In a previous article, I presented information on Presbyterians' experiences with misfortune. In this article, I look at the role of the congregation in helping one another, again with results from the February 1997 Presbyterian Panel.
Large majorities of members, elders, and clergy panelists believe that people in the congregation would be willing to help out "a great deal" if they "were ill" or "had a problem or faced a difficult situation." (See figure.)
And, people who had experienced problems also reported that they were, in fact, supported by their congregations. Among those who reported a serious financial problem in the previous year, 78 percent of members, 88 percent of elders, and 86 percent of pastors reported that they were "made to feel loved and cared for" very often or fairly often by people in their congregation.
Still, these percentages are almost identical to those for each sample overall -- 76 percent of members, 88 percent of elders, and 87 percent of pastors report that in the previous year they were "made to feel loved and cared for "very often" or "fairly often" by people in their congregation. Somewhat smaller percentages of members and elders (61 percent and 76 percent respectively) said they, themselves, "made other people in their congregation feel loved and cared for" in the same period.
One-half of elders (51 percent), 40 percent of pastors, and 38 percent of members report that others in their congregation "listened to you talk about your private problems and concerns" either "very often" or "fairly often" in the previous year. Larger percentages (elders, 70 percent; pastors, 98 percent; member, 53 percent) report that they in turn "listened to people in your congregation talk about their private feelings or concerns" as frequently.
There is a direct relationship between making others feel cared for and being cared for by others in the congregation. The more often one reports caring for others in the congregation the more often he or she also reports feeling cared for by others in the congregation. As can be seen in the table, 88 percent of members who said they "very often" made others feel cared for also said they were made to feel cared for by others "very often." Only 7 percent of members who said they never made others feel cared for indicated that others made them feel cared for. A similar relationship holds for elders, pastors, and specialized clergy. This same relationship holds for listening to others in the congregation.
| You Made Others Feel Cared For: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Others Make You Feel Cared For: |
very often |
fairly often |
once in while |
never |
| very often | 88% | 45% | 15% | 7% |
| fairly often | 9% | 45% | 40% | 17% |
| once in a while | 2% | 9% | 45% | 41% |
| never | 1% | 1% | 1% | 35% |
| total | 100% | 100% | 101% | 100% |
For more: Order a copy of the complete results from PDS at (800) 524-2612 and request the February 1997 Presbyterian Panel Report on "Spirituality and Health" (#70360-97251). The cost is $5.00.
Email the author: Keith Wulff
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