The ways of lived religion: an ethnographic exploration of Episcopalians in rural Scotland

Curry, James Sebastian (2020). The ways of lived religion: an ethnographic exploration of Episcopalians in rural Scotland. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Scholars in disciplines such as the sociology of religion and religious studies have increasingly recognised that religion and how it is lived is no simple matter. In addition to shared religious beliefs, it includes experiences and practices, which at the personal level may differ from religion at the official level.

The recent field of Lived Religion explores this insight by focussing on everyday religiosity in practice, and this thesis explores how this is formed, understood, and practiced among Episcopalian participants living in a rural Scottish context. It adopts an ethnographic methodological approach combining the use of a questionnaire, interviews, exploring relevant literature, and researcher observation, and also adapts a typology by Rainer Albertz originally applied to the Old Testament to investigate the participants’ religiosity at institutional, local and personal levels, with a particular emphasis on participants’ descriptions of their personal religiosity and practice.

In exploring the ways of Lived Religion among Episcopalians to discern some characteristic features of the subject, this research indicates both the prevailing influence of the church at institutional and local levels and the diverse, idiosyncratic nature of individual religiosity, offering a counterweight to pervading views of the separation of religion and spirituality.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):