedagogies for Interfaith Dialogue (2009) Volume II
Edited by David A. Roozen and Heidi Hadsell
This book is about teaching, interfaith dialogue, and theological education. The core of the book entails six critical case studies of seminary-taught degree courses in interfaith dialogue. The cases give expression to a broad range of dialogical pedagogies and course formats, and they include the courses’ syllabi and bibliographies. These critical cases describe not only the context, content, methods, and related goals and rationale of the course, but also presents an evaluation of the course and discussion of the implications of the evaluation for teaching interfaith dialogue in theological institutions.