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U.S. Congregational Life Survey, 2001, Southern Baptist Leaders

DOI

10.17605/OSF.IO/JQ4MT

Citation

Woolever, C., Wulff, K., Bruce, D., Smith-Williams, I., & Jones, P. (2020, April 19). U.S. Congregational Life Survey, 2001, Southern Baptist Leaders.

Summary

"Over 300,000 worshipers in over 2,000 congregations across America participated in the U.S. Congregational Life Survey--making it the largest survey of worshipers in America ever conducted. Three types of surveys were completed in each participating congregation: (a) an attendee survey completed by all worshipers age 15 and older who attended worship services during the weekend of April 29, 2001; (b) a Congregational Profile describing the congregation's facilities, staff, programs, and worship services completed by one person in the congregation; and (c) a Leader Survey completed by the pastor, priest, minister, rabbi, or other leader. Together the information collected provides a unique three-dimensional look at religious life in America." (From Appendix 1, A Field Guide to U.S. Congregations: Who's Going Where and Why. U.S. Congregational Life Survey Methodology.) This data file contains data for Southern Baptist Convention Leaders from the random sample of Southern Baptist congregations. The Congregational Life Survey also has a Congregational profile for Southern Baptist Convention congregations and an Attender survey for all Southern Baptist Convention worshipers.

Data File

Cases: 124
Variables: 249
Weight Variable: None

Data Collection

April 29, 2001

Original Survey (Instrument)

USCLS Leader Survey

Funded By

The Lilly Endowment, Inc.
The Louisville Institute
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Pulpit & Pew (Duke University)
Southern Baptist Convention

Collection Procedures

Self-administered surveys

Sampling Procedures

"The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago identified a random sample of U.S. congregations attended by individuals who participated in the General Social Survey (GSS) in the year 2000. All GSS participants who reported that they attended worship at least once in the prior year were asked to name the place where they worshiped. Since the GSS involves a national random sample of individuals, congregations identified by GSS participants comprise a national random sample of congregations. NORC researchers verified that each nominated congregation was an actual congregation and then invited each congregation to participate in the project."

"Denominations were also invited and encouraged to draw a random sample of their congregations. Denominational samples were large enough so that the results are representative of worshipers and congregations in each denomination. This allows denominations to compare their typical congregation and worshiper to congregations and worshipers in other denominations. Denominations participating in this oversampling procedure were: Church of the Nazarene, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Roman Catholic Church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Southern Baptist Convention, United Methodist Church (UMC), and United Church of Christ (UCC)." (From Appendix 1, A Field Guide to U.S. Congregations: Who's Going Where and Why. U.S. Congregational Life Survey Methodology.)

The Southern Baptist Convention congregations were stratified before the sample was drawn. The congregations were divided into four strata based on size of Sunday Morning worship attendance with equal numbers of worshipers in each strata. The targeted number of worshippers in each stratum was 1,314,512.(North American Mission Board Memorandum: Sample Design for Southern Baptist Participation in the US Congregational Life Survey.) The congregations were then sorted by number of worshippers. Finally, churches were systematically sampled from each strata. The four strata are 1)churches with less than or equal to 102 worshippers [900 congregations sampled] 2)churches with 102 to 223 worshippers [350 congregations sampled] 3)churches with 224 to 545 [200 congregations sampled] and 4)churches with 545 and over [50 congregations sampled]. (North American Mission Board Memorandum: Sample Design for Southern Baptist Participation in the US Congregational Life Survey.)

The response rate for the Southern Baptist Convention church leader sample was 63.59% of congregations that agreed to participate.

The Southern Baptist Convention leader data can be linked to the Baptist Profile and Attender data by the ID variable. Note: The ID variable in the Leader survey is the same variable as the CONGREGA variable in the Attender and Profile surveys.

Principal Investigators

Cynthia Woolever, Professor of Sociology of Religious Organizations, Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford Seminary, co-principal investigator

Keith Wulff, Coordinator of Research Services, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), co-principal investigator

Deborah Bruce, Associate Research Manager, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), project manager

Ida Smith-Williams, Associate for Information, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), data management specialist

Phil Jones, Southern Baptist Convention, North American Mission Board, coordinated the congregational sampling and recruiting of congregations for the Southern Baptist oversample.

Related Publications

A Field Guide to U.S. Congregations: Who's Going Where and Why. 2002. Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce, Westminster John Knox Press.

Beyond the Ordinary: 10 Strengths of U.S. Congregations. 2004. Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce, Westminster John Knox Press, 2004.

Notes

Category labels for Q4 or DENOM121, DENOM122
0 None
15 Baptist (unspecified)
17 American Baptist Churches
22 Conservation Baptist Association of America
24 Free Will Baptist
37 Southern Baptist
45 Brethen
55 Christian & Missionary Alliances
58 Disciples of Christ
65 Church of Christ Scientist
91 Episcopal Church
118 Lutheran (unspecified)
145 Methodist (unspecified)
150 Free Methodist Church of North America
155 United Methodist Church
186 Assemblies of God
194 United Pentecostal Church
197 Presbyterian (unspecified)
204 Presbyterian Church USA
213 Roman Catholic Church
237 Nondenominational
Category labels for Q27 or DEGREE
7 Gordon-Conwell Theo Sem
14 Weston School of Theo
44 Eastern Baptist Theo Seminary
55 Southeastern Baptist Theo Sem
66 Southern Baptist Theo Sem
129 Midwestern Baptist Theo Sem
142 New Orleans Baptist Theo Sem
144 Southwestern Baptist Theo Sem
159 Talbot Theo Sem
165 Golden Gate Baptist Theo Sem
222 Eastern New Mexico University, Portales|ENMU
224 Mid America Baptist Theo Sem
424 Blue Mountain College
666 Ouachita Baptist Univ
670 Oklahoma Baptist Univ
742 Hardin Simmons Univ
755 Grace Theo Sem
852 Andrews Univ or Luther Rice Bible College
857 Temple Univ
1006 Clarke College
1027 Houston Baptist Univ
1188 Florida Baptist Theo College
1476 Campbell Univ
1505 Boyce Bible College
1563 Grand Canyon Univ
3011 Baptist Bible Institute
9968 South Atlantic BC
9969 South Baptist Exit
9970 Mid Contintent College
9986 Brewfan Parker Coll
9987 Wengate Univ
9999 Unknown

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