Name:

The specification:

The relevant sections of the specification for Religious Organisations are in italics below.

Religious organisations, including cults, sects, denominations, churches and New Age movements, and their relationship to religious and spiritual belief and Practice

Typologies of religious organisations: churches, denominations, sects and cults,With examples of each New Religious Movements and typologies of NRMs eg worldRejecting/accommodating/affirming; millenarian beliefs, with examples of each

New Age movements and spirituality, with examples The relationship of these organisations to religious and spiritual belief and practice.

The relationship between different social groups and religious/spiritualOrganisations and movements, beliefs and practices

Reasons why people join NRMs, NAMs and other organisations Gender and religion: women: women’s greater participation, women in religious

Organisations including NRMs; men’s participation and organisational roles inReligions; sexuality and religion; images of gender in religions

Ethnicity and religion: religion and ethnic identity; religion in migrant communities;Religions and minority ethnic groups in the UK today

Age and religion: religious participation and belief by age group; religiousSocialisation

Social class and religion: religious participation and belief by social class

The significance of religion and religiosity in the contemporary world, includingThe nature and extent of secularisation in a global context

Globalisation and belief systems, including fundamentalism Post modernity: end of meta-narratives, ‘spiritual shopping’ Secularisation: problems of definition and measurement; aspects of secularisation

Such as disengagement, rationalisation, rise of pluralism/diversity, desacralisation,Disenchantment, individuation

Arguments and evidence for and against secularisation e.g. attendance andMembership; believing without belonging; the secularisation cycle theory andCompensators (Stark and Bainbridge); UK compared with other countries (e.g.USA) and global significance of religion today.

Religious Organisations: What will we look at?

Religious Organisations

Sociologists have used number of terms to identify key social organisations of religion:

Church, Denomination, Sect and Cult

There have been a number of attempts to categorize the different types of religious organisations, but no system fits perfectly the enormous variety of organisations that have existed throughout the world. Nevertheless, it is possible broadly to distinguish some main types of religious organisations.

New Religious Movements and

typologies of NRMs eg world

rejecting/accommodating/

affirming; millenarian beliefs, with

examples of each.

Typologies of religious

organisations: churches,

denominations, sects and cults,with examples

of each.The

relationship of these

organisations to religious

and spiritual belief and practice.

New Age movements and spirituality, with

examples.

Gender,ethnicty,class ,age and

religion: religious participation and

belief by gender,ethnicty,cl

ass & ageWe will be looking at this later on

the course

Reasons why people join NRMs, NAMs and other organisations.

Church

Pages 422-423

DENOMINATION

Ernst Troeltsch

Steve Bruce

H.R.Niebuhr

He was the first to distinguish between different religious organisations – influenced by Weber

He questions the usefulness of the definition of the church that Troeltsch comes up with

Niebhur was the first sociologists to differentiate denomination from church

CHURCH DENOMINATION

Similarities

Differences

SECTS& CULTS

H.R.Niebuhr

Ernst Troeltsch

Troeltsch was the first to distinguish between religious organisation starting off with church which you looked at above, the second was sect. He argues that sects have characteristics that are opposite to churches. What does Troeltsch say about Sects?

The media use of the term sect has become interchangeable with the word cult. Sensational reporting of such events as the Waco siege in Texas have meant that the term 'cult' has become loaded with negative connotations

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/waco/

Ernst Troeltsch

Steve Bruce

How does Bruce define cults?

SECTS CULTS

Similarities

Differences

Typology of religious organisations

Church Denomination Sect Cult

Structure

Organisation

Relationship with secular society

Jonestown 1978 - scene of mass suicide see John for video on this

http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~remoore/jonestown/index.html

Relationship with members

New members

Time Scale

Social background of members

Examples (4 of each)

Similarities &Differences

New Religious movements

How does Eileen Barker say we could classify new religious movements?

Roy Wallis – The elementary forms of the new religious life

Affirmation of the world

New Religious Movements (NRM's)

Wallis 1984 – Classified 3 types of NRM

1 World Accommodating

Affirmation of the world

Accommodation of the world

Rejection of the world

Wallis 1984

Argues that the last 30 years in the USA and Europe have witnessed a rapid growth in NRM's. This appears to be going hand in hand with the decline in established churches, suggesting that beliefs are not so much declining as changing

Wallis classified New Religious Movements based on their relationship with the outside world.

2. World-rejecting movements

3. World Affirming Religions

The Middle ground – Wallis realizes that no religious group will conform to the categories he outlines.

Evaluation

Rodney Stark and Sims Bainbridge 1985- Un – Ideal types

Argue that sects are offshoots of existing religions and cults involve innovation and importing ideas from other religions

They classify cults into 3 types

1. Audience Cults

2. Client Cults

3. Cult Movements

Problems with this classification

1.

2.

Reasons for the growth sects,cults and new religious movements

Both church and sect claim that they have the unique, true message - but the church is seen as legitimate (even by non-believers), the sect is seen as deviant.

Cult and denomination recognise a variety of beliefs - but again one is seen as legit (denomination) and one is seen as deviant (cult)

Explanations for the growth of religious movements

Marginality Relative Deprivation

The Development of sects

Explanations for the growth of religious movements

Social Change The growth of new religious movements

Sects as short-lived organisations

The life cycle of sects

The life cycle of sects

Internal ideology and the wider society

Other

The New Age

Other

Examples of the new age

Variations within the new age The appeal of the new age

Conclusion

The themes of the new age

The New Age

Questions that could be asked on this

Data questions and short essays

Read Item A below and answer parts (a) and (b) which follow.

Item A

Society has changed significantly over the past century and it has often been noted that there has been a drift away from mainstream religious organisations. Many people now feel that their religious needs can no longer be met through the more conventional forms of religious organisation, such as the traditional churches and denominations. In such cases, it is not unusual for people to be attracted by different and new approaches to worship and belief offered by sects and cults.

To help clarify our understanding of these newer religious organisations, Wallis developed a classification of what he called New Religious Movements that divided them into world-affirming, world-accommodating and world-rejecting religions. In such organisations, participation and membership are often significantly different from mainstream religions. Many people fear that New Religious Movements have too great a hold over their members, but evidence shows that in reality the turnover in membership is very high.

Identify and briefly explain some of the reasons why New Religious Movements have such a high turnover of members. (9 marks)

Identify and briefly explain some of the characteristic features of sects, apart from those referred to in Item A. (9 marks)

Identify and briefly explain three reasons why some individuals may choose to join religious sects or cults (9 marks)

New style questions.Specimen PaperAssess the view that cults, sects and New Age movements are fringe organisations that are inevitably short-lived and of little influence in contemporary society. (33 marks)

January 10(a) Identify and briefly explain three reasons why traditional religious organisations may have lost support and or membership over the past 30 years apart from those mentioned in Item A. (9 marks)

June 2011Assess the view that New Religious Movements are mainly for the middle classes and the young. (33 marks)

June 2012Critically examine sociological views of sects in society today. (33 marks)

Jan 2012

‘The growth of New Age and similar movements is evidence of a spiritual revolution in society today.’ To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view? (33 marks)

Jan 2013

Evaluate the role of New Age movements in society today. (33 marks)

From books(a) Identify and briefly explain three types of religious organisations. (9 marks)

(a) Identify and briefly describe three features of New Age Movements. (9 marks)

(a) Identify and briefly explain three differences between churches and cults. (9 marks)

(b) Using material from Item A and elsewhere, examine the reasons for the appeal of New Age and New Religious Movements. (18 marks)

(b) Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that religious sects always compromise with wider society and become denominations. (18 marks)

The growth of the new religious movements and the new age beliefs since the 1960s indicates a revival of religion. Discuss (33 marks)

Assess sociological explanations for the increasing number of religious and spiritual organisations and movements in society (33 marks)

Old style questions.Jan 09(a) Identify and briefly explain some of the reasons why sects and cults are often short lived. (Item B). (8 marks)

(b) Using material from Item B and elsewhere, briefly examine the view that the appeal of sects, cults and new religious movements is causing traditional churches to lose status and influence in contemporary societies. (12 marks)

Jan 086 Evaluate the view that new cults and sects are replacing traditional religions as the means for experiencing and expressing religious belief in the world today. (40 marks)

Jan 07(a) Identify and briefly explain some of the characteristic features of sects, apart from those referred to in Item B. (8 marks)

June 066 Assess the view that cults and sects inevitably turn into denominations and churches. (40 marks)

Jan 06(a) Identify and briefly explain some of the reasons why New Religious Movements have such a high turnover of members. (8 marks)

(b) Using material from Item B and elsewhere, briefly examine why some people feel that traditional churches and denominations no longer meet their religious needs. (12 marks)

June 04(a) Identify and briefly explain why some of the reasons why interest in and commitment to alternative spiritual groups may be relatively “short-lived.” (8 marks)

(b) Using information from Item A and elsewhere, briefly examine why ‘alternative’ religious groups such as New Age groups fail to attract men and the under 35s. (12 marks)

Jan 04Assess the view that cults and sects are only fringe organisations that are inevitably short lived and of little influence in contemporary society. (40 marks)

June 02“New Religious Movements can best be distinguished by the degree of commitment that they demand of their members.” To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view of New Religious Movements? (40 marks)

January 2010

1 Read Item A below and answer parts (a) and (b) that follow.

Item A

Traditional religious organisations have faced many challenges over the past thirtyyears. In the past, their influence in society was considerable and they were seenas the mainstream spiritual movements. Some sociologists argue that most peopleparticipated in such organisations, even if only to reinforce their social status. Theseorganisations also had substantial political power and influence.However, changes in society over the past few decades have presented considerablechallenges to the traditional roles and status of these organisations. Similarly, somesociologists argue that many people have reassessed their personal commitment totraditional religious organisations. As a result, such organisations have lost bothsupport and membership.

(a) Identify and briefly explain three reasons why traditional religious organisations mayhave lost support and/or membership over the past thirty years, apart from that referredto in Item A. (9 marks)

(b) Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that most people today seespirituality and religious belief as purely private and personal matters. (18 marks)