Cg. Ellison et De. Sherkat, THE SEMI-INVOLUNTARY INSTITUTION REVISITED - REGIONAL VARIATIONS IN CHURCH PARTICIPATION AMONG BLACK-AMERICANS, Social forces, 73(4), 1995, pp. 1415-1437
This study explores contemporary regional variations in African Americ
an religious life. Building on a rich tradition of historical and ethn
ographic research on the Black church, we contrast the religious envir
onments that have traditionally prevailed in the Black communities of
the rural South and urban non-South. We emphasize regional variations
in (1) the social role of religious institutions, (2) the availability
of alternative lifestyles and secular opportunities for status and re
sources, and (3) the social norms and community expectations regarding
church involvement A series of hypotheses regarding patterns and corr
elates of church participation are then tested, using data from the Na
tional Survey of Black Americans. Findings indicate that historical re
gional variations in African American religious life persist in the co
ntemporary period. Moreover, our results suggest that the rural southe
rn Black church retains ifs traditional ''semi-involuntary'' character
and we discuss the broader theoretical implications of this issue for
future research in the sociology of religion.