This article considers the extent to which community groups (social/service clubs, professional organizations, churches, etc.) constitute “moral communities” (relatively coherent social networks which create and support meaningful human relationships by fostering common attitudes, values, and practices). It investigates the relationship between belonging to such a group and feelings of “mass society” (alienation, moral fragmentation, disengagement, and segmentation), self‐esteem, and meaning and purpose. Questionnaire data were collected from three samples: 135 general psychology students, a randomly selected group of 440 adults who were contacted at home, and 405 adults who were attending church in one of 12 congregations. The data indicate that for many individuals community groups constitute moral communities, that such groups differ in the intensity and frequency of moral community feelings, and that the religious congregation is more likely to inspire feelings of moral community than is any other community group. Feelings of moral community were significantly correlated with reduced feelings of mass society and increased feelings of self‐esteem and of meaning and purpose in life. Feelings of mass society were associated with lower self‐ esteem and a reduced sense of meaning and purpose in life.

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In 1938, Joseph Oldham, a leading British Christian ecumenist, formed a discussion group that came to be known as the Moot. The Moot met in a retreat setting for several long weekends each year until early 1947, its discussions carefully organized and convened by Oldham. More than anything else, the discussions of the Moot revolved around the topic of order and, more particularly, around the problem of how order might be restored in British society and culture in the context of a 'world turned upside down'. Oldham and most members of the group sought a central place for Christian ideas and ideals in British social life.

FriedrichHayek and Michael Polanyi corresponded with each other for the best part of thirty years. They had shared interests that included science, social science, economics, epistemology, history of ideas and political philosophy. Studying their correspondence and related writings, this article shows that Hayek and Polanyi were committed Liberals but with different understandings of liberty, the forces that endanger liberty, and the policies required to rescue it.