Religion & Community 1995-2001
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Religion and Community was a regular newsletter published by The Polis Center that related general findings of the Project on Religion and Urban Culture and provided updates regarding the project. This newsletter was intended for a general audience.
It was published from September 1995 to March 2001. Each issue has a topical title.
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Item The Changing Role of Clergy(2001-03)Trends in American culture are producing significant changes in the clergy. Many feel put in the position of managing a small business, rather than a being pastor. At the same time, schools of theology labor under the suspicion that they no longer attract the best and brightest students. The public realm has grown increasingly secular, and clergy no longer command the respect and authority they once did, neither as public figures nor as the leaders of their flocks. The average age of clergy is climbing, as is the age at which new candidates for the ministry are entering seminary. Training clergy within congregations is a growing trend, while charitable foundations pour considerable resources into attracting young people to the clergy.Item Complex Relationships(1997-04)What is the relationship of churches, synagogues, and mosques to their neighborhoods? The Polis Center's interest in these questions is more than academic. What we learn has important implications for public policy. Consider welfare reform. Is it true, as some people assume, that religious institutions are closely linked to their neighborhoods, thus allowing them to serve local human needs more effectively?Item Congregations and Charitable Choice(2000-09)The Charitable Choice Provision of the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 enabled congregations to compete for federal dollars as providers of social services. For all the press that Charitable Choice has received, surveys show that few people in congregations are familiar with its provisions. Participation in Charitable Choice programs has been low so far, though this may change with the renewed emphasis on faith-based providers being promoted by the new administration in Washington. An article on the Front Porch Alliance examines a local effort to form partnerships between government and faith-based organizations. Another article, on the history of religion and social welfare in Indianapolis, argues that faith-based organizations have long played a primary role in creating local institutions to care for those in need.Item Congregations and Economic Development(2000-06)Congregations have become an agent for economic growth, particularly in inner-city neighborhoods. More than 20 percent of Indianapolis congregations are involved in programs to provide long-term benefits to residents, including providing job-training and health services. In economic terms, the most important of these effort involves congregations directly engaged in developing housing for low-income residents. “Fresh Currents” looks at congregations that operate neighborhood businesses as a service to residents. “Congregations a Communities” examines the trend among larger congregations to become “full-service” communities for their members, providing not just religious services but recreation and other facilities.Item Creating Community(1996-04)The Project on Religion and Urban Culture is discovering how and where religion rubs shoulders to create community in Indianapolis. We are working with neighborhoods to learn how religious institutions and people of faith function in these communities. In some areas, such as Mapleton-Fall Creek, churches work intimately with other institutions on issues of importance to the neighborhood. In other areas, religious organizations are much less visible. What should we make of these differences? With the aid of neighborhood and religious bodies, we are recognizing the dynamic and diverse nature of communities in Indianapolis. Charting the intersection of faith and community also has practical benefits, especially if primary responsibility for human services passes from government to religious and other not-for-profit organizations.Item Faith Based Youth Outreach Programs(2000-04)Bringing their youth into the community and tradition of the faith is a primary concern for most congregations. Sabbath school, recreation and social groups,and rites-of-passage classes prepare young people for adulthood and for participation in the congregation. Generally, these programs are aimed at the youth of the congregation itself. Of the approximately 1,200 congregations in the Indianapolis area, the vast majority conduct such programs. The Polis Center, in conjunction with Indianapolis-based PSL and Associates, Inc., studied the extent and efficacy of these programs.Item Immigrant and Ethnic Congregations(2001-01)For generations, newly arrived settlers to Indianapolis have maintained their sense of community by reestablishing here the culture and religion of their homelands. In recent years, the city has received numerous immigrants from Asia, bringing religions unfamiliar to the American heartland—Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. Numerous congregations in the city, Catholic and Protestant, now offer religious services in Spanish. Once, Indianapolis leaders chose to emphasize the city’s “all-American” character. Today, ethnic and religious diversity are recognized as elements that enrich the Indianapolis community. This issue includes an interview with Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, secretary general of the Islamic Society of North America.Item In Search of Belonging: The Hispanic Religious Presence in Indianapolis(1998-09)Hispanics, the fasting-growing group of immigrants in America, have only recently come to Indianapolis in significant numbers. Even today they may compose no more than two percent of the population and are widely dispersed around the city. These facts have shaped the culture of Hispanics in particular ways, including their patterns of worship.Item Place and Identity(1997-09)As part of the Project on Religion and Urban Culture, local artists spent much of the past year observing religion in Indianapolis and reflecting on its meaning. In 1998, Indiana University Press will publish Falling Toward Grace: Images of Faith and Culture in Indianapolis, a collection of their essays and photographs. You will find excerpts inside this page.Item Public Teaching and Public Learning(1995-09)This issue of Religion & Community highlights how Polis has worked with local religious educators. Various Polis projects have uncovered a wealth of information on the way religion has shaped the city—and how the city has influenced the experience and expression of religion.