Geographies of Religion: Sacred Space/Place
sacred + space + place
•Most often, sacred space is used to speak in
general and abstract terms; sacred place is
used to speak about specific sacred locations
•Sacred = From Latin sacere which means
sacred or holy, but there are no other roots.
Émile Durkheim (French Sociologist, 1858-1917)
•First to use sacred space/place in a systematic
way: Elementary Forms of Religious Life
• What is the sacred? What is religion?
• An attempt at explaining the mysteries of
the universe?
• An attempt to account for a creative,
dominant divinity?
• The definition of religion must account for
every single instance through out history.
The Sacred and the Profane
Durkheim’s definition of religion:
“a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred
things, that is to say, things set apart and surrounded by
prohibitions—beliefs and practices that unite its adherents in a
single moral community . . .”
Durkheim: Religion is a community worshipping itself.
The sacred and the profane are ways of ordering the
community and its relation to the world.
What is Sacred Space/Place
for Durkheim?
1.It is radically set apart from normal,
everyday space/place
2.It is not individual
3.It is a socially unifying location
4.It contributes to communal
“effervescence”
Effervescence
“Within a crowd moved by a common
passion, we become susceptible to feelings
and actions of which we are incapable on
our own. And when the crowd is dissolved,
when we find ourselves alone again and fall
back to our usual level, we can then measure
how far we were raised above ourselves. . . .”
Effervescence
“Once the individuals are assembled, their
proximity generates a kind of electricity
that quickly transports them to an
extraordinary degree of exaltation. Every
emotion expressed is retained without
resistance in all those minds so open to
external impressions, each one echoing
the others. The initial impulse becomes
amplified as it reverberates, like an
avalanche gathering force as it goes. . .”
Can there be modern sacred
spaces/places?
Avalon (Limelight)
Nightclub,
Formerly the Communion
Episcopal Church
Converted church
in England
Saddleback Valley Community Church
(third largest U.S. megachurch)
5 Campuses
7 Service Times
8 Styles of Service
$47.9 Million Budget
20,000 average
attendees at main
campus
0%
10%
20%
30%
1990 2001 2008
Catholic Baptist Mainline Nones/No Religion
Percent Change in Adherence
Barry Kosmin and Ariela Keysar, American Religious Identification Survey 2008 (Program on Public Values: Hartford, CT, 2008).
Evangelical vs. Mainline Protestants
percent of congregations
growing (2006)
Source: Hartford Institute for the Religion Research0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
2006
Mainline Evangelicals
0%
15%
30%
45%
60%
Before 1945 1945-1965 1966-1989 1990-2000
Liberal Mainline Moderate Mainline
Evangelical
Per ...
Web & Social Media Analytics Previous Year Question Paper.pdf
Religion's Sacred Spaces and Places
1. Geographies of Religion: Sacred Space/Place
sacred + space + place
•Most often, sacred space is used to speak in
general and abstract terms; sacred place is
used to speak about specific sacred locations
•Sacred = From Latin sacere which means
sacred or holy, but there are no other roots.
Émile Durkheim (French Sociologist, 1858-1917)
•First to use sacred space/place in a systematic
way: Elementary Forms of Religious Life
• What is the sacred? What is religion?
• An attempt at explaining the mysteries of
the universe?
• An attempt to account for a creative,
dominant divinity?
• The definition of religion must account for
every single instance through out history.
2. The Sacred and the Profane
Durkheim’s definition of religion:
“a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred
things, that is to say, things set apart and surrounded by
prohibitions—beliefs and practices that unite its adherents in a
single moral community . . .”
Durkheim: Religion is a community worshipping itself.
The sacred and the profane are ways of ordering the
community and its relation to the world.
What is Sacred Space/Place
for Durkheim?
1.It is radically set apart from normal,
everyday space/place
2.It is not individual
3.It is a socially unifying location
4.It contributes to communal
“effervescence”
3. Effervescence
“Within a crowd moved by a common
passion, we become susceptible to feelings
and actions of which we are incapable on
our own. And when the crowd is dissolved,
when we find ourselves alone again and fall
back to our usual level, we can then measure
how far we were raised above ourselves. . . .”
Effervescence
“Once the individuals are assembled, their
proximity generates a kind of electricity
that quickly transports them to an
extraordinary degree of exaltation. Every
emotion expressed is retained without
resistance in all those minds so open to
external impressions, each one echoing
the others. The initial impulse becomes
amplified as it reverberates, like an
avalanche gathering force as it goes. . .”
Can there be modern sacred
spaces/places?
Avalon (Limelight)
Nightclub,
Formerly the Communion
4. Episcopal Church
Converted church
in England
Saddleback Valley Community Church
(third largest U.S. megachurch)
5 Campuses
7 Service Times
8 Styles of Service
$47.9 Million Budget
20,000 average
attendees at main
campus
5. 0%
10%
20%
30%
1990 2001 2008
Catholic Baptist Mainline Nones/No Religion
Percent Change in Adherence
Barry Kosmin and Ariela Keysar, American Religious
Identification Survey 2008 (Program on Public Values:
Hartford, CT, 2008).
Evangelical vs. Mainline Protestants
percent of congregations
growing (2006)
Source: Hartford Institute for the Religion Research0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
6. 2006
Mainline Evangelicals
0%
15%
30%
45%
60%
Before 1945 1945-1965 1966-1989 1990-2000
Liberal Mainline Moderate Mainline
Evangelical
Percentage of Congregations Growing Percentage of
Congregations Organized
Source: Hartford Institute for the Religion Research
Older evangelical
"family" church in
traditional suburbs
is not growing . . .
The post-suburban evangelical church is growing . . .
7. Suburban and Post-Suburban Church Growth
Internally fragmented
Useful vs. theological
Focused on rapid growth
Transition
&
Tension
“People are more receptive to the Gospel
when they face changes like a new
marriage, a new baby, a new home, a
new job, or a new school. This is
why
churches generally grow faster in new
communities where residents are
continually moving in than in stable, older
communities where people have lived for
forty years”
work
politics
culture
8. suburban single-
family homes
Modern Industrial
Urban Model
“City & Suburb
Home
Work-Politics-Culture
Multi-nodal
Post-metropolis/
Post-suburbia
Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan, 1985), p. 131.
5 Circles of Commitment
Scattered Non-Christians
Church
Campus
?
5 Circles of Commitment
9. Core Members
=
Foreign Missions
& Small Home
Groups
Unchurched
Community
=
Central Church
Campus5 Circles of Commitment
• 6-12 church members (not
always formal members)
• Do not meet on church campus
• Meet in each other’s homes
Fellowship
10. =
close, intimate social
interaction
Antidote to
“transition and tension”
Work/Production FamilySchool
Work/Social LifeCulture/Media
“This sort of life-work takes time.”
- Steve Gladen, Senior Pastor of Small Groups, Saddleback
Church
Saddleback Church
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Foundations Of Social And Behavioral Sciences Theory
1. Discussion Question: How do we perceive sacred space/place
in American culture? Do you agree with this perception? What
would you change?
2. Reading Reflection: Solid ONE-page reflection paper about
your thoughts on the reading. This could include a brief
summary and your opinion. There are not many guidelines or
format (e.g., APA, MLS style) for these weekly reading
reflection assignments. But please use 12-point font, Times New
Roman, and don't get ridiculous with the margin settings.
Reading: David Chidester and Edward T. Linenthal (file
uploaded)
Lecture: Religious Spaces in Modernity (file uploaded)
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuI47gXGUvc