Abstract
This thesis is a sociological investigation of church
membership in the Scottish burgh of Falkirk. Its primary
aim is to explore the meanings of church membership from
within a theoretical context which seeks to adapt and
utilise traditional conceptualisations of church and sect
by employing them as dynamic forms of belonging rather than
as types of institutions. Two principal hypotheses are
formulated and tested; 1) that the ecclesiastical tradition
to which church members belong (denomination) contributes to
their distinctive styles of social, economic and political
behaviour as well as to the social, economic and political
values which they uphold; and that 2) communal and
associational forms of church membership, corresponding in
part to the qualities of church-type and sect-type
religious organisations, transcend the formal denominational
boundaries and dissect the internal structures of the
denominations. In discussing communal and associational
forms of church membership the theories of socialisation
espoused by Thomas Luckmann and Peter Berger are used to
illustrate how communal and associational forms of church
membership are indicative of church members' differing
perceptions of their social world.
The hypotheses are empirically explored through an
examination of a sample of church members selected randomly
from the ecclesiastical traditions represented in Falkirk
and a random sample of non churoh members. The majority of
the data discussed were obtained from a series of intensive
interviews held with two hundred and thirty-six informants.
The thesis consists of eleven chapters. The first
two are devoted to describing the sociological and
theological basis upon which the investigation was conducted*
the details of the procedures adopted, the historical back¬
ground of the burgh, and some of the general statistical
data relating to the churches. Chapters three to six are
devoted to an examination of the hypotheses in relation to
the church members * participation in institutional religion.
These chapters set out to describe the motivations and
processes whereby people become members of the churches,
the nature of their participation in the life of the churches,
the nature of leadership within the churches, and the ways
in which the church members conceptualise the Church and
their membership of it. Chapters seven, eight and nine
examine the hypotheses in relation to the church members*
participation in social structures beyond the churches, the
family, voluntary associations, politics and the world of
work. Chapter ten is devoted to a separate consideration
of the non church members who were interviewed. The final
ohapter presents the major conclusions arising from the
thesis through a reconsideration of the two hypotheses.
The major conclusions were that membership of a denominational
group is apparently more influential than any other factor
examined in determining the over-all life of the church
member. There are clear distinctions between the
denominational groups which transcend any class differences
which exist within a denomination. There are however
significant differences of class between the denominations
and significant differences between communal and
associations! members within the denominations.
