Friday, April 24, 2009

Rest in peace, Carl


Carl Safford Dudley (1932-2009), a Presbyterian minister; educator, church consultant, author, co-author or editor of 16 books about church and community relations; community leader and activist; vivacious neighbor and faithful friend; devoted and loving husband; and energetic father, died in his Hartford, Connecticut home on Wednesday morning of complications due to cardiac amyloidosis, in the company of his wife and children. He was 76 and is survived by his wife, Shirley, sister, Jay Goldspinner, his five children and nine grandchildren.

Reverend Dudley spent a lifetime in the ministry, organizing churches from Buffalo, New York, to St. Louis, Missouri, and rallying communities from Selma, Alabama to Hartford, Connecticut. While often described as a maverick for his unorthodox ways and his open challenges to the status quo, it was Dudley’s discipline and perseverance, as well as his understated pragmatism, which made him a great leader in the church and the community. Dudley’s ministry started and ended in the home, where he created a space for both his family and friends to flourish in his presence. He will be missed by many.

A memorial service will be held on 3:00 p.m., Saturday, April 25, at:
Immanuel Congregational Church, United Church of Christ
10 Woodland Street (corner of Woodland and Farmington)
Hartford, CT 06105 immanuel@iccucc.org

A reception will follow the service at 4:30 p.m., at:
Hartford Seminary
77 Sherman Street
Hartford, CT 06105

In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to the “Hartford Seminary Carl S. Dudley Scholarship Fund.” You can donate online at: https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/ExpressDonation.aspx?ORGID2=060647016&vlrStratCode=VvLK6R2bZEYNWdMxqMgDSh%2bKhxovkRdEqOVZoBxcJr224Cm%2fCdS1msBtwUfljHJJ

Please specify the cause. Or make a check to Hartford Seminary, include in the memo that it is for the “ Carl S. Dudley Scholarship Fund,” and send a check to:

Hartford Seminary
77 Sherman Street
Hartford, CT 06105

Contributions also welcome to:
The Brigham and Women's Cardiac Amyloidosis Program
c/o Development Office, Brigham and Women's Hospital
116 Huntington Avenue, 5th Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02116-571

Dudley served as Professor of Church and Community and Co-Director, Hartford Institute on Religion Research from 1993-2003. He became faculty emeritus in residence of Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut upon his retirement in 2003. Prior to coming to Hartford Dudley he served as Professor of Church and Community and Director of the Center for Church and Community Ministries from 1973-93 at McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois; and prior to that he served several pastorates including 1962-73 Pastor, Berea Presbyterian Church, St. Louis, MO, from 1962-1973. He was Ordained Presbyterian Minister, June, 1959; member of the Presbytery of Southern New England.

He graduated from Cornell University, B.A., 1954 (Majors: Psychology and Sociology); Union Theological Seminary (NYC), B.D./M.Div., 1959, and McCormick Theological Seminary, D.Min., 1974.

He was past president of the Religious Research Association and member of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, and the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. He was a founding director of the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership (CCSP) and a founding member of the Project Team for Congregational Studies. He also served on the Advisory Board of the Ratner Center for Study of Conservative Judaism (NYC); Consultant, Parish Handbook Project of the Institute for Church Life (Notre Dame); Advisor, Study of Masjid Muhammad; Consultant, Council of Churches and Synagogues, Stamford, CT; and Fellow, The Case Study Institute.

For a personal reflection on our friend, mentor, and colleague, read here: http://blogs.courant.com/susan_campbell/2009/04/i-want-to-tell-you-about-carl.html ..

For Carl’s own reflection on his illness and an exegetical delight, read here: http://hirr.hartsem.edu/about/dudley_essay.html

-- David Roozen and Dirk Hart


P.S. Carl was one of the founding co-directors of the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership (CCSP) with David with David working mostly with researchers and Carl mostly with key teachers.

-- Dirk Hart


P.P.S. Carl and David were the co-inventors of CCSP. Carl was on the ground from the beginning and it would have never happened without him. He made most of the early phone calls establishing the relationships that became CCSP.

-- Cynthia Woolever

Friday, February 20, 2009

Other options


Don’t want to be left out? Your denomination or faith community can still participate in the landmark Faith Communities Today (FACT) 2010 survey even if you opt not to join the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership (CCSP) officially and/or not to attend the partnership’s August 10-12 2009 annual meeting. Communicate with the partnership research coordinators Kirk Hadaway (at 212 922-5331 or at khadaway@episcopalchurch.org) or Perry Cunningham (at 801-240-3210 or at CunninghamPH@ldschurch.org) about how you could provide contact information for a sample of congregations in your denomination or community. That way the picture of U.S. congregations as a whole that emerges from FACT 2010 will be sure to include congregations from your community. Also, resources for congregational leaders and regional religious resources that draw on FACT 2010 data will be sure to reflect the perspectives and experiences of your congregations. We hope to see you in Chicago as representatives of full partnership members organizations. But we’d like to work with you and leaders of your congregations, either way. Be in touch!

-- Perry

You're invited!


Growth, conflict, and giving are key concerns for many religious congregations today. That’s why the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership (CCSP) has chosen these as topics for resources for congregational leaders. These resources are now available on-line at http://fact.hartsem.edu/products/index.html.

You have an opportunity to help shape the next round of resources, to take part in the partnership’s biennial Faith Communities Today (FACT) surveys, and to participate in lively annual gatherings of researchers and religious leaders. A focus of the summer 2009 gathering will be on replicating the massive, landmark FACT 2000 survey. The gathering will take place between 12 noon on Monday, August 10, and 12 noon on Wednesday, August 12, at the Lutheran Center (pictured above) near Chicago’s O’Hare airport. Participants will also hear brand-new unpublished analysis of the results of the FACT 2008 survey, with its focus on deepening the engagement of existing members of congregations. They will also hear a high-level presentation on using the Web to connect congregational leaders with key research findings.

Please review and give us feedback on the resources, join us in Chicago, and ask your denomination or faith community to become a CCSP member and survey congregations as part of the FACT surveys. Full member organizations pay $5,000 annual dues and have two voting representatives whose ground costs at gatherings are paid in full. Associate member organizations pay $2,500 annual dues and join organizations that make contributions or are interested in membership in sending representatives to gatherings, administering FACT surveys to congregational leaders, and designing surveys and resources.

For more information, contact Perry Chang toll-free at 1-888-728-7228, ext. 5071, or at perry.chang@pcusa.org, or David Roozen at (860) 509-9546 or at roozen@hartsem.edu.

Who's active?

U.S. Christian denominations and other faith communities that currently belong to the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership are:

American Bible Society
Baha’i Faith in the United States
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Christian Reformed Church
Churches of Christ/Abilene Christian University
Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints
Church of the Nazarene
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Episcopal Church
Hartford Seminary
Historically Black Denominations/Interdenominational Theological Center
Islamic Society of North America
Leadership Network
Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod)
Orthodox Churches/Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Reformed Church in America
Roman Catholic Church
Seventh-Day Adventist Church
Synagogue 3000
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
United Church of ChristUnited Methodist Church

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Bold moves


In spite of bitingly cold downtown Louisville winter weather (outside of the sunny 5th-floor conference room where we met) and a tough economic outlook, Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership (CCSP) Steering Committee members made bold plans (earlier this month) for the next couple of years. The lean economy has apparently not dampened the commitment of Christian denominations and other faith communities to the partnership, as organizational members’ dues continue to come in steadily. But the lean economy has hindered the ability of potential major funders to finance a massive Faith Communities Today (FACT) 2010 survey. With the dues money and possibly smaller grants, the Steering Committee nevertheless decided to plow ahead in two areas.



In marketing and resourcing, the group decided to explore hiring a public relations consultant to help finetune a more aggressive, more innovative marketing strategy. The group also decided to go ahead and publish two more Insights pieces aimed at congregational and regional religious leaders (on social ministries and engaging existing members, the latter to be written by Mike McMullen, pictured above), along with a report summarizing the FACT 2008 results (to be written by David Roozen, pictured below). These pieces would be available by fall 2009.



In research, the group decided to plow ahead with the FACT 2010, probably more or less replicating the big FACT 2000 survey, with or without major grant funding. The research committee and the larger group may tinker with a few questions and the group is always open to the possibility of a special topics section, if funding can be found for that. But replication will be the focus. Partnership leaders will continue exploring research funding options, including funding for smaller pieces of the FACT 2010 survey (like reaching out to congregations in the historically African American denominations). A mix of databases supplied by denominations and other faith communities (both CCSP members and non-members?) and perhaps some general database (as in 2005 and 2008) will be used.

The partnership’s annual meeting will take place over 48 hours, between 12 noon, Monday, August 10, through 12 noon, Monday, August 12, at the Lutheran Center near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Participants will also hear brand-new unpublished analysis of the results of the FACT 2008 survey, with its focus on deepening the engagement of existing members of congregations. They will also hear a high-level presentation on using the Web to connect congregational leaders with key research findings.

-- Perry

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Braving the cold


Religious researchers representing a dozen different U.S. Christian denominations and faith communities will brave icy Midwestern weather this week in order to put together critical information about congregational vitality that your church or faith community may need. The Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership Steering Committee is holding its winter meeting at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, where a week of bad winter weather has left thousands still without electric power and sub-zero wind-chill-factor temperatures in the air. How to analyze and publicize responses to the partnership's Faith Communities Today (FACT) 2008 survey of congregational leaders and whether and how to organize a major 2010 survey in the midst of lean economic times are two issues on the agenda. Pictured above - in this week's ice - is Peace Seeker, the decorative horse that graces the outside entrance to Louisville's Presbyterian Center.

-- Perry Chang

Attendance up but finances down

At least one-third of U.S. churches and other religious congregations experienced an increase in worship attendance of more than 5% between between 2000 and 2005 (42%) and no conflict between 2003 and 2005 (35%). But leaders of only a quarter of congregations (26%) strongly agree that their congregation has a strong sense of purpose, and only one in six congregations (16%) are in excellent financial condition.

Those are findings of a 2005 survey of nearly 1,000 sampled congregations from across the country. The Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership (CCSP), a consortium of U.S. Christian denominations and other faith communities and religious researchers affiliated with them, has sponsored three Faith Communities Today (FACT) surveys (in 2000, 2005, and 2008).

The findings that almost half of congregations are experiencing numerical growth suggests that the widely commented on decline in community involvement has affected secular activities more than religious activities. The finding that few congregations are in great financial health may portend trouble in the future, as nationwide economic conditions threaten to drag down congregations with them.

For more information about findings from the FACT 2005 survey, see the "American Congregations 2005" report, available for order at http://fact.hartsem.edu/products/index.html and accessible on-line at: http://fact.hartsem.edu/American%20Congregations%202005%20pro.pdf.

For general information about the partnership and the survey, see: http://fact.hartsem.edu/

-- Perry Chang