Scott Thumma

Professor of Sociology of Religion, Hartford Seminary, Hartford Institute for Religion Research

RCCongress 2010 Workshop:

How to Evaluate Research about Congregations and Worshipers

Scott L. Thumma is a Professor at Hartford Seminary and researcher at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. His 2007 book, Beyond Megachurch Myths, coauthored with Dave Travis, is the latest published work in his continuing analysis of the megachurch phenomenon. In the last decade, he has done three national surveys of megachurches and several studies of individual churches and their congregational dynamics.

In addition to this work, he has researched and published on evangelicalism, homosexuality, the rise of nondenominational churches and the impact of the Internet on church dynamics.

Scott is also the director of the seminary's distance education program, as well as a consultant to churches and religious organizations on congregational vitality, planning and new technologies.

He is responsible for the Faith Communities Today and the Hartford Institute web sites, Robert Bellah's site, a new Lilly Endowment portal site, Insights into Religion, and the Religious Research Association site among others. Much of his work can be found on the Hartford Institute web site. He will be at the Insights into Religion booth throughout the entire Congress.

How to Evaluate Research about Congregations and Worshipers

New research about religion is announced seemingly every day. How can you evaluate these results? Are they valid? Which are worth passing on to your constituents?

Using two of the latest studies of congregational life -- the 2008-2009 U.S. Congregational Life Survey and Faith Communities Today 2008 -- Deborah Bruce and Scott Thumma will provide clear criteria for judging national studies and strategies for comparing diverse research reports.

You'll also learn about the latest findings from these projects, which will help you understand how worshipers and congregations are changing.