Researching American Indian Revitalization Movements

American Indian revitalization movements evolved during the 18th and 19th centuries in North America in response to European cultures overwhelming and clashing with native lifestyles and cultures. Revitalization movements emerged due to many factors: the devastating effects of diseases brought in by the Europeans, the displacement of Indians from their traditional lands, warfare between Indians and Whites, the introduction of powerful new and damaging technologies, and the overall upheaval and disintegration of traditional Indian societies and cultures. These revitalization movements were religious in nature, offering hope for relief from the new oppressions. Three of the most well-known revitalization movements are the Ghost Dance, the Sun Dance, and peyotism and the Native American Church. In this essay, librarians, and other researchers are provided guidance in finding books, articles, and other materials on these topics.     

Developments in Classification,Identification, and Intervention for School Refusal and Other Attendance Problems: Introduction to the Special Series

The literature on school attendance problems (SAPs) is diverse and sometimes confusing, but it is also promising. This special series presents seven articles and a discussion that attest to the diversity, complexity, and exciting developments associated with SAPs. While some articles focus on school refusal in particular, others have relevance for school refusal, truancy, and other types of SAPs. Collectively, the seven articles provide direction in thinking about two key questions: (1) How can SAPs best be classified and identified?; and (2) Which innovative approaches can be applied when a SAP is severe, chronic, and/or complex? In this way the series has direct relevance for Tiers 1 and 3 of the Response to Intervention model for managing school absenteeism (Kearney & Graczyk, 2014). Three innovative treatment programs presented in this series illustrate ways in which mental health interventions and educational interventions can be combined to address Tier 3 SAPs. The discussion article presents thought-provoking reflections on the topics covered in the seven articles and on the gaps in practice and research in the field of SAPs. You are invited to critically and creatively respond to the ideas offered in this series.     

Rethinking the Comparative Study of Religious Ethics

This essay describes the author's change of approach to the comparative study of religious ethics from the one contained in a book on the subject (with Sumner B. Twiss), published in 1978. The change resulted from interactions with Abdulaziz Sachedina, the noted scholar of Islam, demonstrating the importance of comparing different ethical systems in reference to global topics like human rights, particularly the right to freedom of conscience.     

Preaching a Risen Christ of Resistance among "Captive" Americans

Abstract: In the midst of the current captivity of Americans to governmental policies which most of the rest of the world finds objectionable, what are the challenges facing those who preach? How can these be addressed biblically and theologically, grounded in what it means to be part of a global communion, and empowered by faith in the Resurrected Christ? How can preaching form faith communities through conversion, confession and conversation so that they might confront and change what is occurring, for the sake of the whole world?     

Religious Change and Stability: Seasonality in Church Attendance from the 1940s to the 2000s

Using attendance data from a declining Episcopal church and a growing Lutheran church in a medium‐sized midwestern city, we explore the issue of seasonality in church attendance from the 1940s to the late 2000s. Our central concern is whether month‐to‐month variation in church attendance has remained the same or changed over the period of time under consideration. We find remarkable consistency in the overall month‐to‐month attendance pattern over the course of the past seven decades but less variation in attendance from month to month in more recent decades in both churches. We argue that the findings demonstrate the presence of a “committed core” of church members who attend regularly and the departure of nominal members who have swelled the ranks of the “nones” in recent decades.     

The Roman Catholic Church of Norway and migration challenges

Ever since its re-establishment in Norway in 1843, the Roman Catholic Church has grown steadily. On 1 January 2017, the church had a total membership of approximately 150,000. The reason for the latest, and certainly largest, wave of Catholic migrants to settle in Norway is labour migration resulting from the eastward expansion of the EU in 2004, when Poland and Lithuania joined. About half the Catholic population of Norway originates from these two countries. This article focuses on the following research question: How does the Roman Catholic Church in Norway, represented by sisters in religious communities, priests and ecclesiastical employees, respond to the large influx of Catholic migrants to Norway? The study is based on a qualitative survey consisting of semi-structured interviews with 10 informants, all religious sisters, priests or ecclesiastical employees. Although some informants admit that the strong growth resulting from migration has posed problems, such as tendencies to form ‘parallel congregations’ based on ethnic origin, most expressed a positive view of this influx of migrants and of the future of the Catholic Church in Norway.     

“I Stand in the Middle of the Ocean”

The challenge of climate change for the South Pacific Island of Kiribati demands a 21st‐century missional vision to help respond effectively to the hopes and fears of islanders. This article employs a “coconut theology” embedded within an Indigenous knowledge thought‐system and the daily cultural experiences of the Kiribati people. Using coconut theology as a qualitative method, this study views climate songs as a source of primary data. The songs are collected and analyzed through a thematic approach. The findings demonstrate that songs play a critical role in the Kiribati people’s culture, keeping their voice alive and helping them make sense of their experiences of climate change. Based on the findings, the article argues that climate change songs embody critical theologies that could help the church embrace Indigenous imagination in its search for contextual relevance and effective response to climate change.     

Conquest and the Western Church

This article examines the action of power relations in the church in pursuit of worldly advantage – political, economic, and social – in the formation, action, and spread of the institution of the Western church, often in collusion with the imperial aspirations of state powers. It argues that redress is required to make amends for injustices and crimes against humanity, as well as to evangelize more effectively in a world that includes those victimized by those claiming to represent God's authority.     

Client attendance measures in counselling psychology trainees

Counselling supervisors and educators have yet to reach a consensus about standard measures for evaluating the performance of graduate student therapists. Compared to self‐reports and rater judgements, client attendance records provide low‐inference behavioural data partially reflective of clients’ engagement with therapists. This naturalistic study evaluates client attendance data using archival records of 92 doctoral students in beginning and advanced counselling practica who produced data for 771 clients, 3,949 scheduled sessions and 3,186 attended sessions. Providing evidence of the sample representativeness for clinicians, results indicated that the mean number of sessions attended per client for student therapists (5.65) was very similar to that reported in the literature for outpatient therapists (<6). As expected because of structural differences in client assignment, beginning and advanced students evidenced statistically significant differences on attendance variables such as number of clients and scheduled sessions. In contrast, attendance ratios were equivalent across counsellor experience, suggesting that these individual difference variables could be useful for evaluation of therapist competencies related to client engagement.