Spiritual Resources Research Articles

O. Liubchuk, Prospects for the development of the value space of consumers of tourist services in the city of Mariupol.

The article shows analyzes the prospects of tourist services development in Mariupol. Presented is the formation of Mariupol as tourist center in the context development of field of value needs and area needs of consumers. Different approaches are presented on the selection of value orientations types. The research examines the impact of the value system, clearly defined patterns and lifestyles that are propagated in society for a person as a professional, consumer. The influence of the consumers personal values system on the development of various tourism types in the region is noted. The dominance of certain tourist needs in the leisure values of the students of Mariupol is stated. A low level of awareness about the availability of tourist resources various types among the youth of the city is noted. The current state and perspective directions of tourism development are considered on the basis of available natural, historical, architectural and cultural resources of the city. The mapping of the unique natural resources of Mariupol in the work of the famous artist Greek origin A.Kuinji is underlined. It was clarified that the problem of historical and cultural anthropogenic resources of Mariupol and Priazovya was revealed in the works of many ethnographers. The resurgence of excursion services in Mariupol is shown. The attention is paid to the possibilities of recreational, wellness, cognitive, industrial and religious tourism development in Mariupol. The uniqueness of historical and cultural, spiritual anthropogenic resources of Mariupol for their becoming tourist resources is indicated. The perspective directions of the necessary researches for formation of tourist interest to tourist resources of Mariupol city, in particular, monitoring for revealing values of different tourism types among consumers of tourist needs are determined.

Religions, poverty reduction and global development institutions

Religious traditions have always played a central role in supporting those experiencing poverty, through service delivery as well as the provision of spiritual resources that provide mechanisms for resilience at both the individual and community level. However, the fact that religions can be seen to support social structures and practices that contribute towards inequality and conflict, also underscores a role for religious traditions in creating conditions of poverty. While the Western-led modern global development institutions that have emerged since the Second World War have tended to be secular in nature, over the past decade or so there has been an apparent ‘turn to religion’ by these global development institutions, as well as in academic development studies. This reflects the realization that modernization and secularization do not necessarily go together, and that religious values and faith actors are important determinants in the drive to reduce poverty, as well as in structures and practices that underpin it. This paper traces three phases of engagement between religions and global development institutions. In phase one, the ‘pre-secular’ or the ‘integrated phase’ seen during the colonial era, religion and poverty reduction were intimately entwined, with the contemporary global development project being a legacy of this. The second phase is the ‘secular’ or the ‘fragmented’ phase, and relates to the era of the global development industry, which is founded on the normative secularist position that modernization will and indeed should lead to secularization. The third phase is characterized by the ‘turn to religion’ from the early 2000s. Drawing the three phases together and reflecting on the nature of the dynamics within the third phase, the ‘turn to religion’, this paper is underpinned by two main questions. First, what does this mean for the apparent processes of secularization? Is this evidence that they are being reversed and that we are witnessing the emergence of the ‘desecularization of development’ or of a ‘post-secular development praxis’? Second, to what extent are FBOs working in development to be defined as neo-liberalism’s ‘little platoons’—shaped by and instrumentalized to the service of secular neo-liberal social, political and economic systems, or do we need to develop a more sophisticated account that can contribute towards better policy and practice around poverty reduction?

Assessment of Clinical and Psychological Needs of Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer: Challenges and Gaps in Meeting Their Needs in Uganda

Purpose Uganda has one of the highest age-standardized incidence rates for breast cancer (38.3/100,000) occurring among women age 35 to 45 years. The disease is associated with increased biomedical and psychological demands on affected women and their families. Clinical and supportive care services are offered to patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) to meet their needs and improve survival and quality of life. However, the existence of challenges and barriers to health care access affect the satisfaction of the needs of patients with MBC and imply that available services cannot meet every clinical and psychological need these patients. No previous assessment has been done in Uganda of the clinical and psychological needs of patients with MBC. The aim of the current study was to generate data that can be used to increase awareness of the unmet clinical and psychological needs of patients with MBC and their families to inform advocacy strategies for supportive care services in Uganda. Methods We conducted interviews, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and document review. Results Patients with MBC (n = 67), survivors (n = 185), clinical providers (n = 24), family (n = 134), and VHT (n = 12) participated in this work. The patient’s most important needs include physical and daily living needs (relieving pain, 85.69%; nutrition and diet, 83.69%; wound management, 80.69%; help when tired, 74.6%; help with house cores, 73.19%); health system, information, and patient support (treatment with dignity, 86.6%; pleasant environment, 83.6%; sensitivity to feelings, 80.6%; counseling, 79.1%; choice of cancer specialists, 77.6%; treatment plan, 76.1%; respect for a patient’s opinion, 74.6%); and psychological (close family concerns, 79.1%; advice on faith, 79.6%; comforting when sad, 74.6%; positive outlook, 73.3%; how to disclose, 71.6%). Long waiting times, out-of-stock medicines, inadequate hospital amenities, family exclusion during patient review conversations, caregiver burnout, cost of care, limited funding, and spiritual, legal, and human resource shortages were needs and challenges identified by survivors, family caregivers, clinical providers, and policymakers. Polices on supportive care for patients with MBC are also unclear. Conclusion There exists a mismatch between patients with MBC, survivors, and health care providers with regard to knowledge of some of the needs of patients with MBC, particularly clinical-related information needs. Dialogue between patients with MBC, survivors, family caregivers, clinical providers, and VHTs is recommended to harmonize knowledge and perceptions of the needs of patients with MBC. AUTHORS' DISCLOSURES OF POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The following represents disclosure information provided by authors of this manuscript. All relationships are considered compensated. Relationships are self-held unless noted. I = Immediate Family Member, Inst = My Institution. Relationships may not relate to the subject matter of this manuscript. For more information about ASCO's conflict of interest policy, please refer to www.asco.org/rwc or ascopubs.org/jco/site/ifc . No COIs from the authors.

Administering Spiritual Assessments with Refugees: An Overview of Conceptually Distinct Assessment Options

Abstract The global refugee population has increased dramatically over the last decade, suggesting helping professionals will increasingly encounter refugees in diverse practice settings. Despite the central role spirituality plays in the lives of many refugees, the extant research suggests most practitioners have received minimal training in addressing this critical topic. To assist helping professionals provide effective and ethical services to the culturally unique refugee population, this article conceptualizes assessment as a two-stage process in which a brief assessment is universally administered to help legitimize spirituality in practice settings followed, if clinically warranted, by a comprehensive assessment. Five conceptually distinct comprehensive assessment approaches are discussed along with their respective strengths and limitations: spiritual histories—a completely verbally based approach—and four diagrammatic models: spiritual lifemaps, genograms, eco-maps and ecograms. Developing familiarity with a variety of comprehensive approaches equips practitioners to select the approach that best fits the interests and needs of both refugees and practitioners. Engaging refugees in this manner assists practitioners to optimize services by identifying spiritual resources that can be leveraged to solve problems and eliminate barriers to effective service provision.

Narrating the journey of sustained recovery from substance use disorder

BackgroundThe reported high rate of relapse in the context of an ever-increasing rate of substance abuse internationally and in South Africa together with the fact that the topic of sustained recovery from Substance Use Disorder (SUD) appears to be totally neglected in extant literature and research agendas motivated the researchers to conduct this investigation. The aim was to obtain an in-depth understanding of how individuals recovering from a SUD experience and sustain their recovery in order to fill the gap in the knowledge base.MethodsA qualitative research approach was followed, employing a narrative and phenomenological research design alongside an explorative, descriptive and contextual strategy of inquiry. Fifteen participants were purposefully recruited; and data were collected by means of individual, face-to-face interviews. Schlossberg’s Transition Process Model (1981) (Schlossberg NK, The Counselling Psychologist 1981;9(2):2-18, Schlossberg NK, Journal of Employment Counselling 2011;48:159-162, Anderson ML et al., Counselling adults in transition: linkingSchlossberg’s theory with practice in a diverse world., 2012) served as a theoretical framework and provided the backdrop to, and foundation for, the presentation of the research findings.ResultsParticipants’ entry into recovery was triggered by an internal or external crisis caused by chemical substance abuse. They had to embrace a psychological mind set change, involving commitment to a new way of life in order to sustain their recovery. This, among others, was facilitated by participants’ acceptance of the concept of ‘disease of addiction’ or finding a new faith-based identity. The 12-Step programme and further education and development were found to spiritually support sustained recovery. Strong ongoing support from specialised substance abuse support and/or religious groups, interpersonal relationships with family, spouses and sponsors as well as supportive work environments played a major role in sustaining recovery. The act of helping others further helped the participants to sustain their own recovery.ConclusionRegardless of the pathway of recovery, there are key aspects that appear to aid sustained recovery. In grouping these according to the four S’s in Schlossberg’s Transition Process Model (Schlossberg NK, The Counselling Psychologist 1981;9(2):2-18, Journal of Employment Counselling 2011;48:159-162, Anderson ML et al., Counselling adults in transition: linkingSchlossberg’s theory with practice in a diverse world., 2012): self, situation, strategies and support, they seem to facilitate the adaptation to transition from addiction to sobriety. Internal psychological and spiritual resources in terms of self; support (from family, church and support groups); strategies to combat cravings and deal with life problems; and avoiding and managing risk-inducing situations to strengthen recovery.

Between Two Trees: On Rediscovering Reconciliation in Post-1994 South Africa

A veiled logic minimises the gift of reconciliation from the poor when we examine the concepts of “reparation” and “deficit” in our discourse of reconciliation within South Africa. Instrumental rationality renders umkhondo—the footprints, the hints—of reconciliation elusive. The kaffir boom, a tree of victory and violence, subsumes umsintsi, a tree of defeat, a tree of a black person if the symbolic significance of the two names for the same tree is brought to attention. The interpretation of reparations and deficit through hegemonic, Western theological lenses cheapens and robs reconciliation of justice. Who then, is in Vlakplaas today—in post-1994 South Africa? Is silence penitential or does it signify arrogance by the beneficiaries of apartheid and colonialism? The myths that conceal the distorted logic being used to define reparations and deficit are no longer helpful. This article contends that black Africans need to craft their tools of reconciliation by resisting a bifurcation of their spiritual resources from the discourse of reconciliation.

Spirituality, Humor, and Resilience After Natural and Technological Disasters.

Multiple exposures to disaster are associated with high levels of stress and with long-term consequences for survivors. However, little is known about coping and resilience in multiple disaster contexts. In this study, we focused on spiritual and secular coping resources and the roles they may play in postdisaster resilience. Participants were noncoastal and coastal residents exposed to the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Psychosocial predictors of central interest were (a) spiritual support and (b) use of coping through humor, and both were hypothesized to be associated with resilience. Covariates included group, gender, education, income, social engagement, charitable work done for others, and lifetime trauma. Logistic regression analyses confirmed that spiritual support (odds ratio [OR] = 1.11, p ≤ .01) and use of coping through humor (OR = 1.17, p ≤ .01) were independently and positively associated with resilience. Disruption in charitable work done for others in a typical year before the hurricanes (OR = 0.49, p ≤ .05) and income of less than $2,000 per month were negatively associated with resilience (OR = 0.47, p ≤ .05). These data show that spirituality, humor, disruptions in charitable work, and low income were all independently associated with resilience in the years after consecutive disasters. Experiencing one or more disasters can create chronic psychosocial stress in an individual, which is associated with long-term health effects such as inflammation and weakened immune function. Recognizing which coping resources bolster resilience rather than harm is important for improving quality of life in disaster victims.

Cultivating spiritual resources for improving undergraduate student’s mental health

The increasing number of students coming to the university’s guidance and counselling unit demonstrates the need for more serious and systemic efforts to deal with students’ mental health. Previous studies have shown that religion has significant contribution to the human mental health and psychological well-being. This study specifically examined the role of one of the spiritual resources that get emphasis in Islamic teachings that is “Tawakal toward Allah SubhanahuwaTa’ala” to the undergraduate students’ mental health. To test the research hypothesis that asserted there is a positive relationship between surrender to God and social-emotional health, current study uses correlational design. The study involved 57 undergraduate students of the statistic class at Psychology Department of Islamic University of Indonesia, Yogyakarta and Surrender to God Scale (Wong-McDonald & Gorsuch, 2000) and Social-Emotional Health Survey (Furlong, You, Shishim, & Dowdy, 2017) were administered to them. When social desirability on the relationship between surrender to God and social-emotional health was controlled, partial correlation r (56) = .510, p = .001was found.The result suggests that there was a significant and strongly positive association between surrender to God and students’ social-emotional health when controlling social desirability scores

A Social Ecological Modeled Explanation of the Resilience Processes of a Sample of Black Sesotho-Speaking Adolescents.

The primary aim of the study that this article reports was to model and test a social ecological explanation of resilience as explained by Ungar. Its secondary aim was to investigate resilience-promoting supports in school-going Black South African adolescents. School attendance was specified as a culturally appropriate, functional outcome of resilience. The Pathways to Resilience Research Project gathered data through the Pathways to Resilience Youth Measure. Seven hundred and thirty school-going adolescents (age 12-19 years, 388 female, 341 male, one unspecified) from Thabo Mofutsanyana District, in South Africa's Free State province, participated in this cross-sectional study. Latent variable modeling was used to test measurement models of adolescents' self-reported perceptions of social ecological contributions (resources and risks) to their resilience. A complex model based on a social ecological explanation of resilience fitted the data best. The structural model showed that the resilience process predicted 32% of the variance in school attendance. Social skills, cultural, and spiritual resources were most supportive of adolescents' resilience. The results confirmed that the complex model explained resilience in Black South African adolescents as a person-context relational process and prompt principals, parents, teachers, and governmental departments to encourage school attendance.

Cultivating spiritual resources for improving undergraduate students’ mental health

The increasing number of students coming to the university’s guidance and counseling unit demonstrates the need for more serious and systemic efforts to deal with students’ mental health. Previous studies have shown that religion has significant contribution to the human mental health and psychological well-being. This study specifically examined the role of one of the spiritual resources that get emphasis in Islamic teachings that is “Tawakal toward Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala” to the undergraduate students’ mental health. To test the research hypothesis that asserted there is a positive relationship between surrender to God and social-emotional health, current study uses correlational design. The study involved 57 undergraduate students of the statistic class at Psychology Department of Islamic University of Indonesia, Yogyakarta and Surrender to God Scale (Wong-McDonald & Gorsuch, 2000)and Social-Emotional Health Survey (Furlong, You, Shishim, & Dowdy, 2017) were administered to them. When social desirability on the relationship between surrender to God and social-emotional health was controlled, partial correlation r (56) = .510, p = .001was found.The result suggests that there was a significant and strongly positive association between surrender to God and students’ social-emotional health when controlling social desirability scores.

Civil economy: definition and strategies for sustainable well-living

The civil economy paradigm presented in this paper has two main characteristics. First, it identifies the philosophical roots of the limits of our socioeconomic system in the reductionist views of human beings, corporations, and well-being. The three reductionist views not only fail to capture an important part of the reality, but also produce poverty of sense of life (also defined as eudaimonic well-being) and of life satisfaction, thereby generating a suboptimal level of well-being. The civil economy paradigm proposes an alternative where it is acknowledged that (1) part of the individuals depart from purely self-regarding preferences and develop other-regarding and relational skills enabling them to overcome social dilemmas, (2) part of the productive system depart from the profit maximization paradigm and aim to satisfy the interests of a wider range of stakeholders beyond shareholders, and (3) well-being is, beyond GDP, the stock of cultural, environmental, spiritual, and economic resources that a community can enjoy. The second qualifying point of the civil economy paradigm is that it proposes a richer four-hand approach to political economy (as an alternative to the traditional two-hand approach) where actions of the traditional invisible hand of the market and the visible hand of institutions in solving failures are complemented and supported by the complementary action of the two additional hands of grassroot citizens’ participation and socially and environmentally responsible companies. In our paper, we explain and document that these two additional hands are already at work, thereby confirming that the reductionist hypothesis on individuals and corporations is rejected by empirical evidence. In the paper, we argue that the civil economy paradigm, by increasing social participation and generativity of all actors, has the power of bridging the gap between the current suboptimal and the socially optimal sense of life (well described in the concept of “common good”). We as well provide evidence showing that the paradigm is far from being unrealistic and that its sprouts are already working in several fields of our society, preparing a more thorough transformation and full replacement of the old paradigm at a theoretical level that is near to come.

Moral injury and the priesthood of all believers1

AbstractThis article proceeds from the conviction that moral injury suffered by many combat veterans is a deeply spiritual matter requiring spiritual resources for healing. The tradition of the care of souls commends itself. It takes into account that the “soul” is an expression of the whole person in all its physical, spiritual, and social realities. Moral injury affects all those dimensions of personhood or soul. Since the Reformation the care of souls has been a vocation for the ministry of the whole people of God under the theology of the priesthood of all believers. A caring community is essential to healing for many dealing with moral injury. Indeed, the veterans themselves, in sharing their stories and their pain, become part of that ministry of the priesthood of all believers and may well find healing in the meaningfulness of their mutual ministry.

Exploring the associations between spiritual well-being, burden, and quality of life in family caregivers of cancer patients.

The spiritual dimension is important in the process of coping with stress and may be of special relevance for those caring for cancer patients in the various phases of caregivership, although current attention is most prevalent at the end of life. This study explores the associations among spiritual well-being (SWB), caregiver burden, and quality of life (QoL) in family caregivers of patients with cancer during the course of the disease. This is a cross-sectional study. All participants (n = 199) underwent the following self-report questionnaires: the SWB-Index, the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form, and the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI). SWB scores were dichotomized at a cutoff corresponding to the 75th percentile. Statistical analyses were made using the Student t or by chi-square test to compare high and low SWB groups.ResultThe high SWB group reported significantly better Medical Outcomes Study Short Form scores in bodily pain (p = 0.035), vitality (p < 0.001), social activities (p = 0.001), mental health (p < 0.001), and in standardized mental component subscales (p < 0.001) than the low SWB group. No significant differences were detected between the two SWB groups in physical activity, physical role, general health, emotional status, and standardized physical component scale. The high SWB group also had better CBI scores in the physical (p = 0.049) and developmental burden (p = 0.053) subscales. There were no significant differences in the other CBI scores (overall and sections).Significance of resultsThis study points out that high SWB caregivers have a more positive QoL and burden. Knowledge of these associations calls for more attention on the part of healthcare professionals toward spiritual resources among family cancer caregivers from the moment of diagnosis and across the entire cancer trajectory.

From Standing Rock to flint and beyond

Protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline led by water protectors from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota have brought human rights violations related to Indigenous sovereignty, environmental justice, and sustainable development into the foreground of political debate in the United States. The struggle at Standing Rock has been strengthened by a coalition formed with activists from other Indigenous Nations, including representatives from the Amazon Basin, and from non-Indigenous movements and political organizations such as the Green Party and #BlackLivesMatter. This article reflects upon the centrality of Indigenous Sovereignty within the broader struggle for human rights and democracy in their most inclusive and substantive senses, especially in societies whose development has been built upon the violence of colonial expansion, white supremacy, and heteropatriarchy. The article also situates Indigenous rights within regimes of multiple articulated alterities in which the subjugation and dispossession of Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples have been historically differentiated yet intertwined in the Americas. The article offers a multi-sited framework for understanding the convergent and divergent points of reference in the logics of Indigenous and Afro-descendant identity, the relationship with the State and Market, and connections to the material and spiritual resources of land. Attention is directed to cases in the United States, Honduras, and Suriname (including those of communities that define themselves as “Afro-Indigenous”) in which some notion of common ground, affinity, or alliance with past or present-day Indigenous peoples has been mobilized in Afro-descendants’ collective claims on rights to land, development, and cultural resources.

Spiritual Support Experienced at a Cancer Wellness Center

ABSTRACTThis exploratory study examines the nature of spiritual support experienced by people diagnosed with cancer at a Cancer Wellness Center. Using qualitative interviews with clients of the Center, this study identifies the types of communication experienced by participants that functions as spiritual support. The key findings of this investigation indicate that participants experienced supportive spiritual communication at the Cancer Wellness Center. In particular, spiritual support helped clients with making meaning and finding purpose in their diagnoses, fostered connection to others through shared beliefs related to spirit and faith, and provided feelings of centeredness. Participants’ experiences at the Cancer Wellness Center suggests that a healthcare organization can facilitate access to spiritual support by providing spiritual resources to clients

African American College Students, the Black Church, and Counseling

African American undergraduate students face numerous challenges during college; however, they are less likely to seek help from college counseling services. Often, African Americans seek support from spiritual resources. In the current phenomenological study, participants shared in a focus group interview. Overall, participants seemed to value the Black Church as an integral part of their lives and as an influence on their perceptions of counseling and proclivity to seek counseling services.

Introducing the West to America: Thomas Moran’s illustrations of Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon in Scribner’s Monthly Magazine

Abstract Published in 1870 during the rapid rise of print media in the United States, Scribner’s Monthly was the first of the American monthlies to fully embrace illustration. In its initiation of improvements in reproduction technology and promotion of its illustrations as ‘fine art’, Scribner’s transformed the acceptance, appreciation and consumption of printed images by the American public. Scribner’s editor Richard Watson Gilder also capitalized on the public’s emerging fascination with the West. Aware of the unique aspects of these wilderness regions and the unprecedented variety of unusual landscapes afforded by places such as Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, Gilder took advantage of the opportunity to introduce these uncharted regions to his eastern audience. In order to make articles on western discovery and exploration interesting and accessible, Gilder realized the need for dramatic imagery that not only documented these novel territories but also appealed to Scribner’s targeted market, middle and upper class Protestants who held religious and romantic associations with the West. Recognizing his talent as an illustrator and a landscape painter, Gilder hired Thomas Moran, whose initial images of Yellowstone published in 1871 led to a rapid rise in circulation and fueled readers’ interest in the previously unknown lands. While Moran’s subject matter was the ‘Wonders of the West’, he relied heavily on established landscape aesthetics, as dictated by British critic John Ruskin; with their imbued sense of ‘geo-piety’, his panoramic vistas made these mysterious territories and their geysers, hot springs and mudbaths visually acceptable to readers in their adoption of traditional visual metaphors such as rainbows, waterfalls, and other sublime motifs. Through an in depth discussion of the illustrations of Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, the paper examines the means by which Moran and Gilder offered the American public its first glimpse of the West, constructing indelible images of places associated with geographic destiny, economic opportunity and spiritual resources that became part of the national psyche on the pages of Scribner’s.

Faith-based climate action in Christian congregations: mobilisation and spiritual resources

ABSTRACTThis article seeks to explain how and why church congregations mobilise on environmental issues and what – if anything – is distinctive about that mobilisation. Building on and adapting Resource Mobilisation Theory (RMT), we develop the idea of “spiritual resources” to help explain how a collection of spiritual identities, values, symbols and narratives can facilitate distinctive collective action on environmental issues. Our analysis draws on data derived from an in-depth case study of climate active groups in Scotland. It includes content analysis of websites, news stories as well as ethnographic observation of selected church and secular groups engaged in climate activity. We find church groups do enjoy a distinct set of resources – comprising tradition, rituals and symbols shaped by theology and doctrine – which are not wholly captured by other explanations of climate mobilisation. While these spiritual resources do not directly translate into specific environmental or climate action they can, especially when combined with other resources, lead to environmental activities distinctly motivated, and distinctly practised at the individual and community level.

Urban green spaces, recreation and spiritual experiences

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a conceptual discussion of the relationship between urban and urban proximate nature areas, recreation and spiritual experiences. The paper’s discussion is grounded in scholarship that proposes links between nature-based recreation, spirituality and general health. Though prior scholarship has occurred primarily in the context of wilderness and remote area recreation, some scholarship has focused on urban green spaces like gardens. This paper adopts an urban nature spaces focus in response to the phenomenon of increasing global urbanization. Many city residents often have limited access to remote nature sites that offer healthy responses to the stresses of urban living. Urban green space may provide similar salubrious experiences as remote settings and have the added advantage of being conveniently located for city dwellers. By considering the potential contribution of urban natural spaces to spiritual experiences, scholars and natural resource managers can further develop a more integrated and comprehensive understanding of the costs and benefits of urban nature to inform management discussions.

Religiosity as a Protective Factor of Psychological Well-being among Older Black, White and Asian Christians in the United States

Research suggests that older adults in stressful situations are more likely to use spiritual coping resources than other age groups in order to cultivate meaning in their lives in general as well as in difficult life situations. Based on the stress and coping framework, this study examines the role of religiosity in terms of spiritual connectedness as well as church attendance in predicting depressive symptoms among U.S. older Asian, Black, and White Christians in the context of functional limitations. Our findings suggest that older American Christians are not a homogenous group. Specifically, older Asians, when compared with Whites, reported more frequent church attendance but lower levels of spiritual connectedness, and higher levels of functional limitations and depressive symptoms. In the additive model, spiritual connectedness did not independently explain the variance in depressive symptoms for any racial group. In the interaction model, church attendance was found to be a robust factor in accounting for lower levels of depressive symptoms only for Asians, and spiritual connectedness moderated the negative impact of functional limitations on depressive symptoms only for the Black Christian sample. This finding provides support to the argument that although Blacks struggle with health difficulties, they are more likely than Whites to seek solace from religion through a personal sense of spiritual connectedness with a supernatural, omnipotent God. Among the older Asian Christians, this and other literature suggest a rather stable trend of improved depressive symptoms with higher levels of religious involvement among this population.