Four rural Anglican communities of faith : an ethnography of hope

摘要

This thesis is an ethnography of four rural Anglican communities of faith inudTasmania. Drawing on theorists and concepts from both sociology and theology Iudexamine how a new model of ministry (Enabler Supported Ministry) has facilitatedudre-invigoration, growth, and an outward focus in these rural parishes, which wereudformerly characterized by decline and impending closure. My study explores howudthese four parishes, rather than adhering to traditional forms of ministry andudresisting change, have embraced change in both ministry and outlook.udMy research sits at the boundary between sociology and theology. I draw onudtheorists such as Weber, Berger, Drane, Lyon, Bouma, Ammerman, and Finke andudStark who, likewise, explore this fruitful and rewarding intersection of the twouddisciplines. This thesis is primarily sociological but, given the subject matter of theudthesis, it is impossible to separate out the theological and by working at theudintersection of these two disciplines I hope to produce a rich analysis.udThis research is unique and important because it addresses a much-needed area ofudstudy in its sociological analysis of rural Anglican parishes in Australia. It is alsoudmethodologically innovative because of my ‘insider/outsider status’ and my explicituduse of participatory action research. There are surprisingly few ethnographic studiesudof contemporary Christianity, and very few of contemporary Christianity in ruraludlocations, particularly from an Australian perspective or context. Much of theudcontemporary sociology of religion literature is either large scale analyses ofudsecondary data charting changes in church attendance based on census figures ofudreligious identification, or studies of new religious movements or minority religiousudgroups of various types.udIn this thesis I argue that, despite the complex and interconnected processesudcharacterizing modern society (such as secularization, pluralism, post-modernism,uddetraditionalization, deinstitutionalization of religious belief, consumer orientedudreligious preference and fundamentalism), the reason these four rural parishes have undergone a process of re-invigoration and, each in their own context, have audsustainable future is a combination of both theological and social factors. I describeudhow, in contrast to their neighbouring parishes which share similar demographicudand socio-economic contexts, these four parishes have experienced the longestudperiod of sustained health and stability in their recent history. I would suggest thatudthis is because, in each instance, becoming an Enabler Supported Ministry parish isuda homologous response of these parishes to their context. That is, they areudsociologically apt; and they are theologically apt, too.