CHANGING ORIENTATION AMONG

Transcription

1 CHANGING ORIENTATION AMONG THE CLERGY AS AN INDICATOR OF ORGANIZATIONAL SECULARIZATION A GENDER PERSPECTIVE Kati Niemelä, ThD, MEd, Adj. Prof. Church Research Institute, Finland & University of Helsinki

2 WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL SECULARIZATION? Organizational secularization refers to internal secularization and religious change within religious institutions and can refer to any attempt to secularize or modernize the teachings of the church in order to adapt to the secular values of society CONTEXT: The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland Clergy as change-makers gender perspective WHAT DOES THE INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF FEMALE MINISTERS MEAN TO THE CHURCH?

3 Women especially in elite positions have to potential to influence social change that benefit women s interests (Lummis & Nesbitt 2000; Nesbitt 1997). WOMEN AS CHANGEMAKERS IN THE CHURCH - BACKGROUND The entrance of women into the ordained ministry has been regarded as one of the most significant transformations in the 20 th century Christianity (Chaves 1996) It has changed both the institutional lives of the churches as well as the lives of those who women have been ordained (Chang 1997) Previous research indicates that clergy women themselves are in a key position in changing churches (Watling 2002)

4 The number of female clergy has increased markedly in many denominations. However, women do not have the same impact in practice than the men clergy have in the policies and actions taken by churches. The traditional male-oriented ways of thinking and doing things are deeply rooted in churches. (Lummis & Nesbitt 2000; Nesbitt 1997). Research with different methods shows that there seems to be an universal agreement by clergywomen that glass ceilings exist: Women face passive discrimination in their career and they have difficulties in proceeding in it (see e.g. Jackson, Hargrove & Lummis 1983; Zikmund, Lummis & Chang 1998; Charlton 2000; Sullins 2000).

5 CONTEXT OF RESEARCH Evangelical Lutheran church (ELCF) is the majority church in Finland 79% are members (in 2009) declining All other religious groups max 1% About parish ministers Female ministry was adopted in 1986 and first female ministers were ordained in 1988 Fairly late: e.g. Denmark 1948, Sweden 1960, Norway 1961, Island 1974

6 38% of parish ministers are female Of those studying theology 70% are female Burning issue at the moment: Should the same-sex registered couples have a chance to have church blessing (or even wedding)? The General Synod issued in 2010: Clergy can perform a prayer with these couples (but not blessings) Sweden: Church weddings 2009 Denmark and Iceland: blessings of same sex couples

7 RESEARCH QUESTIONS How do clergy women change the theological orientation and the perception and content of faith in the Church? How do clergy women change official policies in the Church? How do clergy women change the daily practices and the vision of the clergy work?

8 DATA Surveys conducted among members of the Clergy 2002, 2006, 2010 N=about 1,000 each, response rate about 40% About 70% of the clergy working in local congregations, others e.g. as hospital chaplains, family advisors, University teachers or researchers, in church council or Christian organizations or not employed A survey among applicants for studies in Theology 2010 (N=260)

9 RESULTS. 1. How do clergy women change the theological orientation and the perception and content of faith in the Church?

10 THEOLOGICAL ORIENTATION AMONG CLERGY MEN AND WOMEN Theologically liberal Mostly liberal In between Mostly conservative Theologically conservative MALE CLERGY Under and older FEMALE CLERGY Under and older 24 Liberal attitudes are far more common among female clergy and also increase with age among them. Among men, the case is opposite: Among the young clergy men there is the smallest share of liberals, and the number of conservatives is highest

11 WOMEN ARE NOTABLY MORE LIBERAL, BUT: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE LIBERAL /CONSERVATIVE? Regards faith as very important in his/her own life Reads Bible several times a week for personal devotion Theologically conservative Mostly conservative In between Mostly liberal Prays daily Same-sex registered couples should be granted a church blessing: Disagrees totally Same-sex registered couples should be granted a church blessing: Agrees fully

12 Differences in religiousness among male and female clergy do not follow the same pattern as differences in religiosity between men and women in general (women as more religious): Clergy women are not more active or more religious than clergy men Among female clergy the content of faith seems to be more individualized: they are less dependent on religious authorities like Bible, but faith is deeply rooted into their personal life. This is in line with an earlier study which indicates that female clergy in Finland are less likely than male clergy to believe fully in traditional Christian beliefs. For example 76% of male clergy believed firmly that Hell exists, but only 58% the female clergy (Niemelä 1995)

13 2. How do clergy women change official policies in the Church? The case examined is the same-sex relationships and how church should act on it?

14 ARE THE (MORE LIBERAL) WOMEN CHANGING CHURCH POLICIES? Should same-sex registered couples be granted a church blessing? In 2010 the General Synod: clergy can perform a prayer However: some clergy members have performed blessings: Already in 2006: 2% replied they have performed them without permission to do so almost all of them women! DATA: It is mainly the female clergy who are pleading the Church to change its policies in favor of same-sex couples

15 Totally agrees Mostly agrees In between or cannot say Mostly disagrees Totally disagrees MEN Clergy Clergy Clergy Students WOMEN Clergy Clergy Clergy Students

16 3. How do clergy women change the vision of the Church work and the daily practices in the Church? This is analyzed by comparing male and female clergy orientation towards work and analyzing what do they regard as key functions in the church work.

17 WHAT DOES THE CLERGY REGARD AS IMPORTANT IN WORK IN 2010? (SHARE OF RESPONDENTS WHO REGARDS AS VERY IMPORTANT) Church rites Pastoral counseling Proclaiming the word of God Helping people Confirmation work Helping people with weaknesses and trouble Sunday service Prayer life Education Reading and teaching the Bible Family work Promoting justice Missionary work Promoting equality Musical activities Evangelization Supervision and mentoring of trainees Promoting rights of the minorities Networking with the community Societal influence Administrative work Networking with civil sector, music and sports

18 DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS OF WORK SPIRITUAL FUNCTION Reading and teaching the Bible.77 Evangelization.75 Prayer life.72 Missionary work.70 Proclaiming the word of God.66 PROMOTING JUSTICE AND HELPING Promoting justice.79 Promoting equality.76 Helping people with weaknesses and trouble.67 Promoting rights of the minorities.65 Helping people.51 Pastoral counseling.36 II I RELIGIOS EDUCATION SUNDAY SERVICE AND CHURCH RITES IV Confirmation work.64 Family work.63 Education.63 Sunday service.66 Church rites.61 V NETWORKING AND ADMINISTRATIVE WORK Networking with civil sector, music and sports.79 Networking with the community.74 Societal influence.58 Supervision and mentoring of traineers.35 Administrative work.28 III

19 Aspects of clergy work. Second order factor analysis. Spiritual function.81 FUNCTION Promoting justice and helping.73 Networking and administrative work.74 Religious education Sunday services and PERFORMANCE church rites.52

20 CLERGY WOMEN GLERGY MEN Have a more multifaceted view of the church and its duties Put more emphasis on performance as men do Church should: Promote equality, justice and the rights of the minorities Help and serve people Have a strong influence on society More traditional view of the church work Spiritual function of the church seen as its major function Less emphasis on performance Regard especially missionary work as more important than women do

21 CLERGY IN DECLINE AND IN INCREASE Declining FUNCTION Mission orientation Importance of Evangelization Bible reading Importance of teaching the Bible Prayer life Work as a mission of life one is totally devoted to Work as a mission given by God Increasing PERFORMANCE Promoting equality Promoting justice Importance of education Promoting rights of the minorities Self-fulfillment Willingness to make a Career Willingness to serve and help people

22 FINALLY: IS THE CHURCH CHANGING AND SECULARISING THROUGH FEMALE CLERGY? Women are notably more liberal and are pleading the church to change towards a more liberal orientation in its policies and in daily practices Women are open to same-sex couples rights and ready to act in favor of them Women have a more liberal and more individualized view of faith less orthodox, decline in Bible reading

23 Women have a liberal approach to work Women are trying to apply religion and use their position as clergy members also strongly to various social problems, problems in human dignity and inequality while many of the men think that the Church should mainly concentrate on function, and less on performance.

24 The aspects of clergy work which seem to be most threatened are: evangelization, missionary work reading and teaching Bible which are in a marked decline among the young more liberally oriented female clergy However, at the same time the female clergy are more outreaching in other areas: They have a more multi-faceted view of the tasks of the clergy. They emphasize more networking and cooperating with the civil sector and contacting people via those channels.

25 The change brought by clergy women is almost like a school-book example of organizational secularisation : There is a decline in seeing the church as proclaiming the only truth through mission work and evangelisation Decline in orthodoxy eg. Bible reading is no longer seen as important Common human values take place: Equality, justice The church becomes more this-wordly This change partly enables the church to maintain contacts with its members, but at the same time the very religious minority feels more remote from it

26 In general, the results show that Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is moving clearly towards more liberal direction. This change in enabled especially by the increase of female clergy. THANK YOU! For more information, please contact: