Volunteering within and beyond the congregation : a survey of volunteering among Christian church attendees

Rosemary Leonard, John Bellamy

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    Abstract

    Although volunteering is a strongly held value in many Christian churches, there may be important differences in the extent to which this volunteering benefits the church itself or the wider community. Volunteering patterns of church attendees across Australia were explored as part of the National Church Life Surveys, a research project conducted jointly by the Uniting Church NSW Board of Mission, Anglicare Diocese of Sydney and the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. This analysis examined denominational, faith identity and demographic differences in volunteering within and beyond the congregation. The strongest finding was that volunteering within and beyond the congregation was highly correlated. After demographic differences were taken into account, there were no denominational differences in volunteering beyond the congregation. Differences in faith identity did not reveal any groups who volunteered within the congregation at the expense of the wider community.
    Original languageEnglish
    Number of pages9
    JournalAustralian journal on volunteering
    Publication statusPublished - 2006

    Keywords

    • voluntarism
    • Religious aspects
    • Christianity
    • Volunteer workers in social service
    • Australia
    • Case studies

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