scholarly journals Religion and the Transmission of COVID-19 in The Netherlands

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Vermeer ◽  
Joris Kregting
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
Hospitalized Patients ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
Bible Belt ◽  
Worship Services ◽  
Latent Effects ◽  
Government Statistics

The aim of this study was to find out if the typical spread of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in The Netherlands, with significantly higher levels in the Dutch Bible belt and the southern, traditionally Catholic provinces, is related to the specific religious composition of the country. To do this, government statistics regarding the level of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 per municipality were combined with statistics regarding church attendance and church membership rates. Results showed that in the Dutch Bible belt the level of patients with COVID-19 was strongly related to church attendance, but in the southern, traditionally Catholic part of The Netherlands nominal church membership mattered more than church attendance. On the basis of these findings, the conclusion was drawn that religion probably facilitates the spread of the virus in both a direct and indirect way. It facilitates the spread of the virus directly through worship services but also indirectly by way of endorsing more general cultural festivities like carnival and maybe even by strengthening certain non-religious social bonds. Epidemiologists monitoring the spread of the virus are called upon to focus more on these possible indirect or latent effects of religion.

Encouraging an Organic Ecclesiology for Adolescents: Deconstructing the Church from Institution to Instituted

2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-48
Author(s):  
Harmen van Wijnen ◽  
Rein Brouwer ◽  
Marcel Barnard
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Small Groups ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
Protestant Church ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

The relationship between adolescents and the church is troubled. Recent quantitative research in the Netherlands has shown that church membership and church attendance of adolescents are at an all-time low. This article tells the story behind the numbers, based on the results of qualitative research among adolescents in five small groups affiliated in some way with the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. Based on their perspectives, it can be concluded that the relationship between adolescents and the church is indeed problematic, mainly because of the institutional and organisational characteristics of the church. This article suggests that a new, organic approach, beyond the traditional institutional and organisational perspectives, is needed for the Protestant Church and its associated youth organisations.

scholarly journals Multiple Religious Belonging in the Netherlands: An Empirical Approach to Hybrid Religiosity

Open Theology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joantine Berghuijs
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
Dutch Society ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Exclusive Property ◽  
Feeling At Home ◽  
Do So

AbstractDutch society is highly secularized in terms of decreasing church membership and church attendance. Meanwhile, there are many ‘religious creatives’ who fulfil their need for meaning by using multiple religious sources. This paper presents an empirical investigation into the occurrence and nature of hybrid religion in the Netherlands, seen as ‘multiple religious belonging’ (MRB). After a number of global indications of the importance of MRB, this is the first attempt to quantify and detail MRB in a population. A new approach to ‘religious belonging’ is developed, not in an exclusive, ‘property’ sense, but in terms of being related and feeling at home. This approach leads to a number of ‘modalities of belonging’, that can be measured per religion. To do so, a survey among a representative sample of the Dutch population was used. The survey results indicate that MRB is present among at least 23% of the population in varying combinations and intensities. They also highlight the tendency to emphasize the relatedness between religions, and the permeability and even blurring of the boundaries between them

scholarly journals Bonding or Bridging? Volunteering Among the Members of Six Thriving Evangelical Congregations in the Netherlands

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 962-975 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Vermeer ◽  
Peer Scheepers
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Religious Orientation ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Social Embeddedness ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
Church Members ◽  
The West ◽  
Bridging Social Capital ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Bible Reading

Abstract The rise of conservative religion in the West threatens the enduring positive contribution of religion to civil society, if conservative churches, as often assumed, indeed generate more bonding than bridging social capital. Against this background, this study explores the civic engagement of evangelicals in the Netherlands. Two research questions are addressed: (1) To what extent are Dutch evangelicals more involved in religious than non-religious volunteering as compared to mainline Christians and non-church members? and (2) Which decisive factors determine the religious and non-religious volunteering of Dutch evangelicals as compared to mainline Christians and non-church members? Results show that these orthodox Christians are more involved in religious than in non-religious volunteering. Their religious volunteering is determined by their church attendance, Bible reading and social embeddedness in their congregation, while their non-religious volunteering is impeded by their mono-religious orientation and social embeddedness in their congregation and by the volunteering of their parents.

The Religious Gender Gap within Dutch Relationships: Explaining the Persistent Religious Gender Gap in the Netherlands Using a Multifactorial Approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-35
Author(s):  
Joris Kregting ◽  
Peer Scheepers ◽  
Paul Vermeer ◽  
Chris Hermans
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Personal Relationships ◽  
Comprehensive Model ◽  
Religious Socialization ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Belief In God ◽  
Psychological Differences ◽  
Multifactorial Approach

Abstract Like other Western countries, in the Netherlands women continue to demonstrate higher levels of religiosity than men. In this article, we set out to explain this Dutch religious gender gap regarding belief in God, prayer and church attendance. Using high quality survey data (LISS 2015), a comprehensive model is built combining social and psychological differences between Dutch men and women. These gender differences are operationalized where they are most strongly experienced, i.e. within personal relationships. We find that the gender gaps within Dutch relationships regarding belief in God and prayer can be explained by gendered religious socialization and gendered mental health dependency—and for belief in God additionally by the gendered level of agreeableness. For the gender gap regarding church attendance, gendered religious socialization explains the religious gender gap.

Lifestyle and recreation

2020 ◽  
pp. 185-219
Author(s):  
Alice Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Church Leadership ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Religious Culture ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Class Identity ◽  
Victorian Period ◽  
Norms And Values ◽  
Shed Light

In this chapter, personal and family papers are used to shed light on middle-class lifestyle, recreation and leisure, and the cultural norms and values underpinning them. In the Victorian period, Belfast’s inhabitants did not have a reputation for engaging in recreational or leisure pursuits. From the late eighteenth century onwards, what visitors tended to notice about Belfast’s middle-class residents was their industrious and business-focused attitude. Yet religion was central to middle-class identity across Britain throughout the nineteenth century: church membership, church attendance and church leadership were all defining features of middle-class life. The Belfast bourgeoisie also had time for cultural pursuits, socialising, summer holidays and travel. This chapter examines several aspects of middle-class leisure, including dancing, sports and summer holidays. It also overviews the religious culture that was such an important part of bourgeois ‘lifestyle’ and indeed identity.

Understanding Religious Disaffiliation: Parental Values and Religious Transmission over Two Generations of Dutch Parents

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanne Groen ◽  
Paul Vermeer
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Intergenerational Transmission ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Religious Commitment ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Parental Values ◽  
Two Generations ◽  
Religious Transmission

Abstract Religious disaffiliation, a major phenomenon in the Netherlands, is predominantly a generational matter. Each successive birth cohort is less involved in institutional religion than the previous one. Parents do not seem to pass on a lasting religious commitment to their offspring, which might indicate an overall shift in parental values from conformity to autonomy. In this article we use panel data to test the assumption and to compare parenting goals and their effects on the offspring’s church attendance over two generations of parents. Our research question is: To what extent is the intergenerational transmission of religious commitment affected by a change in parental values from an emphasis on conformity to an emphasis on autonomy? Results show that while there is indeed a shift in parental values from conformity to autonomy, this barely affects the offspring’s church attendance — which is determined, rather, by the parents’ church attendance, irrespective of the goals they pursue.

Belief in Afterlife and Death Anxiety: Correlates and Comparisons

1985 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald H. Aday
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Death Anxiety ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
Fear Of Death ◽  
Control Variables ◽  
Key Variables ◽  
The Relationship

Previous investigations of the relationship between death anxiety and belief in afterlife have often yielded inconsistent results. In an attempt to establish a common linkage between the two variables, this study investigated key variables associated with death anxiety and belief in afterlife among a group of college students. The respondent's sex, race, educational level, family income, church membership, frequency of church attendance, and intensity of religious beliefs were employed as control variables. Results support the notion that belief in afterlife is primarily a function of religion and not, at least directly, a correlate of fear of death. While all the control variables were found to be significantly related to either death anxiety or belief in afterlife, only church attendance was found to be significantly related to both.

Mystical Experience as Related to Present and Anticipated Future Church Participation

1976 ◽  
Vol 39 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1127-1136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph W. Hood
Keyword(s):  
Church Attendance ◽  
Mystical Experience ◽  
Important Variable ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
Initial Sample ◽  
Factor Ii ◽  
Church Participation ◽  
Exploratory Data ◽  
Experience Factor ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between reported mystical experience and present and anticipated patterns of church participation was investigated in an initial sample of 324 persons. A scale to measure reported mystical experience that allowed for a distinction between the report of mystical experience (Factor I) and its religious interpretation (Factor II) was utilized. Each factor differentially related to church denomination, frequency of church attendance, decision to change church membership, decision to quit church participation, and decision of non-church members to join a church. It was concluded that on the basis of these exploratory data the report of mystical experience is an important variable related to patterns of church participation.

Religious Socialization and Church Attendance in the Netherlands from 1983 to 2007: a Panel Study

2011 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Vermeer ◽  
Jacques Janssen ◽  
Joep De Hart
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Good Predictor ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Religious Socialization

The authors explore the effect of a religious upbringing on church attendance later in life. To this purpose, people who had been interviewed in 1983 as secondary students about their upbringing as well as other characteristics, were interviewed again in 2007 about the same topics. Comparisons between the 1983 and the 2007 data reveal that church attendance dropped significantly among these people during this period. Furthermore, it is shown that a religious upbringing is not a good predictor of church attendance later in life. These conclusions apply to Protestants and Catholics alike, as separate analyses for Catholics, Dutch Reformed and Re-Reformed reveal.

scholarly journals Forms of Parental Involvement in the Spiritual Development of Children: Lessons from Grace Community Christian Ministries Church in Kitengela.

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 306-315
Author(s):  
Esther Njoki Irungu; Francisca Wavinya Ngala; Mercy Mauki
Keyword(s):  
Parental Involvement ◽  
Spiritual Development ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Sunday School ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
Family Activities ◽  
Information Gap ◽  
Bible Stories ◽  
Collection Methods

The paper focuses on the forms through which parents are involved in developing the spiritual welfare of their children. The study utilised a case study design to focus on Grace Community Christian Ministries Church (GCCM) in Kitengela. Data collection methods involved the use of interviews. A small group of nine parents - participants - from GCCM church membership was selected. The collected data was further analyzed thematically. The following themes were generated: teaching, Bible stories, family activities, prayer, modelling, Church attendance, choice of school, exhaustion and lack of time, lack of support from spouse, inexperience and, information gap. It was revealed that some of the ways parents got involved in nurturing their children spiritually included: teaching, Bible stories, family activities, prayer, modelling, Church attendance and choice of school for the children. However, the most common methods used were Church attendance and Sunday school. The paper thus recommends that GCCM church should train parents on how to empower their children spiritually at home so that they do not only rely on the activities in Sunday school.  

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