United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas writing for a plurality of the Court in "Mitchell v. Helms" in 2000 advanced the idea that state constitutional prohibitions against public funding of religious schools were manifestations of anti-Catholic bigotry in the late 19th century. Thomas' reading of history and law led him to…

On the whole, the experiences of clergy with funerals and funeral directors were positive, although a significant minority provided negative judgements. The general consensus of the clergy was that people did need more protection from inappropriate funeral practices than they were presently getting. (Author)

Discusses the rejection of popular racist beliefs of the nineteenth century by the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in its missionary interactions with American Indians. Identifies the ethnocentrism at that time as distinct from racism and suggests reasons for the commonality of the former and the rejection of the latter. (AEM)

Spiritual living demands growth, and spiritual development has many parallels with human development. Ministers who are knowledgeable of the various stages are best prepared to assist and optimize spiritual growth. The primary benefit of nurturing believers through developmental stages is assured spiritual health and maturity in the context of a…

Traces 19th-century efforts of the American Methodist Episcopal Church to establish missions and employ Black missionary bishops in Liberia. Points out that the abolition of slavery in the United States contributed to a shift in the Methodist Church's position on recruiting Blacks in the mission movement in Africa. (Author/MJL)

Addresses the impact of religious affiliation on intercourse risk and contraception use among adolescent women during the 1980s when church-based groups were increasingly involved in debates over reproductive and family issues. Results show that adolescent nonmarital intercourse and birth rates were rising suggesting that religious organizations,…

Today deep theological differences threaten to divide Protestant denominations. In turn, these differences often mute church education and block mission. This article seeks to offer glimpses for addressing that theological controversy. It is an exercise in historical retrieval examining a generative period in the history of Christian religious…

In segregated societies such as Northern Ireland, schools may become sites of risk rather than sites of learning. This is particularly likely to be the case in interface areas, which are demarcated by peace-lines and other symbolic boundaries. Drawing on maps and focus group discussions with teenagers from interface areas in North Belfast, the…

In August 1843 Presbyterian minister Henry Highland Garnet delivered his "Address to the Slaves of the United States of America" to the National Convention of Colored Citizens in Buffalo, NY. While often read (and almost as often dismissed) as either an unqualified call for a violent slave rebellion or, at the least, a celebration of…

Background: Northern Ireland is a province that remains deeply divided between Protestants and Catholics and maintains a segregated system of schools. Purpose: The research builds on a series of studies conducted in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s to monitor the attitude toward Christianity of males and females educated in Protestant and Catholic…

This article examines the network of women's colleges which emerged in Ireland in the latter half of the nineteenth century in response to women's exclusion from the realm of the university and their desire to participate in higher education. These colleges, run largely along denominational lines, were situated in the major cities with the…

This paper examines the perceived influence of parents and family and the construction of national and religious identification amongst adolescents theoretically sampled from along the border between the Irish Republic and the Northern Ireland. Two hundred and sixty-one young people wrote essays on the meaning of their national identity and the…

Author reported on a community in Northern Ireland where religion is no longer a dirty word. (Editor/RK)

This study examined stress, strain, and coping mechanisms in women religious leaders. Subjects were nuns (N=51), Reform women rabbis (N=45), Episcopal women priests (N=32), United Methodist clergywomen (N=45) and Presbyterian clergywomen (N=45), matched for age and years on the job and pulpit assignments. All subjects were given the Osipow and…

Relates the racist character of the Protestant church to the processes of acculturation and secularized forms of self identity, and outlines some implications for local churches' social action programs. (Author/SF)