Woolever Named to Faculty of Hartford Seminary

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Woolever Named to Faculty Of Hartford Seminary

The Board of Trustees of Hartford Seminary and President Heidi Hadsell have named Cynthia Woolever, director of the largest profile ever taken of worshipers in the United States, to the faculty at Hartford Seminary.

Woolever will be Professor of Sociology of Religious Organizations, effective July 1, 2003. She will join the Seminary’s Hartford Institute for Religion Research.

Woolever directed the U.S. Congregational Life Survey. About 300,000 worshipers in more than 2,000 congregations in the United States completed a survey during worship services in April 2001. Worshipers in Australia, England, and New Zealand completed similar surveys. Together, the international effort included about 2 million worshipers and 17,000 congregations across three continents.

The survey included Jewish, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Buddhist, Unitarian and Protestant denominations. Its purpose was to develop resources to help congregations better understand themselves, identify their strengths, assess their ministries and relate more effectively with their communities.

“I am delighted that Cynthia Woolever will be joining the faculty at Hartford Seminary,” Hadsell said. “Cynthia, through her leadership on the Congregational Life Survey, has shown great skill in developing and disseminating important information about religious life in America today. She is an excellent sociologist who understands how to apply academic skills to analyze practical, every-day issues.”

“I also am pleased because Cynthia has shown great collegiality throughout her career and an ability to relate to diverse constituencies and communicate well. At Hartford Seminary, these are important traits. We believe that the Seminary has an important public educational role to play, especially now in these times in which we need so badly to understand each other across religious and cultural lines. Cynthia will help us in this effort.”

“And Cynthia has a deep commitment to the vitality of congregations, across denominational lines. She has worked extensively to help faith communities understand what it takes to remain, or become, organizationally vital,” Hadsell said.

Since 1996, Woolever has worked in the Research Services office of the Presbyterian Church (USA) as associate for congregational research.

She was professor of sociology at Midway College in Midway, Kentucky, for eight years, where she also was director of the Center for Christian Church Organizational Research. Prior to that, she was an associate professor in the Sociology Department at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma.

Woolever has a Ph.D. from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Science from Phillips, both in sociology.

She published “A Field Guide to U.S. Congregations,” with co-author Deborah Bruce, this year and is working on a second book with Bruce on factors related to congregational effectiveness. It will be accompanied by congregational resources to help leaders assess their congregation’s strengths.

Woolever’s research has focused on three areas -- voluntary organizations, sociology of religion and congregational studies – and has been multi-faith.

She said she sought the professorship at the Seminary because “The Hartford Institute of Religion Research has a national reputation for excellent research in the sociology of religion. Through their work they demonstrate a concern for the daily life and practices of religious leaders, congregations, and people of faith. And the seminary also has a well-known reputation for creative approaches to making seminary education critically relevant.”

At the Seminary, she said, she looks forward to being part of a faculty team that engages students and the public in important conversations. “One of the things I admire about the faculty is their consistent and courageous willingness to cross boundaries --- whether it’s faith groups, nations, gender, race/ethnicity, community, academic disciplines --- that normally keep us from seeing clearly.”

Woolever was Midway College’s first recipient of the Trustee Faculty Award for Excellence. She was a member of the Board of Habitat for Humanity International from 1987 to 1992 and now is a member of Habitat’s Board of Advisors.

On the Congregational Life Survey website (www.uscongregations.org), the key finding of the survey are:

One in three worshipers are new people who have been attending their current congregation for five years or less.
The average worshiper is well educated: 38% of worshipers have at least a college degree compared to 23% for the U.S. population.
Worshipers are "good neighbors." In the 12 months prior to the survey, almost three-quarters (73%) donated money to a charitable organization (other than their congregation)
Worshipers are more likely to vote than the average American (76% of worshipers voted in the November 2000 presidential election compared to 50% of the U.S. population)
Overall, 83% of those in the pews regularly attend worship services -- that is, they attend almost every week.
Despite the fact that most worshipers attend frequently, less than half of all worshipers (38%) are involved in any kind of small group associated with the congregation. This means that most worshipers connect with their congregation primarily during worship services.
Fewer men attend worship than women. While the U.S. population is split fairly evenly between men and women, there are more women (61%) than men (39%) in the pews.

"People in the pews don't always see things the same way church leaders do," Woolever said. "It's so important for people in the pews to have a voice, to make experience of worship relevant to their daily lives."

For further information, contact David S. Barrett, Director of Public and Institutional Affairs, at 860-509-9519.

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