The Congregation Development Program: Data-based consultation with churches and synagogues.

Abstract

The potential for successful consultation between psychological and religious communities is illustrated through one forum, the Congregation Development Program (CDP). A data-based consultation program, the CDP is designed to help churches and synagogues define their strengths and weaknesses and plan for their futures. Congregation life is assessed through participant observation, interviews with clergy and leaders, and a battery of survey instruments designed specifically for congregations. This information is interpreted in collaboration with clergy and leaders in a consultative feedback meeting. The authors describe the phases of the consultation process, from entry and assessment to intervention and evaluation/termination. Illustrations are drawn from work with over 50 diverse congregations. The CDP points to churches and synagogues as sites of challenging opportunity for professional psychology.Local religious congregations represent significant institutions in the United States today. As of 1986 there were over 344,000 congregations and over 520,000 clergy in this country (Jacquet, 1986). Gallup and Castelli (1989) estimated that 65% of the population are members of a church or synagogue and that 40% attend church or synagogue in a given week. Religious KENNETH I. PARGAMENT, PhD, is currently Professor of Psychology in the Clinical Psychology Program at Bowling Green State University and Director of the Congregation Development Program. He provides clinical and consultative services to religious communities and conducts research on religion and coping. KATHRYN FALGOUT, MA, is a Statistical Analyst at Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Ohio. DAVID S. ENSING, MA, is completing his doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Bowling Green State University and is a children's therapist at Children's Resource Center.

The Religious Support Scale: Construction, Validation, and Cross‐Validation

“…Focus on a higher power (e.g., God) might be the distinguishing factor of religious organizations (Pargament, Falgout et al, 1991). Researchers have theorized that one's concept of God (Gorsuch, 1968;Spilka, Armatas, & Nussbaum, 1964) can impact both coping and well-being.…”

“…Persons experiencing stress are more likely to seek help from religious leaders than from any other professional or counselor (see, e.g., Chalfant et al, 1990). Pargament, Falgout et al (1991) posit that the pastor or religious leader plays a critical role in defining the character of congregational life. Maton (1988) indicated that groups perceived as having capable leaders tend to be composed of members who report more positive group appraisal and well-being.…”

“…At such large churches, one would probably expect fewer personal interactions with church leaders, and the absence of church leader support might thus have less of an impact on psychological functioning than its presence. Specifically, the absence of such support might be appraised as normative, whereas perceiving such support might cause persons to feel privileged (Maton, 1989a;Pargament, Falgout et al, 1991), causing enhanced life satisfaction. The fact that, for both samples, church leader support correlated more strongly with life satisfaction than with depression supports this hypothesis.…”

Goals and regulations of religiosity: A motivational analysis

“…As indicated above, one of the sub-factors of ER was indeed this extrinsicsocial orientation (Gorsuch & McPherson, 1989;Kirkpatrick, 1989). Pargament and colleagues (Pargament, 1992(Pargament, , 1997Pargament et al, 1991) differentiate these motives for relatively superficial social contacts that characterize the extrinsic-social orientation from more basic drives for intimacy, connectedness, belongingness and social unity. Pargament (1997) further suggests that the social goal of religiosity can also be expressed as a desire to give to others or to make the world a better place.…”

The development and evaluation of a Biblically-based therapy programme for a congregation

“…It seems as if little research has been done with regard to the effect of programmes utilising the involvement of the church community in people's wellbeing (Cowart et al, 1995;Pargament et al, 1991;Rissmeyer, 1992).…”