The creation of community: an exploration of communal identity creation in music festival communities and church congregational communities

McCormick, Kylie (2022). The creation of community: an exploration of communal identity creation in music festival communities and church congregational communities. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

The main purpose of this dissertation is to explore the formation of communal identity in music festival communities and in church communities, ultimately discovering and discussing themes that are integral to the formation of communal identity. The themes of place, symbol, and ritual are examined in a representative grouping of church communities and music festival communities, yielding both descriptive and prescriptive understandings of the formation of communal identity. I explore the formation of communal identity through theological and social scientific
reflection focusing on the work of scholars such as Mircea Eliade Paul Tillich and Clifford Geertz who balance the lived experience of community with identity shaping themes Pairing theoretical frameworks anchored in the scholarship with extensive fieldwork I show that the themes of place, symbol and ritual are important communal identity themes. In comparing the music festival communities to the church communities I note how church communities both succeed and struggle with some of the communal identity themes, leading to a prescriptive conclusion for the researched church communities. The ultimate hope of this dissertation is that the church communities adopt specific communal identity formation recommendations, engaging in positive, theologically attuned identity shaping crafting centralized communal identities that draw from their successful music festival counterparts T he dissertation and its research not only reflect a new area for lived religion research but also explore the lived reality of two groupings that will allow for church communities to reflect on and enhance their formation of communal
identity.

Type of Work: Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)
Award Type: Doctorates > Ph.D.
Supervisor(s):
Supervisor(s)EmailORCID
Davies, AndrewUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Cheetham, DavidUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Licence: All rights reserved
College/Faculty: Colleges (2008 onwards) > College of Arts & Law
School or Department: School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion, Department of Theology and Religion
Funders: None/not applicable
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BV Practical Theology
URI: http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/12466

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