Churches: Lasting Sources of Civic Engagement? Effects of Secularization and Educational Expansion on Non-religious Volunteering in the Netherlands, 1988 and 2006

Abstract

During the last three decades Dutch church attendance rates dropped considerably, while the relative share of volunteers in non-religious organizations decreased at a slower rate. This is an unexpected development given the positive association between religious involvement and volunteering. In this article, we try to account for this development by addressing the following question: Why has a massive and ongoing decline of church attendance in the Netherlands not resulted in a similar drop in the relative number of volunteers in non-religious voluntary organizations? In view of this question, we wonder if the negative effect of declining church attendance on volunteering is perhaps counterbalanced by a positive effect of educational expansion. Our findings reveal that this is indeed the case, but these counterbalancing effects are only modest.Résumé Au cours des trente dernières années, les taux de fréquentation des églises hollandaises ont baissé considérablement, tandis que la part relative des bénévoles dans les organisations laïques a diminué à un rythme plus lent. Ce développement est inattendu étant donné l'association positive entre l'engagement religieux et le bénévolat. Dans cet article, nous tentons d'expliquer cette évolution en nous penchant sur la question suivante : Pourquoi la baisse massive et continue de la fréquentation des églises aux Pays-Bas n'a-t-elle pas entrainé une baisse similaire du nombre relatif de bénévoles dans les organismes bénévoles laïques ? Resumen Durante las tres últimas décadas, las tasas de asistencia a la iglesia danesa han descendido considerablemente, mientras que la participación relativa de voluntarios en organizaciones no religiosas descendían a una tasa más lenta. Esto es un cambio inesperado dada la asociación positiva entre implicación religiosa y voluntariado. En el presente artículo, tratamos de responder a este cambio abordando la siguiente pregunta: >Por qué un descenso masivo y continuo de la asistencia a la iglesia en los Países Bajos no ha dado lugar a una caída similar en el número relativo de voluntarios en organizaciones voluntarias no religiosas? A la vista de esta pregunta, nos preguntamos si el efecto negativo de la descendente asistencia a la iglesia sobre el voluntariado queda compensado quizás por un efecto positivo de la expansión educativa. Nuestros hallazgos revelan que éste es, realmente, el caso, pero estos efectos de contrapeso son sólo modestos.

Broadening political participation: The impact of socialising practices on young people’s action repertoires

“…We take for granted that they are source of civic engagement. However, we believe that the declining participation in religious associations has made them less important, while non-religious ones have become more relevant as a source of political participation (Vermeer et al, 2016). Moreover, we consider a place of worship as a proxy for community engagement.…”

Bonding or Bridging? Volunteering Among the Members of Six Thriving Evangelical Congregations in the Netherlands

“…That is to say, their mono-religious orientation or belief that Jesus Christ is the only path to salvation, which is one of the core beliefs of evangelicalism (McGrath 1995: 59-68), appears to be a significant negative predictor for their engagement in secular volunteering. Consequently, the recent finding of Vermeer et al (2016), that the link between church attendance and secular volunteering is gradually weakening over time in the Netherlands, could in part be the result of the current conservative shift in the Dutch religious landscape. Seen from this perspective, then, the positive contribution of religion to civil society may be under pressure in the near future.…”

“…In several countries, religion is identified as an important source of civic engagement. This is, for instance, the case in the USA (Jackson et al 1995;Putnam 2000;Putnam and Campbell 2010), in Canada (Berger 2006;Perks and Haan 2011;Uslaner 2002) as well as in various European countries (Reitsma 2007;Ruiter and De Graaf 2006); and particularly so in the Netherlands where religious involvement continues to be an important source of civic engagement despite ongoing secularization (Bekkers 2004;2013;Bekkers and Schuyt 2008;De Hart 1999;Vermeer and Scheepers 2012;Vermeer et al 2016).…”

Socio-Structural Determinants in Volunteering for Humanitarian Organizations: A Resource-Based Approach

“…We, therefore, propose religion as the first indicator of cultural capital. The impact of religion in volunteering is widely acknowledged in previous contributions (Bekkers & Schuyt, 2008; Van Ingen & Dekker, 2011; Vermeer et al, 2016). Those who frequently attend religious gatherings are more likely to volunteer (Vermeer et al, 2016).…”