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Chapter 6: "The Assembling Together of Believers: Building a World to Call Home"

Michael R. Leming, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Spring Semester 1998

  1. Why are members encouraged to be very active participants in the life of the church? How active are members of the church you're part of expected to be (if you're a church member), and how does that compare to the expectations at Southside? How would you account for the difference? Are Southsiders more religious or more serious about their religion?
  2. Why might a person without a testimony soon be lost to the faith?
  3. Many of the members have their best friends among other church members. Why is "fellowship" so important to faith? What sometimes keep friendships from forming?
  4. How do the highly committed members differ from the moderately committed members? How do they get the moderately committed to increase their attachment?
  5. Why are the Fundamentalist colleges so important? How are they different from St. Olaf, which is, of course, also a college of the church?
  6. People at Southside feel very strongly about witnessing and winning others to Christ, yet they also seem likely to reach out to certain kinds of people than others and to feel ambivalent about the growth of the church congregation. How would you explain that apparent contradiction?

Go back to Sociology 265 - Discussion Questions


If you have any questions or comments please email:

leming@stolaf.edu

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