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David Briggs

David Briggs edits Ahead of the Trend for the Association of Religion Data Archives.

News

All dog owners go to heaven?

Worshipers who frequently attend religious services are the least likely to own a pet, according to a new study analyzing data on religion and pet ownership from the 2018 General Social Survey....
News

Study finds that self-compassion helps prevent clergy burnout

Pastor, love thyself....
News

New study finds aging populations might counteract secularization

Is there an inexorable trend toward secularization in the West because younger generations are less likely to affiliate with organized religion?...
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama
News

Freedom of religion is at heart of struggle for democracy in Asia

The reprisal against former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Pur­nama has created urgency in Indonesia and elsewhere for protecting civil liberties.
News

Pay gap for women clergy is decreasing, according to new study

Yet challenges remain, with women disproportionately working in part-time and lower-paid jobs.
News

Studies show help and hurt that can come from how clergy talk about end-of-life care

Two new studies find that many clergy are both ill-prepared and reluctant to  engage in end-of-life conversations with terminally ill congregation members and their families....
News

Studies reveal how faith counts in placing spiritual before material goods

New studies are revealing the ways members of different global faiths may transcend—or fall prey to—consumer cultures willing to co-opt even their most sacred festivals to move merchandise....
Features

The rise and fall—and rise?—of Christian nationalism

Did the 2016 election portend the rise of Christian nationalism?...
News

New long-term study shows smaller wage gap for clergy

In the past three decades, many clergy have experienced significant increases in income even as their work weeks declined by more than 15 percent, according to a major new study of clerg...
News

Research points to humility as an aid in clergy conflict with their congregations

Fostering humility, intellectual humility in particular, is a way to reduce congregational conflict, according to recent studies....

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Studying faith and hope in the face of death

After the recent death of 26-year-old aid worker Kayla Mueller of Prescott, Arizona, who was held captive for months by the so-called Islamic State, her parents released a brief, handwritten letter...
News

Parents are top influence in teens remaining active in religion as young adults

Mothers and fathers who practice what they preach and preach what they practice are far and away the biggest influence related to adolescents keeping the faith into their twenties, according to new...
News

Researchers tell faith communities to let trauma survivors forgive in their own time

The women came seeking healing. Many of these survivors of the Rwandan genocide had lost family members, and some had been raped and infected with HIV....
News

Churches seen as failing to welcome people with disabilities

A four-year-old with impaired vision is not allowed in the toddler class in church and is forced to remain in the nursery....
News

Sexuality issues rarely prime cause of schism

The top legislative body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) votes to allow ministers to preside at same-sex marriages and recommends changing the church’s definition of marriage to that of a “uniq...
News

Black-white racial divide is worse, researchers say

Nearly 60 years after the U.S....

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