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- Title
Dearly Departed: How Often Do Congregations Close?
- Authors
ANDERSON, SHAWNA L.; MARTINEZ, JESSICA HAMAR; HOEGEMAN, CATHERINE; ADLER, GARY; CHAVES, MARK
- Abstract
We establish for the first time a national mortality rate for religious congregations by determining the 2005 status of congregations in the 1998 National Congregations Study sample. The annual mortality rate for religious congregations is 1 percent, which is among the lowest mortality rates ever observed for any type of organization. This unusually low mortality rate probably indicates an organizational population whose weakest members live on in a weakened state rather than an organizational population that is unusually robust all the way down to its most vulnerable members.
- Subjects
UNITED States; MORTALITY; RELIGIOUS gatherings; ORGANIZATIONAL death; ORGANIZATIONAL change; CHURCH attendance; SOCIAL indicators
- Publication
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2008, Vol 47, Issue 2, p321
- ISSN
0021-8294
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1468-5906.2008.00410.x