Church Members as a Source of Informal Social Support

Abstract

Socio-demographic and religious factors were examined as predictors of the receipt of support from church members among a national sample of black Americans (n= 2,107). Among the religious variables, church attendance, church membership, subjective religiosity, and religious affiliation were all significantly related to the receipt of support. Demographic differences were apparent with men and younger respondents being more likely, while divorced respondents were less likely to receive support. Having a higher income and residency in rural areas were associated with never needing assistance from church members versus simply never receiving aid. The discussion focused on further areas of investigation for church-based support networks and their interface with family and friend networks. In a landmark study of the social aspects of churches, Glock, Ringer and Babbie (1967) argue that churches function as a "family surrogate" for childless married couples and unmarried persons. These groups of individuals are more involved in organized religion because the church operates as a substitute family, fulfilling several important social and emotional needs. Despite the fact that the family surrogate theory was not supported by subsequent empirical work (Roof & Hoge, 1981), it nonetheless called attention to the fact that church members may be an integral component of a social support network for some individuals or groups. PASTORAL CARE AS SOCIAL SUPPORT It is our contention that a fuller appreciation of the supportive nature of church congregations generally and black churches in particular can be realized by examining the church within an explicit social support framework. Pastoral care is the overarching construct which incorporates and expresses the supportive features of the church (Wimberly, 1979). Pastoral care refers to the mobilization of the church's resources (i.e., material, spiritual, emotional, and informational) to assist individuals and families in crisis and in facing the more commonplace problems of living. Typically associated with the services administered by a church minister, pastoral care is provided by lay church members as well. The constructs and concepts developed in the social support literature may be helpful in understanding the nature of pastoral care as well as the relationships between relevant predictor (i.e., sociodemographic factors) and outcome variables (e.g., the likelihood of receiving aid).