Investigating the sect-church-sect cycle: Cohort-specific attendance differences across African-American denominations

Varying religious commitment across generations plays a key role in explain ing transitions from sect to church, and the formation of sectarian movemen ts. Within a sect, elite members of younger generations are seen to spur in ternal secularization that transforms otherworldly sects into world-affirmi ng churches. In this paper I examine how cohort differences in religious co mmitment across denominations evidence the sect-church transformation proce ss, and point to sources of sect formation among African-Americans. Using d ata from the 1972-1998 General Social Surveys, I analyze denomination-speci fic cohort differences in religious participation among African-Americans. Cohort-specific shifts in religious participation across denominations demo nstrate the secularization of African-American mainline Methodist and Bapti st groups, the continued vitality of sectarian denominations, and the nasce nt ascendance of "nondenominational" churches on the fringes of the religio us marketplace.