Christian Prayer and the Local Congregation: A Social Analysis of Individual Prayer Petitions

Q3 Arts and Humanities

Journal of Religious and Theological Information Pub Date : 2020-08-03 DOI:10.1080/10477845.2020.1793536

W. Bernard Lukenbill, W. D. Young

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Abstract Prayer requests from members and attendees of a progressive Christian church located in a large American City was the subject of this investigation. This church serves congregants from Roman Catholic and Protestant backgrounds, and a large, but not exclusively gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender community. ap Siôn’s study of prayer typology and subject contents from rural England influenced this investigation. This study used computer technology and document analysis to categorize 8,059 individual prayer card requests submitted between 2014-2018 from church members and attendees. Results showed the most common prayer requests were “Thanks and Thanksgiving” prayers with “Praise and Adoration” prayers among the least common. Few references to sin and forgiveness were found. The most frequently mentioned subjects of prayers were those referencing personal needs and concerns. Findings and comparison with ap Siôn and other research suggest these prayer requests demonstrate the social and theological cohesiveness of Christian prayer. Additional research is suggested comparing Christian prayer with prayers in other religions and how prayer behaviors interact with the rise of multiculturalism in society.

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基督教祷告与地方会众：个人祷告请求的社会分析

摘要位于美国一座大城市的进步基督教会的成员和与会者的祈祷请求是本次调查的主题。这座教堂为来自罗马天主教和新教背景的会众以及一个庞大但不完全是同性恋、双性恋和跨性别群体提供服务。ap Siôn对英格兰乡村祈祷类型学和主题内容的研究影响了这一调查。这项研究使用计算机技术和文件分析对2014-2018年间教会成员和与会者提交的8059份个人祈祷卡申请进行了分类。结果显示，最常见的祈祷请求是“感谢和感恩”祈祷，而“赞美和崇拜”祈祷是最不常见的。很少有人提到罪和宽恕。最常被提及的祈祷主题是那些提及个人需求和担忧的主题。研究结果以及与ap Siôn和其他研究的比较表明，这些祈祷请求展示了基督教祈祷的社会和神学凝聚力。建议进行更多的研究，将基督教祈祷与其他宗教的祈祷进行比较，以及祈祷行为如何与社会多元文化的兴起相互作用。

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来源期刊

Journal of Religious and Theological Information Arts and Humanities-Religious Studies

CiteScore

0.30

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Journal of Religious & Theological Information is an essential resource for bibliographers, librarians, and scholars interested in the literature of religion and theology. Both international and pluralistic in scope, this peer-reviewed journal encourages the publication of research and scholarship in the field of library and information studies as it relates to religious studies and related fields, including philosophy, ethnic studies, anthropology, sociology, and historical approaches to religion. By "information" we refer to both print and electronic, and both published and unpublished information.