Volunteering in Religious Congregations and Faith-Based Associations

Bibliographic Data

ID23201255
AuthorsRam A Cnaan (0000-0002-1596-4422), Siniša Zrinšˇcak, Henrietta Grönlund (0000-0002-4106-898X), David Horton Smith (0000-0003-4462-4213), Ming Hu (0000-0003-2583-1161), Meme D Kinoti, Boris Knorre (0000-0001-7490-8474), Pradeep Kumar (0000-0002-5717-4242), Anne Birgitta Pessi (0000-0002-1312-9538)
Year2016
Pages472-494
Publication date2016-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeCHAPTER
VenuePalgrave Handbook of Volunteering, Civic Participation, and Nonprofit Associations (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan UK (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/978-1-137-26317-9_23
OpenAlexW2573698104
ISBN9781137263179
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited59

This chapter juxtaposes the vast knowledge regarding volunteering and voluntary associations with the world of religion. We start with the premise that more people volunteer within, and on behalf of, religious organizations than in any other organizational setting in the United States and certain other nations. We review the history of religion and religious volunteering, followed by a typology of the various forms of religious volunteering. We discuss how religious associations are formed, distinguishing between local religious congregations and faith-based organizations. Given the importance of local religious congregations, we discuss congregational volunteering, lay-leadership, and member volunteering in these voluntary associations. One section looks at monasteries/convents and communes/intentional communities as residential religious associations. We conclude with new challenges and relevant policies that affect religious volunteering. Religion in all its forms and variations has been part of human societies since the earliest times.

Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Ethnology · Faith · Political science · Premise · Religious community · Religious organization · Sociology · Theology · Typology · Voluntary association · Anthropology · Law · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Religious studies

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