Established Church Research Articles

An Expansion Of Liberty

This primary source analysis examines the relationship between church and state in early American society from the point of view of the anonymous pamphlet, The Freeman’s Remonstrance Against an Ecclesiastical Establishment, being some remarks On a Late Pamphlet, Entitled The Necessity OfAn Established Church In Any State; By A Freeman Of Virginia. written in 1777. The Freeman uses many ideas from the American Revolution such as American unity, the expansion of liberty, and expansion ofequality to argue for disestablishment. This topic is important because of the ever-evolving debate over church and state in the United States.  

Education of church musicians in Krakow in the period from the end of the Second Vatican Council to the present day

The training of church musicians in Cracow in the period after the Second Vatican Council became one of the important tasks of the institutional Church associated with the post-conciliar renewal of the liturgy. In the 1970s, the training of church organists here took on a systematic and organised character. The activities of the Archdiocesan Organist’s College, as well as the Church Music Section at the Liturgical Institute, were constantly evolving. Over time, their tasks were taken over by the Archdiocesan Organist School (now the Archdiocesan Music School) and the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Krakow (now the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow). Since 1997, the Academy of Music in Cracow has also been educating church musicians. At present, Cracow and the Archdiocese of Cracow offer many opportunities of professional music education, which are eagerly used by organists, choir conductors, as well as people passionate about Gregorian chant, liturgical composition and the broadly understood animation of the musical life of churches. The immediate impulse for writing this article was the 25th anniversary of the Cardinal Franciszek Macharski Archdiocesan School of Music, celebrated in 2023, which is an ­important link in the series of educational institutions thanks to which the level of education of church musicians is constantly rising.

The Spiritual Well-Being Scale in the Polish Catholic Setting: Construct, Structure, and Relationships with Psychological Well-Being.

The population of Poland could be of particular interest to researchers studying religion and spirituality. Catholicism has played a significant role in shaping the country's culture, history, and tradition and is considered a national religion. More recently, however, the processes of moving away from regular participation in religious services and loosening ties with the institution of the Catholic Church are marked (Polish Public Opinion Research Center, CBOS). The Polish Catholic setting may modify the associations between psychological variables that have been studied in their relationships with spirituality, which have been investigated in religious contexts differing from a PolishCatholic one. Given this context, we examined the internal structure of spiritual well-being in the sample of present-dayPolishCatholics (Study 1) and how spiritual well-being is related to mental health (Study 2). The internal structure of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale was replicated in the Polish sample, but only positively worded items loaded on the Religious and Existential Well-Being subscales. Spiritual well-being was positively related to positive mood, satisfaction with life, and psychological well-being; it wasnegatively associated with negative mood, depression, and anxiety, thus remaining significantly related to psychological well-being among Polish Catholics.

The religious dimension of Russia's war against Ukraine: the context of national security

The author highlights the current problems of the Ukrainian state in the context of Russia's large-scale war against Ukraine. The importance of studying the religious factor and its impact on Ukraine's national security is substantiated. It is shown how, with the “spiritual” support of its original assistant, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine in the guise of the so-called Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC-MP) has been actively proclaiming the “gathering of Russian lands” for decades. This “hostile tandem” has been building a “Russian world” on Ukrainian territory with intolerance to everything Ukrainian, pursuing a collaborationist policy in Ukraine, lobbying for Russia's interests, and becoming an important tool for influencing the minds of a large number of people. With the restoration of the independence of the Ukrainian state, Orthodoxy was supposed to become a consolidating factor in the creation of the Ukrainian nation. Instead, for decades, the UOC-MP has been constantly deconsolidating Ukrainian society, sowing church discord, and discrediting Ukraine's political and spiritual leadership in the international arena. Such activities have resulted in not only the territorial but also the spiritual occupation of our country. It is concluded that the concept of the “Russian world”, cultivated for years in Ukraine by the Kremlin through its “Orthodox” structures of the Russian Orthodox Church and the UOC-MP, was mainly the basis for the invasion of Ukrainian territories by the occupiers, which later escalated into a large-scale national liberation war in 2022. The study used data from sociological services, official documents of church institutions, and analyzed Ukrainian legislation on related issues. Certain provisions of the study can be used to further analyze the activities and spheres of influence of the Moscow Patriarchate in order to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Time as a Category in Survivors' Reports About Child Sexual Abuse: An Explorative Approach to Lifetime Abuse.

Since the 1990s, cases of serious violence and abuse, particularly sexual abuse in educational and social institutions of the Catholic Church, have been reported in numerous countries, including Ireland, the United States, and Australia. In many countries, commissions have been set up to investigate the widespread cases of abuse that could not be prosecuted under criminal law. The testimonies of survivors and other witnesses are used by the commissions of inquiry in their work. Since 2016 the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in Germany has collected more than 2,500 reports from survivors of child sexual abuse. Forty-four testimonies were analyzed in a study seeking to understand more about lifetime abuse. In an explorative analysis, aspects of time as a key category in the reports were identified using the structured content analysis method. The results highlight the importance of time in the reports and during all phases of the survivors' lives. Overall, four themes are relevant: (a) the identification of turning points, (b) time to make sense of what happened, (c) the practice of waiting, and (d) time-bound experiences of testifying.

“A Colony to Themselves”: Scottish Highland Settler Colonialism in British North America, 1770–1804

Abstract This article explores the links between anti-Catholicism in the United Kingdom and the acceleration of settler colonialism in British North America, and it does so by considering two group migrations from Catholic districts in the North West Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Occurring over 30 years apart, the Glenaladale settlement (1772) in Prince Edward Island and the Glengarry settlement (1803) in Upper Canada offer instructive insight into how anti-Catholicism activated Highland Catholic colonial agency. Not only did significant numbers of Highland Catholics choose to quit Scotland forever, but their settlement in places like Prince Edward Island and Upper Canada accelerated the process of settler colonialism and the establishment of the Catholic Church. The colonies at Glengarry and Glenaladale were peopled by settlers who were doubly motivated to settle in the empire. They stood to prosper economically—certainly—and they also stood to gain the freedom to practice their faith free of obvious interference. To the Indigenous peoples whose ancestral lands they settled, the consequences were not softened by this pretext for settler colonization, and too often the history of anti-Catholic discrimination in the four nations elide the fact that Catholics were enthusiastic colonizers elsewhere, and that the two processes were often related.

Бенжамен Констан как философ религиозного чувства

The paper deals with Benjamin Constant’s philosophy of religious sentiment. Constant is known primarily as political philosopher defender of Liberalism; at the same time, during his life Constant was interested in religion. The paper follows development of Constant’s views till his Athenaeum Lectures of 1818 and mature opus magnum “On Religion” (5 vols., 1824–1831). Constant’s philosophy of religious sentiment in many traits differs of the similar projects that were elaborated in the German-speaking space. Constant visited Germany for a long time, accordingly, he was acquainted with German-speaking philosophy and theology (Semler, Kant, Schleiermacher and many others); however, it did not shape Constant’s worldview. Rather, Constant used German ideas to answer on his own questions. Hence, Constant’s views are original in some traits. Firstly, unlike German colleagues he does not concentrate on epistemology of religious sentiment, but on the political and ideological aspects of religious feeling. Secondly, Constant opposes the sentiment itself to its forms changing in history as well as illustrates the latter by materials of ethnology and anthropology. Thirdly, this opposition represents the key scheme of phenomenology of religion, that is why Constant influenced not German but Dutch researchers, more precisely C. P. Tiele and G. van der Leeuw. Fourthly, Constant unlike German thinkers due to his explicite liberal views strongly criticizes church institutions. In general, despite of considerable distance between Constant’s and his German collеagues philosophers’ views, Constant is one of the closest to the German philosophy French thinkers. Constant's philosophy of religion is known primarily because of his political fame.

Public Witness through the Church as the Disciple Community in the Context of Christian Nationalism

In Central and Eastern Europe, some branches of the Church have formed alliances with nationalist politics characterized by fundamentalism and fanaticism. To identify this phenomenon, Czech theologian Tomaš Halik coined the term “f-word pseudoreligion.” Pavol Bargár suggests that such an approach to one’s faith and public witness is one of the most serious challenges the church’s mission in CEE must face. First, the other tends to be viewed as a menace rather than a precious gift. Second, its adherents can fall prey to idealized traditionalism rather than drawing from the treasures of Christian tradition, the gospel itself. After defining Christian nationalism, I will focus on the Visegrád nations: Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. In response to this missional challenge, I argue for public witness through the church as a disciple community. Discipleship as apprenticeship to Jesus does not lie in affiliation to an established church representing a particular national identity. Such idealized traditionalism found in settled religious forms can be called temple spirituality. The apostle Paul did not focus on temple spirituality or church planting; he nurtured disciple communities toward maturity in Christ. While Biblicism, crucicentrism, conversionism, and activism define a certain kind of evangelical piety, the church as a disciple community is both pilgrim and indigenous. When the telos of loving communion with God and neighbor shapes the disciple community’s identity and mission, churches can engage biblical resources and traditions to serve social realities in ways that bring hope, reconciliation, and healing.

A Weed in the Church: Early 20th Century American Historical Perspectives on Adolescence and the Rise of Modern Youth Ministry

Abstract This research pulls from a historical and theoretical lens to suggest that a misapplication of adolescent theory flowing from the moral panic of the 20th century has been realized in the exclusion of adolescence from ecclesial participation, resulting in generational disengagement with the institutional church. The path forward includes a consideration of how identity is formed within communities in an ecosystem of reciprocity that takes seriously the contribution of each generational cohort. While particular attention is given to both the historical praxis of youth ministry as well as the theological implications of youth ministry, this research is intended to invite further consideration of the subject of adolescent formation from a developmental, historical, and theological viewpoint.

The Counts of Cilli and the Tools of Church Politics: patronage, advocacy and benefaction

The Counts of Cilli engaged in both secular and church politics. Two of the most important tools that they used to wield their influence on church politics were the right of patronage and advocacy over church institutions. Patronage enabled them to fill vacant ecclesiastic offices with priests from the ranks of their clientele, and advocacy allowed them to administer church property as well as exercise patrimonial rights and draw revenues arising therefrom. They further strengthened their reputation and influence in the Church or, rather, its institutions through generous service as benefactors of the Church, which earned them numerous benefits, not least being buried in monasteries.

Relationship between Leadership, Intangible and Tangible Resources, and Sustained Competitive Advantage in selected Adventist institutions in Zimbabwe

Abstract We investigated the effects of leadership and tangible and intangible resources on sustainable competitive advantage. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using the Seventh-day Adventist Church Institutions in Zimbabwe. A questionnaire was administered to 341 respondents. The results of the correlation analysis show that leadership (r = .57; p<.01), tangible resources (r =. 53; p< .0l), and intangible resources (r =. 43; p< .05) significantly correlate with sustainable competitive advantage. Furthermore, the regression analysis showed that all three variables combined had a significant effect on sustainable competitive advantage (adjusted R-square = .359) (F (3, 327) =62.61, p<0.05). Additionally, the analysis shows that leadership (β = .370; p < 0.05) and tangible resources (β = .273; p < 0.05) contributed the most to the institutions’ sustainable competitive advantage. However intangible resources, singly, do not significantly affect the competitive advantage. The results confirm the key role of leadership in creating a competitive advantage in organizations. Thus, the study highlights that without leaders’ willingness and effective engagement, those institutions cannot effectively compete in the marketplace despite the presence of resources.

Ave Maria: Representation of Womanhood in Patriarchal Malta

ABSTRACT “Ave Maria: Representation of Womanhood in Patriarchal Malta” is a research project that examines the situation of women in Maltese society. The main tool of research will be a representational number of interviews with women, and entering into a dialogue with them about the current situation of women in Malta and how this could have been affected by the image of Mary, as conveyed by the institution of the Catholic Church. The dynamics explored in the interviews are juxtaposed against salient themes in feminist and queer theology. The aim of the research project is to challenge how patriarchal systems have molded the figure of Mary to reinforce the status quo. In the second part of the project, the insights emerging from the interviews were used to devise a script centered on the figure of Mary in order to show how this figure can dialogue with women in the Maltese society.

Prohibition, Censorship, Denial: Polish Episcopate’s Narrative on (Homo)sexual Acts Between 1945 and 1989

Abstract One of the most important issues for the Polish Episcopate under communism was moral evaluation of sexual activities. Bishops suggested that, along with other immoral activities, homosexuality resulted from the popularization of Marxism and atheization of customs. This article presents a thematic analysis of the episcopal writings from 1945 to 1989, and their evaluation in light of Michel Foucault’s theory, in order to discuss Polish episcopal power in the context of its narrative on homosexuality. I present the doctrinal and historical context of the analyzed writings in a trichotomy: the Episcopate of Poland, the Apostolic See, and the authorities of the Polish People’s Republic. Moreover, I recognize that components of episcopal discourse suggest a multiplicity of power relations. In the selected period, these forces were the subjects of a game in which the church created strategies and chains of influence, and, as an agent of power, consolidated its position by demanding obedience. This image of the institutional church in Poland was established through a great central mechanism of denial that excluded any possibility of a positive moral evaluation of homosexual and other extramarital acts.

Solid Mass And Plain Exterior: The Ecclesiastical Architecture Of William Wardell In Victoria

ABSTRACT William Wilkinson Wardell was one of the most important architects of colonial Australia. A Catholic convert who had already extensive experience in working for the Catholic Church in England, Wardell relocated to Melbourne in 1858 with a large number of architectural drawings for ecclesiastical structures proving he was a distinguished Gothic revivalist. In Victoria, he established an extraordinary partnership with the first Catholic Bishop of Melbourne, James Goold, and despite being busily engaged at the Public Works Department, for over ten years he also maintained a successful private practice working on more than a dozen church commissions in the Gothic Revival style. Drawing on archival research including surviving architectural drawings, diocesan correspondence, and nineteenth century newspapers, the article reveals Wardell’s ability in blending English, Irish and French medieval Gothic elements that appealed to the local congregations for his Australian church designs. Furthermore, it demonstrates that his substantial parish churches manifested the strength and permanence of Catholic religious tradition, ultimately helping Bishop James Goold to lay strong foundations in the establishment of the Catholic Church in Victoria.

Leadership Trends and Implications towards Development of the Adventist Church in South Sudan

This study investigated leadership trends and implications toward development of the Adventist Church in South Sudan, using the descriptive design. Sources of data were interviews and documents. Twenty-five church leaders, pastors and members participated in the study. Data was analyzed through the thematic approach. The study revealed that the establishment of the Adventist church in South Sudan was influenced by dedicated missionaries like Daudi Ogillo from Tanzania and Gerald Whitehouse from the United States of America. Besides planting churches, these leaders established humanitarian and medical services which propelled the development of the church. The leaders experienced communication challenges and religious restrictions as major challenges. Indigenous leaders followed the footsteps of the non-indigenous leaders by applying the principles of servant and spiritual leadership. As a result, church membership has increased and 41 pastors have received ministerial ordination. Other developments include professional development of church workers and establishment of 34 primary schools. The study recommends that the current church leadership continues working sacrificially to foster the church growth and development. The leaders should take advantage of the improved conditions to accelerate the church growth. The leadership should prioritize church employees’ professional development and church members’ self-reliance through regular training.

Is the True Jesus Church a Chinese Indigenous/Independent Pentecostal Denomination? With Special Reference to the Orientalism of Western Scholars toward “Pentecostalism” in the Global South

The True Jesus Church has been regarded as a Chinese Indigenous/Independent Pente-costal denomination by scholarship specifically in the area of Global Pentecostal/Charismatic Studies and World Christianity irrespective of those scholar's definitions---inclusive or exclusive. This paper argues that it might be inappropriate for scholarship to define the True Jesus Church as Pentecostals at least for three factors: 1. The refusal from the True Jesus Church to be regarded as Pentecostalism due to its' providential and exclusive self-identity; 2. The primary intent of the establishment of the True Jesus Church was to seek church independence and religious reformation rather than promote Pentecostal spirituality; 3. There is a lack of synchronous network between the True Jesus Church and Pentecostalism both at global and local levels. Also, this paper indicates a latent Orientalism among Western scholars of Pentecostalism based on an exotic imagination and representation of Non-Western Christianity enhanced by the complicity of Orients and native informants.

The Professionalization of Midwifery in the Late Middle Ages

The concept of midwifery as an independent profession for women, one that gave them the opportunity for autonomyandeducation,isevidentinthehistoricalrecordofWesternEuropeinthelateMiddleAges. Thisstudy looks at several determinant factors that define the concept of professionalization in a medieval context – such as education, the establishment of standards of practice and the ability to earn income – concluding that midwifery should be considered by historians as a specialized profession, separate from other healers, physicians, and lay midwives. The study reflects on the work of early Greek medical scholars and the advancement of knowledge by Trotula of Salerno and St. Hildegard von Bingen, as well as the autonomy of practicing midwives and their relationship to the established Church, to illustrate the status of midwifery as a distinct profession during the established time period.

Empowering Women in Ecclesiastical Spaces: Insights from the World Council of Churches

This study delves into the responses of women amidst the dynamic shifts within the ecumenical movement from 1910 to 1948. Two pivotal developments marked the burgeoning presence of women in missions during the early 20th century. The Edinburgh World Missionary Conference of 1910 emerged as a cornerstone event within the ecumenical movement, attracting numerous women missionaries representing diverse missionary societies and church mission boards. Concurrently, the Woman's Missionary Jubilee (1910-11) underscored the fostering of camaraderie among women across First World and Third World churches. These events catalyzed the integration of women into the fabric of Protestant missions, leading to the formation of women's communities and their significant contributions to church establishment, development, and expansion. However, the establishment of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 1948 ushered in a period of diminished opportunities for women's participation. The predominant presence of male policy makers within the WCC, particularly within the influential Central Committee, which steered the Council between assemblies, reflected a systemic gender disparity. This shift prompted women to devise strategic approaches to bolster their roles within both churchand society. Consequently, this paper aims to delineate the strategic initiatives undertaken by pioneering women leaders of the early 20th century to enhance the status of women leaders within the ecclesiastical and societal domains.

“The Patriarchal Authority Always Remains Present in the Church in its Entirety”: Patriarch Tikhon, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) and the Ideas of Church Democracy

The sharp criticism expressed by opponents towards Patriarch Tikhon and Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) was not so much related to their complimentary statements towards the Soviet government (Patriarch Tikhon’s such statements have been known since 1923), but rather to their methods of governance. Opponents believed that Patriarch Tikhon and Metropolitan Sergius were dismantling the established church democracy that had emerged as a result of the Local Council of 1917–1918. In the early 20th century, such democracy was called conciliarity, which implied church representation, a system of elections from the bottom up with a periodicity of several years. The ideas of intrachurch republicanism were actively developing throughout the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The system of representative church institutions established after the spiritualschool reform at the deanery and diocesan levels served as a school of democracy for the Russian clergy for half a century. Republican ideas were still strong at the Local Council of 1917–1918. They were the main basis for opposing the plans to introduce patriarchy. The ordinations of married priests to bishops without taking monastic vows by the renewalists, and then the recognition of a married episcopate at the so-called Second All-Russian Local Council of 1923, led the R.O.C. (Russian Orthodox Church) of the renewalists beyond the canonical field, which the renewalists were well aware of. Therefore, they sought to superimpose the church democratic system that had formed within their structures after the “abolition” of patriarchy in 1923 to a universal level. Together with the Greeks, the renewalists developed plans for the periodic regular holding of representative assemblies of Local Churches, which they called Universal Councils. These councils were envisaged as a radical transformation of both the canonical structure and, subsequently, the dogmatic teachings of the Orthodox Church. Thus, under favorable historical circumstances, the development of Russian church republicanism could fundamentally undermine the foundations of Universal Orthodoxy. However, patriarchal authority in post-revolutionary Russia stood in the way of these plans. Such actions by the patriarchal authority require a closer look at the perception of the Moscow metropolitan, and then the patriarch in the Russian church consciousness of the 15th-17th centuries, where the fact of repeated episcopal ordination indicates that the Head of the Church was not simply one of the bishops.

The founding charter of the provostship in Benedictine Książnice Wielkie in 1508

This publication reveals in print the content of the founding charter of 1508 concerning the establishment of the provostship and mansionary residence in Książnice Wielkie, a village near Koszyce, in the former Proszowice poviat district. Due to its detailed, even meticulous nature, the document made an important contribution to the organisation of the above Church institutions. The Tyniec monastery was the formal founder of the provostship in Książnice Wielkie, whereas Mikołaj of Koprzywnica (aka Mikołaj of Szadek) acted as the initiator and its actual founder. Until 1809, the provostship survived in the form in which had been established back in 1508.