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Sample records for salons churches neighborhood

  1. Manajemen USAha Salon Kecantikan di Kecamatan Payakumbuh Barat

    OpenAIRE

    Nildawati, Nildawati; Rahmiati, Rahmiati; Astuti, Murni

    2016-01-01

    This study aims to reveal beauty salon business management application based management functions including planning, organizing, implementation, and controlling the existing beauty salon business Payakumbuh city of West Sumatra. The research approach is DeskriptifKuantitatif. The population is all employees and business leaders from 10 Salons in Payakumbuh totaling 52 orang.Data taken using Guttman and Likert scale questionnaire, data analysis using techniques percentage of respondents attai...

  2. Mycobacteria in nail salon whirlpool footbaths, California.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vugia, Duc J; Jang, Yvonne; Zizek, Candi; Ely, Janet; Winthrop, Kevin L; Desmond, Edward

    2005-04-01

    In 2000, an outbreak of Mycobacterium fortuitum furunculosis affected customers using whirlpool footbaths at a nail salon. We swabbed 30 footbaths in 18 nail salons from 5 California counties and found mycobacteria in 29 (97%); M. fortuitum was the most common. Mycobacteria may pose an infectious risk for pedicure customers.

  3. Perancangan Sistem Informasi Akuntansi Pada IQ Salon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kartika Imam Santoso

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Recording of transactions and financial statements of the manual on IQ Salon raises the risk of error in the financial records are not fast and precise, and cause difficulties with the increasing transaction will occur in the future. The purpose of this research is to design accounting information systems (AIS to prepare financial statements to the income statement and provide convenience in recording daily transactions and the financial statements in order to avoid mistakes. The design used in this study is a Waterfall and programming used is PHP and MySQL as the database. The design uses modeling context diagram, Data Flow Diagrams (DFD, Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD. Accounting information system on IQ Salon built using the programming language PHP and MySQL as the database generates Journal report, Balance Sheet and Income Ledger. The report simplify IQ Salon owners to control and make decisions. It is also easier for employees to serve customers in the event of payment of the services that have been awarded Keywords : DFD; IQ Salon; MySQL; PHP; IAS; Waterfall

  4. Salon Patarouva Oy : kertomus lounasravintolan perustamisesta

    OpenAIRE

    Aronen, Miina

    2011-01-01

    Salon Patarouva Oy on Salossa Meriniityn teollisuusalueella toimiva lounasravintola. Yrityksen perustaminen ja toiminnan alkuunsaattaminen oli lähtökohta tämän toiminnallisen opinnäytetyön tekemiseen. Omat lähtökohdat yrittäjäksi ryhtymiseen olivat vahva ammattitaito ja kokemus suurkeittiöympäristöistä. Vuokrasimme toimitilat ja ostimme uudet laitteet. Yrityslainan saimme Finnverasta ja pankista. Lainopillisia ja muita neuvoja saimme Yrityssalosta. Salon Pararouvan liikeidea on palvella...

  5. EKSLUSIFITAS KEBERAGAMAAN WARIA PEKERJA SALON KOTA PADANG

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sudarman Sudarman

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Transvestites are always identified as God's creatures are far from religion, even more extream is  an attitude to life that challenges the will of God. This perception has been inherited from generation to generation making transvestites as people marginalized in society. The study wants to answer academic anxiety about how the religiousity of transsexual beauty salons worker in the city of Padang. The study used a qualitative research method, in which the collected data to rely on in-depth interviews as well as continuous observation so get data that can be accounted for by an academic. To analyze the data, using descriptive data that will show and describe the facts and nature of the informant  based on the  understanding and religious activity of transvestite.The result are; 1 The religious knowledge of transsexual beauty salons worker in Padang city is divided into three categories; high, moderate and low. 2 Religious practice of transsexual beauty salons worker in the city of Padang is divided into three, namely: transvestite salon workers who have a religious practice strong, moderate and weak.

  6. Use of Protective Gloves in Nail Salons in Manhattan, New York City.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basch, Corey; Yarborough, Christina; Trusty, Stephanie; Basch, Charles

    2016-07-01

    Nail salon owners in New York City (NYC) are required to provide their workers with gloves and it is their responsibility to maintain healthy, safe working spaces for their employees. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency with which nail salon workers wear protective gloves. A Freedom of Information Law request was submitted to New York Department of State's Division of Licensing Services for a full list of nail salons in Manhattan, NYC. A sample population of 800 nail salons was identified and a simple random sample (without replacement) of 30% (n=240) was selected using a random number generator. Researchers visited each nail salon from October to December of 2015, posing as a potential customer to determine if nail salon workers were wearing gloves. Among the 169 salons in which one or more workers was observed providing services, a total of 562 workers were observed. For 149 salons, in which one or more worker was observed providing services, none of the workers were wearing gloves. In contrast, in six of the salons observed, in which one or more workers was providing services, all of the workers (1 in 2 sites, 2 in 1 site, 3 in 2 sites, and 4 in 1 site) were wearing gloves. Almost three-quarters of the total number of workers observed (n=415, 73.8%) were not wearing gloves. The findings of this study indicate that, despite recent media attention and legislation, the majority of nail salon workers we observed were not wearing protective gloves when providing services.

  7. Use of Protective Gloves in Nail Salons in Manhattan, New York City

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Corey Basch

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: Nail salon owners in New York City (NYC are required to provide their workers with gloves and it is their responsibility to maintain healthy, safe working spaces for their employees. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency with which nail salon workers wear protective gloves. Methods: A Freedom of Information Law request was submitted to New York Department of State’s Division of Licensing Services for a full list of nail salons in Manhattan, NYC. A sample population of 800 nail salons was identified and a simple random sample (without replacement of 30% (n=240 was selected using a random number generator. Researchers visited each nail salon from October to December of 2015, posing as a potential customer to determine if nail salon workers were wearing gloves. Results: Among the 169 salons in which one or more workers was observed providing services, a total of 562 workers were observed. For 149 salons, in which one or more worker was observed providing services, none of the workers were wearing gloves. In contrast, in six of the salons observed, in which one or more workers was providing services, all of the workers (1 in 2 sites, 2 in 1 site, 3 in 2 sites, and 4 in 1 site were wearing gloves. Almost three-quarters of the total number of workers observed (n=415, 73.8% were not wearing gloves. Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that, despite recent media attention and legislation, the majority of nail salon workers we observed were not wearing protective gloves when providing services.

  8. Predictors of tanning salon use: behavioral alternatives for enhancing appearance, relaxing and socializing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danoff-Burg, Sharon; Mosher, Catherine E

    2006-05-01

    This study investigated cognitive predictors of tanning salon use, based on Jaccard's Theory of Alternative Behavior. A total of 164 undergraduates completed questionnaires that assessed tanning salon use, attitudes toward tanning salon use and attitudes toward behavioral alternatives for enhancing appearance, relaxing and socializing. Results indicated that attitudes toward alternatives for enhancing appearance were not significantly related to tanning salon use. However, favorable attitudes toward engaging in a hobby to relax and going to the gym to socialize were inversely related to frequency of tanning salon use. Findings suggest that interventions for reducing skin cancer risk should focus not only on decreasing favorable attitudes toward tanning, but also on increasing favorable attitudes toward healthier alternatives to tanning salon use.

  9. Indoor air quality in hairdressing salons in Taipei.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, C-J; Cheng, S-F; Chang, P-T; Tsai, S-W

    2018-01-01

    To improve indoor air quality and to protect public health, Taiwan has enacted the "Indoor Air Quality Act (IAQ Act)" in 2012. For the general public, the indoor air quality in hair salons is important because it is a popular location that people will often visit for hair treatments. However, only a few exposure assessments regarding air pollutants have previously been performed in hair salons. To assess the air quality of hairdressing environments in Taipei, ten hairdressing salons were included for a walk-through survey in this study. In addition, the airborne concentrations of formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), CO 2 , and phthalate esters were also determined in 5 salons. Charcoal, XAD-2, and OVS-Tenax tubes were used for the air sampling, while the samples were analyzed with gas chromatography/mass spectrometer. It was found that the products used in hair salons contained various chemicals. In fact, from the walk-through survey, a total of 387 different ingredients were found on 129 hair product labels. The hair salons were not well ventilated, with CO 2 levels of 600 to 3576 ppm. The formaldehyde concentrations determined in this study ranged from 12.40 to 1.04 × 10 3  μg m -3 , and the maximum level was above the permissible exposure limit (PEL) of US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (US OSHA). Additionally, 83% of the samples were with levels higher than the standard regulated by Taiwan's IAQ Act. The concentrations of VOCs and phthalate esters were below the occupational exposure limits (OELs), but higher than what was found in general residential environments. The hair products were considered as the major source of air pollutants because significantly higher concentrations were found around the working areas. The number of perming treatments, the number of workers, and the frequency of using formaldehyde releasing products, were found to be associated with the levels of formaldehyde. This study indicates that efforts are

  10. Youth access to indoor tanning salons in urban versus rural/suburban communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nahar, Vinayak K; Rosenthal, Meagen; Lemon, Stephenie C; Kane, Kevin; Cheng, Jie; Oleski, Jessica L; Li, Wenjun; Hillhouse, Joel J; Pagoto, Sherry L

    2018-03-01

    Research suggests that youth proximity to tanning salons may promote use; however, little is known about tanning salon proximity to schools. We assessed the proximity of tanning salons to schools in urban versus rural/suburban communities across Worcester County, Massachusetts (population > 800K). To put findings in context, we compared school proximity to tanning salons to school proximity to McDonald's restaurants, a large franchise that also caters to young people. Accessibility was measured by ArcGIS 10.2 Network Analyzer (ESRI, Redlands, CA, USA) and the most current road network data layer from Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). A total of 145 schools were observed in the study area, of which about 39% of schools were within 1 mile from a tanning salon. Urban schools (53.41%) had a higher proportion within 1 mile of a tanning salon than rural/suburban schools (17.54%; P < .001). More schools (39.31%) were within 1 mile of a tanning salon than schools within 1 mile of a McDonald's (22.70%; P < .001). Schools may be particularly impactful for implementing skin cancer prevention programing. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. CONCEPT AND MODEL OF SHARIA SALONS AND SPAS: MYTH OR REALITY?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bafadhal A.S.

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Currently, health issues have grown rapidly into Health Tourism segment to strengthen Indonesia’s tourism. Ironically, the proliferation of salon and spa business as well as other forms of health tourism business is considered to cause negative effects in the form of destructive cultural penetration of foreign tourists. This study aimed to analyze the prospects of sharia salons and spas in safeguarding the health tourism in Indonesia. Furthermore, we examine the mix variables of sharia marketing as a marketing stimulus to encourage Muslim tourists in making the decision to visit and re-visit as well as their interest in the sharia salons and spas. This explanatory study uses the paradigm of quantitative research involved 13 informants of Muslim owner/staff sharia salons and spas in East Java, Indonesia. The results of this study indicate that stimulus of sharia marketing is needed to develop tourist visits, especially Muslim travelers in health tourism destination of sharia salons and spas.

  12. Assessing indoor air quality in New York City nail salons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pavilonis, Brian; Roelofs, Cora; Blair, Carly

    2018-05-01

    Nail salons are an important business and employment sector for recent immigrants offering popular services to a diverse range of customers across the United States. However, due to the nature of nail products and services, salon air can be burdened with a mix of low levels of hazardous airborne contaminants. Surveys of nail technicians have commonly found increased work-related symptoms, such as headaches and respiratory irritation, that are consistent with indoor air quality problems. In an effort to improve indoor air quality in nail salons, the state of New York recently promulgated regulations to require increased outdoor air and "source capture" of contaminants. Existing indoor air quality in New York State salons is unknown. In advance of the full implementation of the rules by 2021, we sought to establish reliable and usable baseline indoor air quality metrics to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of the requirement. In this pilot study, we measured total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations in 10 nail salons located in New York City to assess temporal and spatial trends. Within salon contaminant variation was generally minimal, indicating a well-mixed room and similar general exposure despite the task being performed. TVOC and CO 2 concentrations were strongly positively correlated (ρ = 0.81; p air quality for the purposes of compliance with the standard. An almost tenfold increase in TVOC concentration was observed when the American National Standards Institute/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ANSI/ASHRAE) target CO 2 concentration of 850 ppm was exceeded compared to when this target was met.

  13. Tanning Salon Compliance Rates in States With Legislation to Protect Youth Access to UV Tanning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Melissa S; Buhalog, Brittany; Blumenthal, Laura; Stratman, Erik J

    2018-01-01

    The US Food and Drug Administration has classified tanning beds as carcinogenic. Most states have enacted legislation to prevent or create barriers for minors accessing tanning establishments. Determining tanning salon compliance with legislation would provide an indication of the influence of legislation at preventing exposure to the carcinogen in minors. To investigate compliance rates in the 42 states and the District of Columbia with legislation restricting tanning bed use in minors and to identify differences in compliance based on population, regional location, salon ownership, age group being regulated, and time since the law was enacted. This investigation was a cross-sectional telephone survey conducted between February 1, 2015, and April 30, 2016, by callers posing as minors attempting to schedule a tanning appointment. The setting was tanning salons in the 42 states and the District of Columbia that currently have legislation restricting tanning bed use in minors. Included in the study were 427 tanning salons, 10 randomly selected from each state or territory with tanning legislation. Overall compliance of tanning salons with state tanning legislation and differences in compliance based on community population, regional location, independent vs chain tanning salon, age group being regulated, and time since the law was enacted. Of the 427 tanning salons surveyed, overall noncompliance with state legislation was 37.2% (n = 159). There were more noncompliant tanning salons in rural locations (45.5%; 95% CI, 37.5%-53.7%; P = .009), southern regions of the United States (49.4%; 95% CI, 41.4%-57.4%; P = .001), independently owned salons (43.9%; 95% CI, 37.3%-50.6%; P = .003), states with younger age groups being regulated (53.5%; 95% CI, 45.7%-61.2%; P legislation aimed at limiting tanning bed use among US minors is unsatisfactory, indicating that additional efforts to enforce the laws and education of the harmful effects of UV tanning are

  14. A preliminary survey of Vietnamese nail salon workers in Alameda County, California.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quach, Thu; Nguyen, Kim-Dung; Doan-Billings, Phuong-An; Okahara, Linda; Fan, Cathyn; Reynolds, Peggy

    2008-10-01

    In recent decades, the nail salon industry has been one of the fastest growing in the U.S. California has over 300,000 workers licensed to perform nail care services. Though little is known about their health, these workers routinely handle cosmetic products containing carcinogens and endocrine disruptors that may increase a woman's breast cancer risk. Additionally, an estimated 59-80% of California nail salons are run by Vietnamese women who face socio-cultural barriers that may compromise their workplace safety and health care access. In a pilot project designed to characterize Vietnamese nail salon workers in Alameda County, California in order to inform future health interventions and reduce occupational exposures, we conducted face-to-face surveys with a convenience sample of 201 Vietnamese nail salon workers at 74 salons. Of the workers surveyed, a majority reported that they are concerned about their health from exposure to workplace chemicals. Additionally, a sizeable proportion reported having experienced some health problem after they began working in the industry, particularly acute health problems that may be associated with solvent exposure (e.g. skin and eye irritation, breathing difficulties and headaches). Our findings highlight a critical need for further investigation into the breast cancer risk of nail salon workers, underscored by the workers' routine use of carcinogenic and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, their prevalent health concerns about such chemicals, and their high level of acute health problems. Moreover, the predominance of Vietnamese immigrant women in this workforce makes it an important target group for further research and health interventions.

  15. Expanding health tourism in Indonesia: prospective sharia salons and spas

    OpenAIRE

    BAFADHAL ANIESA SAMIRA

    2017-01-01

    Currently, health issues have grown rapidly into Health Tourism segment to strengthen Indonesia’s tourism. Ironically, the proliferation of salon and spa business as well as other forms of health tourism business is considered to cause negative effects in the form of destructive cultural penetration of foreign tourists. This study aimed to analyze the prospects of sharia salons and spas in safeguarding the health tourism in Indonesia. Furthermore, we examine the mix variables of sharia market...

  16. Kualitas Jasa dan Hubungannya dengan Loyalitas serta Komitmen Konsumen: Studi pada Pelanggan Salon Kecantikan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farida Jasfar

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the study was to determine whether consumer loyalty mediates between service quality and consumer commitment in the beauty salon industry. It was also to determine whether these relationships difference between beauty salon in shopping centers and beauty salon in community residences.A theoretical framework was developed to test the positive relationships among the study constructs. The study utilized service quality developed by Fullerton and Taylor (2000; Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1994, consumer loyalty developed by Unclesand Laurent (1997; Fullerton and Taylor (2000, and consumer commitment developed by Morgan and Hunt (1994; Fullerton and Taylor (2000.The degree of customer loyalty, commitment, and service quality was measured by using the Likert scale based on 238 valid questionnaire respondents (59,5% from 400 dispersed questionnaires.An analysis of the data revealed two major findings: First; there is a positive relationship between service quality and consumer loyalty, affective commitment, and continuum commitment. Second; consumer loyalty is the mediating variable of the relationship between service quality and consumer commitment both in beauty salons in shopping centers and beauty salons located in community residences. The results of this study have important implications for practicing managers of beauty salons and their understanding of the relationship between service quality, consumer loyalty and consumer commitment.Key words: services quality, loyalty, and commitment.

  17. Kualitas Jasa dan Hubungannya dengan Loyalitas Serta Komitmen Konsumen: Studi pada Pelanggan Salon Kecantikan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farida Jasfar

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the study was to determine whether consumer loyalty mediates between service quality and consumer commitment in the beauty salon industry. It was also to determine whether these relationships difference between beauty salon in shopping centers and beauty salon in community residences.A theoretical framework was developed to test the positive relationships among the study constructs. The study utilized service quality developed by Fullerton and Taylor (2000; Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1994, consumer loyalty developed by Unclesand Laurent (1997; Fullerton and Taylor (2000, and consumer commitment developed by Morgan and Hunt (1994; Fullerton and Taylor (2000.The degree of customer loyalty, commitment, and service quality was measured by using the Likert scale based on 238 valid questionnaire respondents (59,5% from 400 dispersed questionnaires.An analysis of the data revealed two major findings: First; there is a positive relationship between service quality and consumer loyalty, affective commitment, and continuum commitment. Second; consumer loyalty is the mediating variable of the relationship between service quality and consumer commitment both in beauty salons in shopping centers and beauty salons located in community residences. The results of this study have important implications for practicing managers of beauty salons and their understanding of the relationship between service quality, consumer loyalty and consumer commitment.Key words: services quality, loyalty, and commitment.

  18. Suntan salons and the American skin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Epstein, J.H.

    1981-01-01

    Suntan salon franchises burst upon the economic scene in the United States in 1978 and proliferated rapidly. At present it is estimated that between 1,000 and 2,000 salons are active in the country. Of the two types in use, the more common uses a fluorescent UVB source which emits primarily the highly injurious sunburn rays between 290 and 320 nm. These are the rays that not only are responsible for the acute cellular injury and erythema called sunburn, but at least under experimental conditions are the most carcinogenic. The UVA units are found primarily in Europe. The hazards of their rays have not been clarified as yet, but they are known to be responsible for the vast majority of exogenously photosensitized reactions that occur in the skin, they do augment the acute injury produced by the UVB rays, they cause dermal blood vessel damage, and they can produce lenticular injury. In conclusion, tanning for cosmetic purposes is not innocuous

  19. Perception of the general population in Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosi regarding waste production in hairdressing salons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan José Maldonado-Miranda

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Hairdressing salons offer a wide range of services including treatments for hair and skin. However, these activities result in the production of residues that are improperly discharged into drainage, generating a negative impact on the environment. This study provides results of a first stage in a project regarding the analysis of waste disposal in hairdressing salons in the municipality of Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Information gathering was conducted through a field work study by surveys given to workers in hairdressing salons in Ciudad Valles. The information presented in this study indicates that in hairdressing salons in Ciudad Valles there is no management plan for the management of waste that could be severely impacting the environment. The information presented here will be the basis for identifying priority areas for intervention, developing new research projects and setting new environmental policies. In addition, the results presented here can be extrapolated to many rural and urban areas all over Mexico.

  20. Analisa Pengaruh Service Quality Terhadap Customer Loyalty Dengan Customer Satisfaction Sebagai Variabel Intervening Pada Salon Madass

    OpenAIRE

    Surianto, Allan Richardo

    2017-01-01

    Penelitian membahas pengaruh service quality terhadap customer loyatly dengan customer satisfaction sebagai variabel intervening di Salon Madass Surabaya. Sampel penelitian ini berjumlah 100 responden pelanggan Salon Madass yang sudah pernah melakukan transaksi lebih dari 3 kali. Pengukuran dilakukan dari variabel service quality (X1) dengan indikator Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy, Tangible, variabel customer satisfaction (Y1) dengan indikator Fulfillment, Pleasure, Ambivala...

  1. Ultraviolet radiation, sun and tanning salons; Ultrafiolett straaling, sol og solarier

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1999-07-01

    The pamphlet gives some information about ultraviolet radiation (UV), UV-sources and health effects, tanning in artificial and natural sun. It also includes some sun protection advice. It is intended mainly for persons inspecting artificial tanning units and for the owners of tanning salons. (Author)

  2. (Meth)Acrylate Occupational Contact Dermatitis in Nail Salon Workers: A Case Series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeKoven, Samuel; DeKoven, Joel; Holness, D Linn

    Recently, many cases of acrylate-associated allergic contact dermatitis have appeared among nail salon workers. Common acrylate-containing products in nail salons include traditional nail polish, ultraviolet-cured shellac nail polish, ultraviolet-cured gel nails, and press-on acrylic nails. Nail salon technicians seen in the occupational medicine clinic in 2015 and 2016 were identified, and their patch test results and clinical features were summarized. Patch testing was done with the Chemotechnique (Meth)Acrylate nail series, and either the North American Standard series or the North American Contact Dermatitis Group screening series. Six patients were identified, all women, ages 38 to 58. Common presentations included erythematous dermatitis of the dorsa of the hands, palms, and forearms and fissures on the fingertips. Less common sites of eruptions included the periorbital region, cheeks, posterior ears, neck, sacral area, lateral thighs, and dorsa of the feet. All patients reacted to hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and 5 patients reacted to ethyl acrylate. Each patient also reacted to (meth)acrylates that are not found on either standard series, including ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate, 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate, and 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate. The authors report 6 cases of allergic contact dermatitis to acrylates in nail technicians seen over the past year, representing a new trend in their clinic. These cases are reflective of a growing trend of nail technicians with allergic contact dermatitis associated with occupational (meth)acrylate exposure. Efforts to improve prevention are needed.

  3. Church, mission and ethics. Being church with integrity | Dreyer ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This article is an exercise in Practical Ecclesiology. The author reflects on church, mission and ethics from historical, hermeneutical and strategic perspectives. Using the ecclesiology of Karl Barth as a point of departure, the author argues that the church needs to be church if it wants to be a credible witness to the Gospel of ...

  4. Collaborative Undergraduate HBCU Student Summer Prostate Cancer Training Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-01

    Change Game – Mitigation Strategies (9:30-10:30) Dr. Kristin Hardy, PhD Dr. Mackenzie Zippay, PhD 5 June 24 Developmental Biology Dr...we posted information about the sessions in local barbershops and beauty salons . Additionally, we made presentations about the sessions at meetings...by: Posting flyers in community venues such as health centers, churches, libraries, and community centers Going to barbershops, beauty salons

  5. BRAND AND VISUAL IDENTITY DESIGN FOR A BEAUTY SALON

    OpenAIRE

    Borhani, Maryam

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this thesis is to create a brand and a visual identity for a beauty-salon called Narsissi. Narsissi offers a relaxing environment where both men and women can get lasting beauty treatment results. For a firm being branded is unavoidable. Everything from the look of the logo to the smoothness of service communicates something to the possible customer. In today's market, to be competitive means to be in control of the brand. A huge part of a brand's effectiveness is visual. T...

  6. La mode du ping-pong de 1901 à 1939 : d’un jeu de salon mondain à un sport moderne

    OpenAIRE

    Mousset , Kilian

    2017-01-01

    From the board game in the worldly salons in the beginning of the 20th century to the sought-after sport in 1932 and 1933, this ball game breaks a reductive representation of fashion, mostly about clothing. Ping-pong, which is originally a simple game box, knows two major popular movements during the first half of the 20th century. In 1902, the trend is about salon entertainment, a pretext for social distinction. Taking place after diners in the wealthy bourgeoisie, straightness of the body i...

  7. Organic and elemental carbon bound to particulate matter in the air of printing office and beauty salon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogula-Kopiec, Patrycja; Pastuszka, Józef S.; Rogula-Kozłowska, Wioletta; Mucha, Walter

    2017-11-01

    The aim of this study was to determine the role of internal sources of emissions on the concentrations of total suspended particulate matter (TSP) and its sub-fraction, so-called respirable PM (PM4; fraction of particles with particle size ≤ 4 µm) and to estimate to which extent those emissions participate in the formation of PM-bound elemental (EC) and organic (OC) carbon in two facilities - one beauty salon and one printing office located in Bytom (Upper Silesia, Poland). The average concentration of PM in the printing office and beauty salon during the 10-day measurement period was 10 and 4 (PM4) and 8 and 3 (TSP) times greater than the average concentration of PM fractions recorded in the same period in the atmospheric air; it was on average: 204 µg/m3 (PM4) and 319 µg/m3 (TSP) and 93 µg/m3 (PM4) and 136 µg/m3 (TSP), respectively. OC concentrations determined in the printing office were 38 µg/m3 (PM4) and 56 µg/m3 (TSP), and those referring to EC: 1.8 µg/m3 (PM4) and 3.5 µg/m3 (TSP). In the beauty salon the average concentration of OC for PM4 and TSP were 58 and 75 µg/m3, respectively and in case of EC - 3.1 and 4.7 µg/m3, respectively. The concentrations of OC and EC within the those facilities were approximately 1.7 (TSP-bound EC, beauty salon) to 4.7 (TSP-bound OC, printing office) times higher than the average atmospheric concentrations of those compounds measured in both PM fractions at the same time. In both facilities the main source of TSP-and PM4-bound OC in the indoor air were the chemicals - solvents, varnishes, paints, etc.

  8. Factors Influencing Health Service Utilization Among Asian Immigrant Nail Salon Workers in the Greater New York City Area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seo, Jin Young; Chao, Ying-Yu; Yeung, Ka Man; Strauss, Shiela M

    2018-06-23

    Most nail salon workers in the greater New York City area are Asian immigrant women. They are exposed daily to potentially toxic chemicals and hazards in their workplace, making them more vulnerable for possible health problems. The study's primary purpose was to identify factors influencing past year healthcare utilization among Asian immigrant women working in nail salons. A cross-sectional study was conducted based on a modification of Andersen's behavioral model of healthcare utilization in which 148 Korean and Chinese immigrant women currently working in nail salons were surveyed. The questionnaire included: (1) individual health determinants, (2) health service utilization in the past year, and (3) work environment, work-related health concerns, and work-related health problems. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression models assessed factors related to past year healthcare utilization. Women who had health insurance (p < .01), a usual source of care (p < .01), low educational attainment (p < .05), and more work-related health symptoms (p < .05) were more likely to visit a primary care provider. Women who had health insurance (p < .01), a usual source of care (p < .05), and low educational attainment (p < .05), were also more likely to visit a woman's health provider. Korean (rather than Chinese) women (p < .05) and women who perceived themselves to be in fair/poor health (p < .05) were more likely to see a traditional provider of Eastern medicine. Asian immigrant women who work in nail salons have workplace health and safety concerns. They generally use Western rather than traditional medicine, with different factors related to these two types of medicine.

  9. Reducing Cancer Health Disparities through Community Engagement: Working with Faith-Based Organizations (Project CHURCH)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorna H. McNeill, PhD, MPH, is Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Health Disparities at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. McNeill's research is on the elimination of cancer-related health disparities in minority populations. Her research has particular emphasis on understanding the influence of social contextual determinants of cancer in minorities, with a special focus of the role of physical activity as a key preventive behavior and obesity as a major cancer determinant. Her research takes place in minority and underserved communities such as public housing developments, black churches, community-based clinics and low-income neighborhoods-communities with excess cancer death rates. She has been continuously funded, receiving grants from various funding agencies (i.e., National Institutes of Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, etc.), to better understand and design innovative solutions to address obesity in racial/ethnic minority communities. Dr. McNeill is PI of several community-based studies, primarily working with African American churches. One is a called Project CHURCH, an academic-faith-based partnership established to: 1) identify underlying reasons for health disparities in cancer and cancer risk factors (e.g., screening, diet) among AAs using a cohort study (N=2400), 2) engage AAs as partners in the research process, and 3) to ultimately eliminate disparities among AAs. In 2014 Dr. McNeill furthered her partnership through the Faith, Health, and Family (FHF) Collaborative. The goals of FHF are to enhance the Project CHURCH partnership to address family obesity in African Americans, strengthen the partnership by developing a larger coalition of organizations and stakeholders to address the problem, assess church and community interest in family obesity and develop an agenda to address obesity in faith settings. To date we have 50 churches as members. Dr. McNeill is also director of the Center for Community

  10. Picture Good Health: A Church-Based Self-Management Intervention Among Latino Adults with Diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baig, Arshiya A; Benitez, Amanda; Locklin, Cara A; Gao, Yue; Lee, Sang Mee; Quinn, Michael T; Solomon, Marla C; Sánchez-Johnsen, Lisa; Burnet, Deborah L; Chin, Marshall H

    2015-10-01

    Churches may provide a familiar and accessible setting for chronic disease self-management education and social support for Latinos with diabetes. We assessed the impact of a multi-faceted church-based diabetes self-management intervention on diabetes outcomes among Latino adults. This was a community-based, randomized controlled, pilot study. One-hundred adults with self-reported diabetes from a Midwestern, urban, low-income Mexican-American neighborhood were included in the study. Intervention participants were enrolled in a church-based diabetes self-management program that included eight weekly group classes led by trained lay leaders. Enhanced usual care participants attended one 90-minute lecture on diabetes self-management at a local church. The primary outcome was change in glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C). Secondary outcomes included changes in low-density lipoproteins (LDL), blood pressure, weight, and diabetes self-care practices. Participants' mean age was 54 ± 12 years, 81 % were female, 98 % were Latino, and 51 % were uninsured. At 3 months, study participants in both arms decreased their A1C from baseline (-0.32 %, 95 % confidence interval [CI]: -0.62, -0.02 %). The difference in change in A1C, LDL, blood pressure and weight from baseline to 3-month and 6-month follow-up was not statistically significant between the intervention and enhanced usual care groups. Intervention participants reported fewer days of consuming high fat foods in the previous week (-1.34, 95 % CI: -2.22, -0.46) and more days of participating in exercise (1.58, 95 % CI: 0.24, 2.92) compared to enhanced usual care from baseline to 6 months. A pilot church-based diabetes self-management intervention did not reduce A1C, but resulted in decreased high fat food consumption and increased participation in exercise among low-income Latino adults with diabetes. Future church-based interventions may need to strengthen linkages to the healthcare system and provide continued support to

  11. Gender, Work, and Identity: Beauty Salons in Bogotá

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luz Gabriela Arango Gaviria

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This article examines hair salons, beauty parlors and barbershops in Bogotá from threeperspectives; first, as a space that offers a variety of services and aesthetic possibilities ina context of high informality and of class, race, and gender inequality; secondly, as workmarked by sexual and social divisions, in terms of both jobs and attention to the clientele,centered around “emotional work”; and thirdly, as a field of both cultural expressionand conflict with ethnic, racial and sexual aspects. Based on fieldwork and on a focus onintersectionality, the article explores these social differences as manifested in these jobswithin the processes of subsistence and professionalization.

  12. Church Vestries as Part of Church Administration in North Tobol Region During 1810-1860

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    Tsys’ Olga

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper examines main characteristics, structure and functions of church vestries in North Tobol region during the period of 1810–1860. It is concluded that the church vestry as a governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church during the Synodal period acted as an information mediator between the diocese and parish. As a rule, the church vestry exercised the authority over a particular district or part of it. Responsibilities of vestries were mainly limited to gathering and interpreting various pieces of information, overseeing the accounting and documentation of the parish clergy, fining the clergy and laymen for minor misconduct, and distributing the consistory’s decrees. The paper also demonstrates that vestries were collegial units, where decrees of the diocese, as well as reports and presentations of its members were discussed. It should be noted that boundaries of the district under the vestry’s jurisdiction were vague and not clearly marked. The common drawback of the vestries, as part of church administration, was the ambiguity in definition and description of roles and responsibilities. It was discovered that the remoteness of church administration from the majority of its parishes was specific to North Tobol region. It is concluded that church vestries were set up as administrative and organisational centres, and played a significant role in the administration of the Russian Orthodox Church. However, in the course of time the vestries started to lose their original role, becoming a redundant mediator in diocese and parish relations, which, in turn, led to the full abandonment of church vestries.

  13. Factors Affecting Customer’s Perception of Service Quality: Comparing Differences among Countries - Case study: Beauty salons in Bandung and Tokyo

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    Keiko Nakashima

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines a holistic study of analyzing several factors affecting service quality andtheir correlation with characteristic of customers based on value and life style. Furthermore,customer’s perception of service quality can be drawn from those relationships. Exploratoryfactor analysis and quantitative analysis is employed with case study of beauty salon serviceat Bandung and Tokyo. The results indicate how the quality of services is perceived differentlyby customers who have different value and life style, and also describe significant relationshipbetween value and life style with the affecting factors of service quality.Key words : service quality, value and life style, customer perception, beauty salon.

  14. Spiritual gifts for biblical church growth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brian A. DeVries

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available This article examines the use of spiritual gifts for church growth, particularly in relation to the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. The article begins with a definition of spiritual gifts and by highlighting their purpose for growing the church. This is followed by two practical considerations: How should Christian believers use spiritual gifts for church growth, and how should church leaders motivate gift use for this purpose? Since the Holy Spirit works though believers to build up the body of Christ, advocates of biblical church growth should seek to employ his means to motivate spiritual giftedness in the church.

  15. The keys of the kingdom as paradigm for building up the church in reformed church government

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    A. le R. du Plooy

    1998-06-01

    Full Text Available This article adopts an ecclesiological approach and concentrates on the prominent concepts the keys of the kingdom and building up the church. The article attempts to determine the significance those concepts may have for the government of the church and emphasises the close relationship between the keys of the kingdom and the building up of the church. According to Reformational viewpoints the administering of the keys serves the edification of the church. It becomes clear that the notae ecclesiae and the keys of the kingdom function as the basic elements of the church order and must be regarded as the basis or pillars upon which the church is built.

  16. Churching Alone

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Leth-Nissen, Karen Marie

    bridging forms of social capital. Methodologically, I combined the use of surveys with interviews and fieldwork, including document sources and statistical data. In the course of my study, I worked in different modes – distanciation and participation – using both quantitative and qualitative research...... methods. My research approach resembles the approaches used in the research field of empirically informed practical theology. Though using a diverse research strategy, I do not claim to present a universal knowledge of the context of the church through this study; my goals are “particularity......The aim of my dissertation is to study changes in the use of the Danish folk church. Through my studies, I am establishing a new research concept: churching alone. I work as a practical theologian using methods from the sociology of religion. My theoretical perspectives are drawn from the research...

  17. Church Tourism in Batangas Province, Philippines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    JAYZEL ANN. T. DE CASTRO

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Church tourism has clearly increased over the past ten years. Churches are an important part of the tourism product of many parts of the country. This study aimed to determine the contribution of the churches in terms of social, cultural and economic aspects of the place, to identify the problems encountered in the promoting church tourism and propose plan of action to sustain the tourism of the Province of Batangas through churches. The researchers used the descriptive method of research and utilized self-made questionnaire as the main data gathering instrument of the study. The respondents were consisting of 5 people in the offices of the pilgrim churches from Batangas City and 10 churchgoers. The respondents agree that pilgrim churches contribute to tourism in terms of social and economics aspect while they strongly agree in term of cultural aspect. The most commonly experienced problems were the accessibility of the transportation and an action plan was proposed to address the problems encountered. The recommendation addressed that roving guards should be provided to ensure the safety and security of the tourists during their visit in the church. The church personnel may provide creative and command activities that will encourage people. Also they may have a briefing about the history of the church so that if visitor needs information it easy for them to answer and an action plan may be implemented to solve the problem encountered.

  18. Lettres inédites a René Demeurisse (1895-1961, placeur au salon de la société nationale des beaux-arts en 1921

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claire Maingon

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available René Demeurisse (1895-1962 fut un fidèle exposant des Salons parisiens, ces fiefs de l’art vivant où se jouaient la carrière des artistes depuis le XVIIe siècle. Ce peintre figuratif de la génération du feu, élève d’Albert Besnard et ami du sculpteur animalier François Pompon, était membre associé de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts créée en 1890. Les plus grands noms de l’Ecole française, dont Auguste Rodin et Antoine Bourdelle, y participèrent avant la création du Salon d’Automne. En 1921, Demeurisse fut chargé avec Henri le Sidaner du placement d’un millier de toiles au Salon de la Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Cette tâche passionnante et ingrate était un exercice périlleux. Tous les artistes du Salon souhaitaient être exposés le plus visiblement possible, dans la salle bénéficiant des plus beaux éclairages et de la meilleure fréquentation afin de vendre leur œuvre et d’être cités dans la presse. Il y aurait les élus et les autres, ceux dont les envois plus médiocres finiraient dans les recoins obscurs du Grand Palais. Les archives du peintre conservent notamment trois lettres remarquables d’exposants exprimant leurs désirs d’accrochage qui apportent un éclairage nouveau sur la question du rôle des placeurs. Ces documents totalement inédits révèlent une facette méconnue de l’organisation du Salon et du tempérament d’un artiste dont le principal mérite était la sincérité.

  19. Associations of perceived neighborhood physical and social environments with physical activity and television viewing in African American men and women

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strong, Larkin L.; Reitzel, Lorraine R.; Wetter, David W.; McNeill, Lorna H.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose Few studies have assessed how attributes of neighborhood environments contribute to sedentary, in addition to active, behaviors. This study investigated associations of perceived social and physical aspects of neighborhood environments with television (TV) viewing and physical activity (PA) in African American adults. Design Cross-sectional analysis of self-reported survey. Setting Large mega-church in Houston, TX. Subjects 1,374 African American men and women. Measures Outcomes included log-transformed daily TV viewing and participation in medium/high levels of PA, measured by the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Neighborhood perceptions were assessed with the Social Cohesion and Trust and the Neighborhood Problems scales. Analysis Multivariable models that controlled for clustering within neighborhoods. Results Reporting more neighborhood problems was significantly associated with greater log-transformed TV viewing in women (β=0.017, SE=0.006, p=0.003), and social cohesion was positively associated with PA in women (OR=1.06, 95% CI=1.02, 1.11, p=0.006). Concerns about litter and walking after dark, and a lack of places to shop were associated with increased TV viewing among women, and concerns about traffic and walking after dark were associated with reduced PA among men. Conclusion Physical and social neighborhood conditions were associated with TV viewing and PA, particularly in women. Neighborhood-based strategies to reduce sedentary behaviors and enhance PA should include attention to social as well as physical aspects of neighborhood environments. PMID:23398134

  20. Associations of perceived neighborhood physical and social environments with physical activity and television viewing in African-American men and women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strong, Larkin L; Reitzel, Lorraine R; Wetter, David W; McNeill, Lorna H

    2013-01-01

    Few studies have assessed how attributes of neighborhood environments contribute to sedentary, in addition to active, behaviors. This study investigated associations of perceived social and physical aspects of neighborhood environments with television (TV) viewing and physical activity (PA) in African-American adults. Cross-sectional analysis of self-reported survey. Large mega-church in Houston, Texas. A total of 1374 African-American men and women. Outcomes included log-transformed daily TV viewing and participation in medium/high levels of PA, measured by the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Neighborhood perceptions were assessed with the Social Cohesion and Trust and the Neighborhood Problems scales. Multivariable models that controlled for clustering within neighborhoods. Reporting more neighborhood problems was significantly associated with greater log-transformed TV viewing in women (β = .017, SE = .006, p = .003), and social cohesion was positively associated with PA in women (odds ratio = 1.06, 95% confidence interval = 1.02, 1.11, p = .006). Concerns about litter and walking after dark and a lack of places to shop were associated with increased TV viewing among women, and concerns about traffic and walking after dark were associated with reduced PA among men. Physical and social neighborhood conditions were associated with TV viewing and PA, particularly in women. Neighborhood-based strategies to reduce sedentary behaviors and enhance PA should include attention to social as well as physical aspects of neighborhood environments.

  1. Social topos of church architecture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zarochintseva Irina

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The article proves the idea that descendants are reminded about the history and culture of their country through the architectural forms of Church architecture. Church architecture expresses the power and greatness of folk feats, patriotism and love of freedom. Each church has its own history, includes the architectural style of its epoch, and occupies a certain position among the other religious buildings. Churches have city-forming significance and represent the sacred center of the city; as well they possess a sign, marking function in the area, which can be “read” as a common landmark in the social topes

  2. Church, mission and reconstruction: Being a church with integrity in reconstruction discourse in post-colonial Zimbabwe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Canon B. Shambare

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The church in Africa, like its counterparts elsewhere in the world, is called to fulfil the mission of God as expressed in the call ‘Missio Dei’ and influentially remains with the integrity of the mission of Christ (Missio Christos, which is liberative and practical. For Christ was not only concerned with the spiritual needs of the people, but also with their material well-being. The following question therefore arises: how can the church in Africa, in general, and in Zimbabwe, in particular, actively do God’s mission and remain with integrity in the midst of the reality of suffering. Furthermore, how can the church for mission and reconstruction be understood in a post-colonial Zimbabwe given the contextual realities of political crises, corruption, poverty, moral decadence, defined or censored truth, leadership crises and no freedom of expression? This article argues that, although the church is faced with these arduous realities, it remains called by God to do God’s mission. While in post-colonial Zimbabwe the socio-political, socio-economic and socio-religious situation might seem hopeless, the church has remained vibrant and alive for reconstruction theology. The transformation of society is possible given the authority and mission mandate of the church. This article argues that the church is a key player in reconstruction theology and in the transformation of society. For transformation to be possible, the church should witness to the gospel of Christ without fear of being labelled, castrated and persecuted. The article asserts that the spirit of the Bible should be revived in a time of reconstruction in Zimbabwe. The assumption in this article is that Zimbabwe is ready for reconstruction discourse. For this to happen, the researchers argue that the church as a critical relevant player in reconstruction needs to ‘be church’ in its missional mandates. Integrity is essential if a church wants to be relevantly missional and

  3. Characterization of Beauty Salon Wastewater from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, and Its Surrounding Communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nkansah, Marian A; Opoku, Francis; Ephraim, James H; Wemegah, David D; Tetteh, Luke P M

    2016-01-01

    Due to the increase in students' population over the years, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana, and its surrounding communities have seen an increase in the number of beauty salons. The assessment of the quality of salon wastewater has received little attention, as a potential source of environmental and public health hazard, due to the lack of literature on this issue. The main aim of this study is to assess wastewater effluent characteristics in KNUST and its surrounding areas, in relation to its physicochemical and microbial parameters. A total of 48 wastewater samples were collected monthly in 250 L polystyrene bottles, over a two-month period from the KNUST and Ayigya, Ayeduase, and Bomso communities. Standard methods of American Public Health Association (APHA, 19th edition) were employed in the determination of the physicochemical parameters and microbial content of the wastewater samples. The results showed that all the sampling towns had mean chemical oxygen demand (COD; 60.04 ± 1.82 mg/L), biological oxygen demand (BOD; 30.03 ± 9.11 mg/L), dissolved oxygen (DO; 3.00 ± 0.53 mg/L), pH (9.55 ± 0.42), nitrate (5.42 ± 0.36 mg/L), phosphate (23.61 ± 0.16 mg/L), acidity (1.70 ± 0.01 mg/L), alkalinity (70.88 ± 2.59 mg/L), turbidity (20.29 ± 3.86 NTU), electrical conductivity (EC; 1404.89 ± 114.11 μm/S), and total dissolved solids (TDS; 1150.25 ± 262.10 mg/L) in the salon waste. In the case of bacterial levels, pathogenic bacteria such as fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, and Salmonella enterica were absent, while the levels of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa did not pose any health risk. The correlation matrix showed a significant positive correlation between and among pH, alkalinity, TDS, and turbidity (P < 0.05). The results revealed that the wastewater collected from the salon effluents contain pollution indicator parameters such as EC, pH, PO4 (3-), BOD, and

  4. Training of beauty salon professionals in disease prevention using interactive tele-education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vieira Júnior, Elso Elias; Wen, Chao Lung

    2015-01-01

    Infectious diseases can be acquired in places where invasive procedures are often performed without the proper care of hand washing and material sterilization. There are approximately 500,000 beauty and esthetics centers in Brazil, which are visited by thousands of people every day. Many diseases, including sexually transmitted infections, are still highly prevalent in Brazil, such as warts caused by human papillomavirus, hepatitis B and C, and human immunodeficiency virus infection, and can be transmitted in beauty salons. We have developed a tele-education course divided into four main themes: sexually transmitted infections, indoor health in beauty salon workplaces, hand washing, and material sterilization. The course was made available through a Web site, which included a face-to-face meeting, Web synchronous meetings (chats and Web conferences), and asynchronous resources (reading material, discussion lists, situations simulator, educational videos, and three-dimensional virtual human video animation on sexually transmitted infections and hand washing), mediated by professors and coordinators. Fifty-two beauty professionals and 33 other professionals were enrolled from different regions. Of the 61 who completed the course and received a certificate at the course's end, 100% considered good to excellent the course's applicability to everyday life and would recommend it to a fellow professional. The results demonstrate the feasibility of an interactive, tele-education model using low-cost tools as an educational resource to teach beauty professionals. In the future, this may become a branch of nationwide telehealth action.

  5. Connecticut church passes genetics resolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Culliton, B J

    1984-11-09

    The Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ, which represents the largest Protestant denomination in the state, has passed a resolution affirming an ethical duty to do research on human gene therapy and is planning to form local church groups to study the scientific and ethical issues involved. The resolution is intended to counter an earlier one proposed by Jeremy Rifkin to ban all efforts at engineering specific traits into the human germline. The Rifkin proposal had been endorsed by a large number of religious leaders, including the head of the U.S. United Church of Christ, but was subsequently characterized by many of the church leaders as overly restrictive.

  6. Beliefs About Sex and Parent-Child-Church Sex Communication Among Church-Based African American Youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Erin; Berkley-Patton, Jannette; Bohn, Alexandria; Hawes, Starlyn; Bowe-Thompson, Carole

    2015-10-01

    Parent-child sex communication has been shown to be protective against sexual risk among African American youth. The current study sought to use the theory of planned behavior as a framework for focus group discussions (N = 54 youth participants aged 12-19 years) to explore church youths' (a) sex beliefs and values (attitudes), (b) sources and evaluation of sex communication and education (subjective norms), (c) facilitator/barriers to adolescent sexual risk reduction and communication behaviors (perceived behavioral control), and (d) intentions to engage in these behaviors. Additionally, participants identified strategies for consideration in developing tailored parent-child-church sex communication education programs for use in African American churches. Themes suggested both positive and negative attitudes toward premarital sex and parents and churches as key sources of sex education and communication. Strategies to enhance parent-child-church sex communication are discussed in the context of these findings.

  7. Churches, chaplains and the Great War

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Takken, A.J.

    2015-01-01

    When in 1914 the European nations mobilised for war, the churches followed suit. Notwithstanding pre-war church peace conferences and close international cooperation, most churches and churchmen immediately and whole-heartedly supported their nation’s participation in war and provided the religious

  8. The Dutch Reformed Church as a prominent established South African church: In transition towards the 21st century

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pieter Kruger

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The Dutch Reformed Church (Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk is in transition because of the influences of the more recent South African epochs of democratisation, Africanisation and globalisation. The histories of these epochs extend over more than 20 years and have had a significant influence on the church. The Dutch Reformed (DR Church changed institutionally because its place and influence within society changed considerably as a result of political and social transformation since 1994. The ongoing process of Africanisation that accompanies these transformations brings certain reactions to the bosom of the church via the experiences of its members. Most are Afrikaners being more inclined to westernised social frames of reference. Ironically, these people are more susceptible to the effects of globalisation, especially secularisation, which transposes the religious set-up of the DR Church into an open and individuated system. These developments pose major challenges to the DR Church in the sense that it has to reconsider how it approaches society, what it can contribute to the ecumenical church, why it is necessary to reflect on its denominational identity and what its academic, theological endeavours in these regards entail.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article has an interdisciplinary scope because the multiplicity of the present-day calls for interdisciplinary academic reflection. For the purpose of this article, Church Historiography helps to systemise recent ecclesiastical developments within the DR Church. To clarify the influences of these developments on the DR Church, sociological premises are incorporated to describe them within a broader social context. References to the conducted empirical study serve to explain respondents� (members of the DR Church social and religious constructs regarding these ecclesiastical and sociological phenomena.

  9. Emerging Churches in Post-Christian Canada

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Steven Studebaker

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available The traditional mainline and evangelical churches in Canada, as in most western countries, are either in decline or static. Taken as a measure of the future, the prospects for Christianity in Canada, and more broadly the West, are bleak. Post-Christian Canada, however, contains thriving alternative and innovative forms of church, often called ‘emerging’ churches. They take many forms of expression, but share common theological convictions. Based on site research and personal interviews, this article describes the various types and contexts of these churches in Canada. It then highlights three of their central theological characteristics. First, rejecting the ‘culture wars’ social involvement of Christendom churches, they embrace practices and initiatives that transform their local communities. Second, they embrace an incarnational and contextual understanding of Christian life and ministry. Eschewing mega-church franchise models, they endeavor to shape their ministry to the their local communities. Third, they adopt a comprehensive rather than compartmental spirituality.

  10. Church unions and their consequences in Poland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antoni Mironowicz

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Orthodox Christians in Poland have faced numerous attempts to be forced into union with the Roman Catholic Church, ranging from the thirteenth to the twentieth century. The first attempt at a union between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church took place as early as the mid-thirteenth century. Another attempt at forcing the Orthodox Church into union with Rome took place during the reign of Ladislaŭ II Yagiello. The problem of church union returned in the reign of Alexander the Yagiellonian. When Ivan III rejected all projects for bringing the Florence such a union into practice, discussion on church union disappeared until the end of the sixteenth century. The mission of the papal legate, Father Antonio Possevino, to Ivan IV, had been intended to draw Moscow into the union, and its failure caused the papacy to concentrate its efforts on the Orthodox Church in Poland. The Ruthenian bishops’ obedience to the Pope was officially announced on the 8 October 1596. The decisions of the Uniate-Catholic synod were met with numerous protests from the Orthodox clergy and nobility. The larger part of the clergy and the faithful, together with bishops remained in the Orthodox camp. Despite the failure of the Brest Synod in fully uniting Orthodox and Roman churches, new union projects concerning the Orthodox Church in Poland continued to arise prior to the end of 18th century. The Vatican’s interest in the Orthodox Church in Central Europe was renewed at the end of the First World War. On April 1st, 1917, the Pope created the Congregation for the Oriental Churches which was responsibile for all issues relating to the activities of all the Eastern denominations. Despite aims at unification, attempts at church union have had a negative influence on the relations between the Roman Catholic and Polish Orthodox Church in contemporary Poland. The result of centuries of attempts at unification under the Pope has been fragmentation and division.

  11. Religious Authority in African American Churches: A Study of Six Churches

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    Karen Hye-cheon Kim Yeary

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available A sociological study of religious authority and gender in the context of a rural, impoverished community was conducted in African American churches in one county of the Arkansas Lower Mississippi Delta region to understand relationships between religious leadership, gender, race, and social justice. Three female and three male African American pastors were interviewed as key-informants of their churches to investigate views of female religious authority, and to compare and contrast the congregational culture of female-headed vs. male-headed churches. Among male-headed congregations, views of gender and leadership were complex, with beliefs ranging from no support to full support for female-headed congregations. Two congregational cultures emerged from the data: Congregations with a Social Activist orientation focused on meeting the social needs of the community through Christ, whereas congregations with a Teach the Word orientation stressed the importance of meeting the spiritual needs of the community through knowing the Word of God. Although aspects of both congregational cultures were present to some extentin all six congregations studied, the Social Activist culture played a more dominant narrative in female-headed congregations, whereas the Teach the Word culture was more evident in male-headed congregations. This study reports preliminary information about gender and religious authority in rural African American churches by revealing the different clergy training requirements and church placements of female and male clergy, a myriad of views about female religious authority in the African American faith community, and through uncovering two distinct congregational cultures. This study also enhances understanding on the role of gender in Black churches’ perceptions and interactions with rural, socioeconomically challenged communities.

  12. A Korean perspective on megachurches as missional churches

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    Cornelius J.P. Niemandt

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Both the megachurch and the missional church are on-going global phenomena. Working from the premise that the church has to be missional, this article operates from a Korean perspective and researches whether a megachurch can be missional. The megachurch is not simply a very large church in terms of membership or the physical size of its building(s � because of the influence of the interaction between socio-cultural, historical, and theological backgrounds, the megachurch has its own missiological and ecclesiological perspectives. The megachurch understands that the growth of an individual church implies the expansion of the kingdom of God, which means that the individual church has a responsibility to be both functionally and structurally sound, in order to ensure the efficient growth of the kingdom. This is an influential tendency that is found not only in larger size churches, but in all churches who are trying to achieve the quantitative growth of the church by way of evangelisation. The Korean megachurches, represented by the Poongsunghan Church, display these characteristics. The missional church is not simply a mission-driven church, sending many missionaries to other countries; the missional church believes that all churches are sent to the world by God, who wants to reconcile the whole universe with himself. The implication of this is that the church has to restore its missional essence in order to be able to participate in the mission of God. Thus, the missional church is a reforming movement that witnesses to God�s rule by recovering its apostolic nature. The characteristics of this movement are clearly visible in one of the case studies � the Bundang Woori Church. The importance of the missional movement for Korean churches is emphasised.Interdisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The research is a case study of Korean megachurches from a missional perspective. The research represents a critique of practises in

  13. NEIGHBORHOOD CHOICE AND NEIGHBORHOOD CHANGE

    OpenAIRE

    Bruch, Elizabeth; Mare, Robert D.

    2006-01-01

    This paper examines the relationships between the residential choices of individuals and aggregate patterns of neighborhood change. We investigate the conditions under which individuals’ preferences for the race-ethnic composition of their neighborhoods produce high levels of segregation. Using computational models, we find that high levels of segregation occur only when individuals’ preferences follow a threshold function. If individuals make finer-grained distinctions among neighborhoods th...

  14. Religious Authority in African American Churches: A Study of Six Churches

    OpenAIRE

    Yeary, Karen Hye-cheon Kim

    2011-01-01

    A sociological study of religious authority and gender in the context of a rural, impoverished community was conducted in African American churches in one county of the Arkansas Lower Mississippi Delta region to understand relationships between religious leadership, gender, race, and social justice. Three female and three male African American pastors were interviewed as key-informants of their churches to investigate views of female religious authority, and to compare and contrast the congre...

  15. Sex and the Church : a study of the Catholic Church and reproductive health in Chile

    OpenAIRE

    Longenecker, Karen

    2010-01-01

    This work explores the modern day discourse on sexuality in Chile with particular attention given to the influence of the Catholic Church on reproductive health policy. The Catholic Church has historically been involved in popular social reform efforts in the 19th and 20th centuries, and was also heavily involved as the protectorate of human rights during the Pinochet dictatorship. Due to this popular reputation of the Church after the dictatorship and during the transition to democracy, the ...

  16. One in the Spirit: Multiculturalism in Church Libraries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilton, Donna L.

    2001-01-01

    Describes the importance of creating church libraries that include multicultural materials, examining preliminary points to consider (how multiculturalism varies from church to church, factors to consider in building a diverse collection, ethnic group characteristics, and the multicultural church collection). Discusses finding and ordering…

  17. From Playground to Salon: Challenges in Designing a System for Online Public Debate

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Løvlie, Anders Sundnes

    2017-01-01

    This article brings together two separate strands of media research: Online comments and media design. Online comments have long been a topic of much concern, both among scholars and the public at large, fearing negative effects from phenomena such as echo chambers, filter bubbles and hate speech......" model to a "salon" model. Building on Löwgren and Reimer's work on collaborative media, I suggest some of the broadcaster's struggles point to a lack of adequate methods for balancing interaction design concerns with the concerns of mass communication and journalism....

  18. Church mediation - een vak apart

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Annelies Klinefelter; dr Hans A.J. Jonker

    2009-01-01

    Welke rol kan mediation in de kerk spelen in de diverse geledingen en specifieke activiteiten? In dit artikel wordt ingegaan op kerkelijke conflicten, gelaagdheid in church mediation, en specifieke dilemma's van church mediation. Daarnaast komen enkele benaderingen aan bod zoals: helende

  19. Getting young adults back to church: A marketing approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michelle C. van der Merwe

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Worldwide, church membership is decreasing. A decline in the number of young adults that attend church services is also evident. The purpose of the research was to determine whether the application of a well-established body of knowledge of marketing theories and principles could be used by churches to encourage young adults to return to the church. The application of services marketing to the church as a non-profit organisation is discussed by focussing on non-physical and physical atmospheric cues in the church’s servicescape that could enhance church attendance. A quantitative approach was used by testing the opinions of 200 church service attendees of different denominations. The findings indicated that certain elements in the servicescape of a church may be useful in attracting young adults. It was found that music is a strong determinant of whether young adults attend church services, followed by layout and design of the church and then by the signs and symbols used in the church. Females reported significantly higher levels of positive perceptions concerning the layout and design. Although the research showed that some marketing elements, such as a positive servicescape, could improve church attendance, other personal elements such as forming personal relationships with fellow Christians and God need to be further explored.

  20. Neighborhood disadvantage and preterm delivery in Urban African Americans: The moderating role of religious coping

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shawnita Sealy-Jefferson

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Evidence suggests that neighborhood disadvantage predicts preterm delivery (PTD. However, the design of most existing studies precludes within-group analyses, which would allow the identification segments of the population at highest risk, as well as preventive factors. African Americans (AA are disproportionately affected by PTD, are disproportionately concentrated in disadvantaged neighborhoods, and frequently use religious coping in response to chronic stressors. Our objective was to examine the association between neighborhood disadvantage and PTD, and whether religious coping moderated the associations, among postpartum AA women. Addresses from participants of the Life Influences on Fetal Environments Study (n=1387 were geocoded and linked to data from the American Community Survey. An index of neighborhood disadvantage was derived from a principal components analysis of the following variables: % below poverty, % unemployed, % receiving public assistance income, % college educated, % AA, % female-headed households, % owner occupied homes, median income, and median home value. Three domains of religious coping were assessed: organizational (church attendance, non-organizational (praying for self and asking others for prayer, and personal or subjective (experiences, perceptions, and sentiments about religion, and all were dichotomized as frequent/infrequent or satisfied/not satisfied. Preterm delivery was defined as birth before 37 completed weeks of gestation. Prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated with log binomial regression models. Neighborhood disadvantage did not predict PTD rates in the overall sample. However, there was evidence of moderation by asking others for prayer (P for asking for prayer X disadvantage index interaction term: 0.01. Among women who infrequently asked others for prayer, neighborhood disadvantage was positively associated with PTD rates (adjusted Prevalence ratio: 1.28, 95% Confidence

  1. Conceptions of Church Slavonic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helmut Keipert

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available In our time Church Slavonic is a “language without native speakers,” but it is not in all respects a “dead” one. It is for this reason that the Slavs have given it a great variety of names, the different use of which in philological publications heavily depends on the respective linguists’ connotative purposes (e.g., national and ideological interests and so forth. As a rule, the description of the language is based on the analysis of written or printed texts. Only recently have a few additional corpora been introduced in addition to the well-known group of “classical” Old Church Slavonic manuscripts, which, for all their merits in the history of Slavistics, can give only a vague idea of the rich language tradition of Church Slavonic as a whole, since, as a means of actual (oral communication, it can nowadays be observed only in the liturgy. The article discusses the main linguistic conceptions applied to Church Slavonic in the past and present (root language, i.e., proto-language, common language, literary language [Schriftsprache], Ausbau language, etc.; singles out binaristic approaches in opposition to vernaculars; gives an overview of the numerous varieties to be differentiated within the language (connected to regions, chronology, functions, individuals, and groups; recalls the role of reconstruction in modern textbooks and the widely neglected construction devices used in early grammars and dictionaries; and, at the end, refers to the possibility of including Church Slavonic as a model for comparative judgments on degrees of diversity in the structural development of Slavonic languages.

  2. Orientation of medieval churches of Morava school

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tadić Milutin

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we present the mathematical and topographic analysis of orientation of the most significant churches (11 of Morava school, the last style in architecture of medieval Serbia whose executors were chief architects. The deviation from equinox East of the main axis of each church and the dates when the Sun rises on the physical horizon, in the extension of the main axis, have been calculated. These were the dates when the church could have been oriented towards the rising Sun. This possibility has been ruled out for four churches. As for the other churches, the matching of the mentioned dates with the patron’s days wasn’t established. The churches in monasteries Ljubostinja and Kalenic are oriented with astronomical precision towards equinox East, an admirable fact considering the tools available to the builders. Rade Borovic, the only chief architect who put his signature on his work, was the chief architect of Ljubostinja.

  3. Overcoming violence - a basic task of Christian churches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wolfgang Huber

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available In this article � based on the second of two keynote lectures at a conference on violence � the view is developed that the task of the church with respect to violence consists mainly in overcoming violence. In the first part of the article dealing with the basic tasks of the church it is argued that the task to overcome violence is close to the essence of the church. The point of departure is taken in Article 7 of the Augsburg Confession, which understands the church as the �communion of saints� and names the pure proclamation of the gospel and the right administration of the sacraments as the two characteristics of the church. The Christian message that the church has to proclaim the gospel entails a preferential option for nonviolence that includes the responsibility to put an end to existing violence. In the second part of the article attention is given to the implications the basic task of the church in overcoming violence holds for the practice of the church. It is argued that the starting point is that the church has to proclaim the gospel of peace and as a community of faith become a community of peace herself. Some of the most important practical consequences the proclamation of the gospel of peace has for the church as a community of action, for her work in education, for her promotion of justice and for her solidarity with those in need, are discussed.

  4. Democracy in understanding of the Orthodox church.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grigorios M. Liantas

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Subject of this paper is the notion of “democracy” in understanding and practice of the Ortho-dox Church. Beginning with genesis of the term and its application in ancient Greece author of the paper presents similarities and differences between concepts of “democracy” and “conciliarity”. “Democracy” is a form of government in which people are the source of political authority which is executed by elected representatives and rules on behalf of a nation. However, organization of the Orthodox Church is not “democratic” in common understanding of the term. Every member of the Church has the same duties and carries on the same mission, but everything is based on equality of the Apostles to whom Christ has entrusted spreading of the Gospel and establishment of the Church. “Democracy” in life of the Orthodox Church bears a name of “conciliarity” (greek „συνοδικότης” and it is lived in an unceasing community of all the Church members among themselves and their Divine Head mainly in the Mystery of Eucharist, the core of unity of the Church in Christ. Institution of conciliarity is not just a matter of Church administration or canon law but constitutes fundamental principle of ecclesiology. The fact of presence of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Trinity at each Council provides conciliarity with charismatic character. Organization of the Orthodox Church as ob-served in monastic community of Mount Athos, the world most ancient existing democracy, is set as an example for all social-political systems aiming to improve organization of society.

  5. Subjective neighborhood assessment and physical inactivity: An examination of neighborhood-level variance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prochaska, John D; Buschmann, Robert N; Jupiter, Daniel; Mutambudzi, Miriam; Peek, M Kristen

    2018-06-01

    Research suggests a linkage between perceptions of neighborhood quality and the likelihood of engaging in leisure-time physical activity. Often in these studies, intra-neighborhood variance is viewed as something to be controlled for statistically. However, we hypothesized that intra-neighborhood variance in perceptions of neighborhood quality may be contextually relevant. We examined the relationship between intra-neighborhood variance of subjective neighborhood quality and neighborhood-level reported physical inactivity across 48 neighborhoods within a medium-sized city, Texas City, Texas using survey data from 2706 residents collected between 2004 and 2006. Neighborhoods where the aggregated perception of neighborhood quality was poor also had a larger proportion of residents reporting being physically inactive. However, higher degrees of disagreement among residents within neighborhoods about their neighborhood quality was significantly associated with a lower proportion of residents reporting being physically inactive (p=0.001). Our results suggest that intra-neighborhood variability may be contextually relevant in studies seeking to better understand the relationship between neighborhood quality and behaviors sensitive to neighborhood environments, like physical activity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Large Neighborhood Search

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pisinger, David; Røpke, Stefan

    2010-01-01

    Heuristics based on large neighborhood search have recently shown outstanding results in solving various transportation and scheduling problems. Large neighborhood search methods explore a complex neighborhood by use of heuristics. Using large neighborhoods makes it possible to find better...... candidate solutions in each iteration and hence traverse a more promising search path. Starting from the large neighborhood search method,we give an overview of very large scale neighborhood search methods and discuss recent variants and extensions like variable depth search and adaptive large neighborhood...

  7. Church Attendance and Religious Experience

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marianne Nilsen Kvande

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies have shown that gender may moderate the relationship between religiousness and mental health in most countries, but few studies have been conducted in Norway and Denmark. This study examined gender differences in religious experiences and church attendance as predictors of existential well-being among 295 women and 233 men from the general Norwegian population. Analyses showed that the structural equation models for women and men did not differ significantly on the global level. The models for women and men, however, showed different patterns. Among men, church attendance and negative religious experiences predicted existential well-being; among women, positive and negative religious experiences were related to existential well-being, but church attendance was not. The present findings suggest that men may benefit more from active religiousness, whereas women may benefit more from affective religiousness. Comparing these results with research in other cultural contexts, we find that different operationalizations of church attendance yield the same types of patterns across cultural contexts. Consequently, the benefits of religiousness may be similar for women and men irrespective of cultural context.

  8. Incorporating Neighborhood Choice in a Model of Neighborhood Effects on Income.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Ham, Maarten; Boschman, Sanne; Vogel, Matt

    2018-05-09

    Studies of neighborhood effects often attempt to identify causal effects of neighborhood characteristics on individual outcomes, such as income, education, employment, and health. However, selection looms large in this line of research, and it has been argued that estimates of neighborhood effects are biased because people nonrandomly select into neighborhoods based on their preferences, income, and the availability of alternative housing. We propose a two-step framework to disentangle selection processes in the relationship between neighborhood deprivation and earnings. We model neighborhood selection using a conditional logit model, from which we derive correction terms. Driven by the recognition that most households prefer certain types of neighborhoods rather than specific areas, we employ a principle components analysis to reduce these terms into eight correction components. We use these to adjust parameter estimates from a model of subsequent neighborhood effects on individual income for the unequal probability that a household chooses to live in a particular type of neighborhood. We apply this technique to administrative data from the Netherlands. After we adjust for the differential sorting of households into certain types of neighborhoods, the effect of neighborhood income on individual income diminishes but remains significant. These results further emphasize that researchers need to be attuned to the role of selection bias when assessing the role of neighborhood effects on individual outcomes. Perhaps more importantly, the persistent effect of neighborhood deprivation on subsequent earnings suggests that neighborhood effects reflect more than the shared characteristics of neighborhood residents: place of residence partially determines economic well-being.

  9. Ethiopian church forests : opportunities and challenges for restoration

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wassie Eshete, A.

    2007-01-01

    In Northern Ethiopia almost all dry Afromontane forests have been converted to open agricultural lands. Only small isolated fragments remain around churches ("church forests"), but these are many. This study analyses forest community structure and composition of the church forests, investigates

  10. Women and Popular Church

    OpenAIRE

    Maria Brendalí Costa; EST

    2013-01-01

    From the early 1960s, the Popular Church organized and influenced the actions, ideas and objectives of the Brazilian civil society. From the Feminist Theology, the article reflects on the different ways which this praxis influenced, through principles, worldviews and methodologies, the actions performed by women in the 1980s who engaged in the Urban Popular Church in suburbs of cities which belonged to the diocese of Caxias do Sul. The study is bibliographic, documental and is analyzed throug...

  11. Gnosticism, church unity and the Nicene Creed

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. F.C. Coetzee

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available Gnosticism (derived from the Greek word “gnosis; knowledge” is the well-known phenomenon or movement which dates from the first centuries of church history. The teaching of Gnosticism questioned and/or contradicted the teaching of the church on some of the fundamental truths of Scripture. Apart from Gnosticism, the Early Church also had to deal with the heresy of Arianism. In the Nicene Creed, formulated by the councils of Nicea (325 AD and Constantinople (381 AD the universal or catholic church responded officially to the heresies of both Gnosticism and Arianism. In the final edition of the Nicene Creed we also find an article on the unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity of the church. Both Gnosticism and Arianism posed a serious threat to the unity of the church.   In our times we experience a revival of ancient Gnosticism, both pagan and “Christian”. This revival is also called the New Age or the Age of Aquarius. Within the framework of this new worldview, we are witnessing a rediscovery of gnosis. The discovery and publication of certain ancient gnostic texts like the Nag Hammadi Codices, play a significant role in this revival. Consequently the canon of Scripture is questioned or openly rejected and also the creeds based on that Scripture.   The Nicene Creed played a major and decisive role in preserving and maintaining the unity of the church on the basis of the truth of Scripture. This age-old creed is today just as relevant and important in proclaiming and confessing the true faith and preserving the true unity of the church.

  12. A Church History of Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lausten, Martin Schwarz

    A Church History of Denmark from the Missionary periode, through the Middle Ages, the Lutheran Reformation, the Ortodoxy, Pietisme, Enlightenment and det History of the 19. and 20. century......A Church History of Denmark from the Missionary periode, through the Middle Ages, the Lutheran Reformation, the Ortodoxy, Pietisme, Enlightenment and det History of the 19. and 20. century...

  13. Church Colleges Today. Perspectives of a Church Agency on Their Problems and Possibilities. Studies in Christian Higher Education, No. 15.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geler, Woodrow A., Ed.

    Six articles giving the perspective of the United Methodist Church on the problems and possibilities in higher education are presented. The topics include: Why is the Church in Higher Education?, Church-College Relationships and Challenges, Higher Education for Blacks, The Crisis in Enrollment, New Generations for New Days, and Trends and…

  14. MEANS OF ESTABLISHING CHURCH PROPERTY AND FUNDING SOURCES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cricovean Mircea

    2013-07-01

    Regarding the administration of goods, the Church finds guidance in the laws of the State to which it belongs (Stan, 1952 but taking into consideration the fact that the Church cannot “have its special principles and rules contradicted”(Floca, 1990: 448. However, the church, in fulfilling its purpose - the salvation of believers, needs wealth or heritage. This is not to understand that the Church can “lose its essential character, supernatural character, because, for the Church the earthly possessions and temporal happiness are not an immediate end” (Floca, 1990: 451-452. To understand the Church’s sources of financing it is necessary to take account of its properties. Along the time the church was holder of ownership rights. Its property had to be maintained, at least, so it needed funding. The Church’s canonical and statutory provisions are those governing the Church’s source of funding. They cannot conclusively be understood without observing the principles and rules specific for the ecclesiastical wealth management. Noted should be that previously there were no generally accepted rules on the management of financial resources of the church. The canonical, legal and statutory establishments have become customary in time, making it possible this way, by the dioceses supervisors, that sources of funding should be directed towards the maintenance of the Church, of the worship and of social activities.

  15. Restoration and Rehabilitation of world heritage Site of Chupan Church

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Darvish Rohani

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Church of Chupan is located in Jolfa cityin north of Iran and is laid at south side of Arax River. Built of the church traced back to 14th to 15th century and the time when Armenians were inhabited in the region. Chupan church had been inscribed at World Heritage List of UNESCO under no 1262 in 2008, as one of the five churches of “Armenian Monasteries of Azerbaijan province of Iran” dossier. As it is located at a religious and tourism road of Darresham and each year most of Armenian from all over the world visited the church as a part of a religious ceremony, also as the same church on opposite side of the Arax in Republic of Nakhchivan is completely destroyed between 1998-2002 and the church is the only existing evidence of these two couple church, the restoration and rehabilitation of chupan church is very important. Because of very bad statues of structure stability and long-term neglect of the conservation and preservation of the building, restoration and rehabilitation of the church in the earliest was necessary. Restoration of this church was my MA degree thesis and now as a Ph.D student in field of urban design and planning student, I am working on the next step which is to revitalization and rehabilitation of the church.

  16. Restoration and Rehabilitation of world heritage Site of Chupan Church

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darvish Rohani, S.

    2015-08-01

    Church of Chupan is located in Jolfa cityin north of Iran and is laid at south side of Arax River. Built of the church traced back to 14th to 15th century and the time when Armenians were inhabited in the region. Chupan church had been inscribed at World Heritage List of UNESCO under no 1262 in 2008, as one of the five churches of "Armenian Monasteries of Azerbaijan province of Iran" dossier. As it is located at a religious and tourism road of Darresham and each year most of Armenian from all over the world visited the church as a part of a religious ceremony, also as the same church on opposite side of the Arax in Republic of Nakhchivan is completely destroyed between 1998-2002 and the church is the only existing evidence of these two couple church, the restoration and rehabilitation of chupan church is very important. Because of very bad statues of structure stability and long-term neglect of the conservation and preservation of the building, restoration and rehabilitation of the church in the earliest was necessary. Restoration of this church was my MA degree thesis and now as a Ph.D student in field of urban design and planning student, I am working on the next step which is to revitalization and rehabilitation of the church.

  17. The Church Bridge Project: An Academic-Community Perspective of a Church-Based Weight Management Pilot Intervention among Young Adult African Americans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lemacks, Jennifer L; James, Robert E; Abbott, Laurie; Choi, Hwanseok; Parker, Ashley; Bryant, Ashley; Ralston, Penny A; Rigsby, Annither Gilner; Gilner, Patricia

    2018-01-01

    Churches are effective community partners and settings to address weight management among African Americans. There is limited information on the use of churches to reach young adult populations and church collaborations with primary care clinics. The Church Bridge Project represents a community-academic partnership that presents the recruitment process of a church-based weight management intervention and describes baseline data of participants recruited from churches and primary care providers. We also discuss research contributions, challenges and limitations, study applicability, and practice implications from an academic and community perspective. Church leaders were involved in the entire research process. The theory-driven intervention included 12 diabetes prevention program-adapted education and motivational interviewing (MI)-guided sessions. Participants were recruited through primary care providers and church leaders. Demographics, medical and weight history, stage of change for weight loss, social support, and self-efficacy for diet and physical activity, weight, and girth circumferences were measured. Baseline descriptive data were analyzed. Of 64 potential participants, 42 (65.6%) were enrolled in the study and 16 (25.0%) completed baseline data collection. No participants were recruited through primary care providers. Recruited participants were similar to the target population except for being all obese and mostly female. The mean ± SD age of participants was 34.31 ± 8.86 years with most reporting having more than a high school education (n = 14 [87.5%]), individual yearly income of less than $59,000 (n = 12 [75.0%]), and been married or living with a partner (n = 9 [56.3%]). Most reported a history of hypertension and an immediate family history of diabetes and hypertension. Most participants were classified as class III obesity. Young adults and primary care providers are difficult to engage in church-based interventions. Church leaders were

  18. Self-secularisation as challenge to the church

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaco Beyers

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The concept of self-secularisation has been identified by Wolfgang Huber, bishop of the German Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD, when he reflected on the context of the church in Germany. Self-secularisation however, is a worldwide phenomenon with effects in South Africa as well. After discussing the origin of the concept and its interpretations, the author tries to identify instances of self-secularisation within especially the Afrikaansspeaking churches, although not limited to them, in South Africa. The theological jargon comes under scrutiny, civil religion, the pluralistic society within which the church exists, the effect of emotionalism, the commercialisation of the church, the role of mass media and the phenomenon of infotainment, rationalisation and a lack of ethics are some of the elements identified and discussed. Finally the author attempts a correction by indicating what the church ought to do in order to counter the effects of self-secularisation.

  19. Why I Left the Church

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Leth-Nissen, Karen Marie Sø

    2014-01-01

    both drivers and triggers. The drivers are the motifs and reasons building up the possibility of leaving the church. The trigger is the straw the breaks the camel's back, and is therefore just a trigger, and not as important as the drivers. The study argues that economy as a reason for leaving...... to better explain the multifaceted reasons why members decide to leave the National Church. The aspects explored are the motifs, thoughts and reflections of the former members. Methods applied will be qualitative life-historical semi-structured interviews. The study produces data comparable with a similar...... the church is more of a trigger than actually a driver, why we should be more aware of the other reasons for resigning membership....

  20. The first coronation churches of medieval Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kalić Jovanka

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The medieval ceremony of coronation as a rule took place in the most important church of a realm. The sites of the coronation of Serbian rulers before the establishment of the Žiča monastery church as the coronation church of Serbian kings in the first half of the thirteenth century have not been reliably identified so far. Based on the surviving medieval sources and the archaeological record, this paper provides background information about the titles of Serbian rulers prior to the creation of the Nemanjić state, and proposes that Stefan, son of the founder of the Nemanjić dynasty, was crowned king (1217 in the church of St Peter in Ras.

  1. Active living neighborhoods: is neighborhood walkability a key element for Belgian adolescents?

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Meester, Femke; Van Dyck, Delfien; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Deforche, Benedicte; Sallis, James F; Cardon, Greet

    2012-01-04

    In adult research, neighborhood walkability has been acknowledged as an important construct among the built environmental correlates of physical activity. Research into this association has only recently been extended to adolescents and the current empirical evidence is not consistent. This study investigated whether neighborhood walkability and neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with physical activity among Belgian adolescents and whether the association between neighborhood walkability and physical activity is moderated by neighborhood SES and gender. In Ghent (Belgium), 32 neighborhoods were selected based on GIS-based walkability and SES derived from census data. In total, 637 adolescents (aged 13-15 year, 49.6% male) participated in the study. Physical activity was assessed using accelerometers and the Flemish Physical Activity Questionnaire. To analyze the associations between neighborhood walkability, neighborhood SES and individual physical activity, multivariate multi-level regression analyses were conducted. Only in low-SES neighborhoods, neighborhood walkability was positively associated with accelerometer-based moderate to vigorous physical activity and the average activity level expressed in counts/minute. For active transport to and from school, cycling for transport during leisure time and sport during leisure time no association with neighborhood walkability nor, with neighborhood SES was found. For walking for transport during leisure time a negative association with neighborhood SES was found. Gender did not moderate the associations of neighborhood walkability and SES with adolescent physical activity. Neighborhood walkability was related to accelerometer-based physical activity only among adolescent boys and girls living in low-SES neighborhoods. The relation of built environment to adolescent physical activity may depend on the context.

  2. Sacred Space: A Beginning Framework for Off-Planet Church

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoffmann, T. K.

    As governments and corporations continue to engage space security, commerce, exploration and colonization, the Christian Church will not be far behind. Historically the Church has always been part of the first waves of explorers and colonizers, with its ideological interests being easily supported by generous resources and strong infrastructures. The exploring Church has not always been a friendly guest, however, and at times has initiated or condoned great harm. This paper offers a beginning framework as one way of insuring an appropriate presence in space for the Church. This framework is built with three common religious planks, namely, theology, ecclesiology and church worker vocation. Each of these is recast in terms of the off-planet scenario. This paper concludes that an appropriate off-planet Church will be founded on an "exomissiological" theology, will embrace an ecclesiology that emphasizes religious health, and will adequately select, train and monitor its off-planet church workers.

  3. Church, mission and ethics. Being church with integrity

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    documentaries and books proved this point. A quick ... Triune God's new creation and involvement in this world. It is quite clear .... reformation history into modern times, the church struggled with issues ..... Augustine and his Manichaean audience: ... Randi, J., 1987, The faith healers, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY. Reuver ...

  4. Relational leadership and the missional church

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacob J. Breedt

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The global realities regarding cultural shifts and the transition between traditional, modern and postmodern world perspectives have particular implications for leadership in general. In several institutions, including those in commercial, educational, medical and religious circles, leaders face the challenges of constant change in lifestyle, relational intelligence and responsibility. The combined impact of these changes in thought and culture, information technology, globalisation and racial, ethnic and religious pluralism has displaced the historic role the church has traditionally played. In this article it was argued that the church would have to take a hard look at relationships, in order to be the successful missional church which was demonstrated by Jesus Christ. The church needs to change, evolve and advance in relational intelligence and leadership � and leaders should set the pace. This implies that a paradigm shift is necessary; it is believed that this can be achieved through the proposed relational leadership style, as clearly demonstrated in the Trinitarian discussion. The Trinity, especially a relational Trinity, revealed the core understanding of missional ecclesiology and leadership and showed that as a result of the total �oneness� of God, there is no hierarchical order in the Godhead and as such the church should function and operate with the Trinity as its model and example.

  5. Active living neighborhoods: is neighborhood walkability a key element for Belgian adolescents?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    De Meester Femke

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In adult research, neighborhood walkability has been acknowledged as an important construct among the built environmental correlates of physical activity. Research into this association has only recently been extended to adolescents and the current empirical evidence is not consistent. This study investigated whether neighborhood walkability and neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES are associated with physical activity among Belgian adolescents and whether the association between neighborhood walkability and physical activity is moderated by neighborhood SES and gender. Methods In Ghent (Belgium, 32 neighborhoods were selected based on GIS-based walkability and SES derived from census data. In total, 637 adolescents (aged 13-15 year, 49.6% male participated in the study. Physical activity was assessed using accelerometers and the Flemish Physical Activity Questionnaire. To analyze the associations between neighborhood walkability, neighborhood SES and individual physical activity, multivariate multi-level regression analyses were conducted. Results Only in low-SES neighborhoods, neighborhood walkability was positively associated with accelerometer-based moderate to vigorous physical activity and the average activity level expressed in counts/minute. For active transport to and from school, cycling for transport during leisure time and sport during leisure time no association with neighborhood walkability nor, with neighborhood SES was found. For walking for transport during leisure time a negative association with neighborhood SES was found. Gender did not moderate the associations of neighborhood walkability and SES with adolescent physical activity. Conclusions Neighborhood walkability was related to accelerometer-based physical activity only among adolescent boys and girls living in low-SES neighborhoods. The relation of built environment to adolescent physical activity may depend on the context.

  6. Church as heterotopia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tanya van Wyk

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available This article reflects on an ecclesiastical institution as a spatial panoptic structure which domesticates representational space as a hierarchy of power devoid of a sensitivity for the ‘human Other’ (Autrui. The notion of heterotopia is promoted to deconstruct spatiality and linearity (time as theological binary concepts. Being church as heterotopia does not deny the desire for the utopian dimension in religious thinking but holds on to utopian thinking amidst adversity and diversity. Therefore the concept of heterotopia is used to describe reconciliatory diversity, which is characteristic of an inclusive postmodern church which is a space where unity is not threatened by diversity, where the one is not afraid of the Other.

  7. Neighborhood choices, neighborhood effects and housing vouchers

    OpenAIRE

    Davis, Morris A.; Gregory, Jesse; Hartley, Daniel A.; Tan, Kegon T. K.

    2017-01-01

    We study how households choose neighborhoods, how neighborhoods affect child ability, and how housing vouchers influence neighborhood choices and child outcomes. We use two new panel data sets with tract-level detail for Los Angeles county to estimate a dynamic model of optimal tract-level location choice for renting households and, separately, the impact of living in a given tract on child test scores (which we call "child ability" throughout). We simulate optimal location choices and change...

  8. Effective strategic leadership: Balancing roles during church ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Effective strategic leadership: Balancing roles during church transitions. ... a substantive grounded theory of organisational change and leadership, particularly focusing on the manifestation and management of organisation inertia in churches ...

  9. Positive Neighborhood Norms Buffer Ethnic Diversity Effects on Neighborhood Dissatisfaction, Perceived Neighborhood Disadvantage, and Moving Intentions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Assche, Jasper; Asbrock, Frank; Roets, Arne; Kauff, Mathias

    2018-05-01

    Positive neighborhood norms, such as strong local networks, are critical to people's satisfaction with, perceived disadvantage of, and intentions to stay in their neighborhood. At the same time, local ethnic diversity is said to be detrimental for these community outcomes. Integrating both frameworks, we tested whether the negative consequences of diversity occur even when perceived social norms are positive. Study 1 ( N = 1,760 German adults) showed that perceptions of positive neighborhood norms buffered against the effects of perceived diversity on moving intentions via neighborhood satisfaction and perceived neighborhood disadvantage. Study 2 ( N = 993 Dutch adults) replicated and extended this moderated mediation model using other characteristics of diversity (i.e., objective and estimated minority proportions). Multilevel analyses again revealed consistent buffering effects of positive neighborhood norms. Our findings are discussed in light of the ongoing public and political debate concerning diversity and social and communal life.

  10. Modern Church Construction in Urals. Problems and Prospects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Surin, D. N.; Tereshina, O. B.

    2017-11-01

    The article analyzes the problems of the modern Orthodox church architecture in Russia, special attention is paid to the problems of the Ural region. It justifies the importance of addressing to this issue connected with the Orthodox traditions revival in Russia over the last decades and the need to compensate for tens of thousands of the churches destroyed in the Soviet period. The works on the theory and history of the Russian architecture and art, studies of the architectural heritage and the art of building of the Ural craftsmen are used as a scientific and methodological base for the church architecture development. The article discloses the historically formed architectural features of the Russian Orthodox churches the artistic image of which is designed to create a certain religious and aesthetic experience. It is stated that the restoration of the Russian church construction tradition is possible on the background of architectural heritage. It sets the tendencies and vital tasks in church construction and outlines a complex of measures to solve these tasks at the public and regional levels.

  11. Orientation of medieval churches of Morava school

    OpenAIRE

    Tadić Milutin; Gavrić Gordana

    2012-01-01

    In this paper we present the mathematical and topographic analysis of orientation of the most significant churches (11) of Morava school, the last style in architecture of medieval Serbia whose executors were chief architects. The deviation from equinox East of the main axis of each church and the dates when the Sun rises on the physical horizon, in the extension of the main axis, have been calculated. These were the dates when the church could have been oriented towards the rising Sun....

  12. Jeremy Bentham and Church of England Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Brian

    1979-01-01

    The author traces Jeremy Bentham's attacks, in 1815 and 1816, on the Church of England's role in the provision of schooling in Britain, particularly his objections to Church policies excluding non-adherents from instruction. (SJL)

  13. Choice Neighborhood Grantees

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Housing and Urban Development — Choice Neighborhoods grants transform distressed neighborhoods, public and assisted projects into viable and sustainable mixed-income neighborhoods by linking...

  14. Relational Principles for Effective Church Leadership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watt, Willis M.

    2014-01-01

    In the 21st century, effective church leaders need to be prepared to emphasize and demonstrate ethical leadership, personal responsibility, and community service. The foundation for success in all those areas lies in the ability of church leaders to initiate, develop, and maintain positive functioning relationships. Based on over 40 year's…

  15. Experiencing Churches as Spiritual and Religious Places: A Study on Children's Emotions in Church Buildings during Scholastic Field Trips

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kindermann, Katharina; Riegel, Ulrich

    2018-01-01

    Going on a field trip to the church, pupils can experience lived religion. But how do they feel during such a church visit? In this paper, we analyse statements of 516 German third graders (about 8 years old) made after they had visited their local church on a field trip. Using affective schema theory, we develop a conceptual model of emotions in…

  16. Perceptions as the crucial link? The mediating role of neighborhood perceptions in the relationship between the neighborhood context and neighborhood cohesion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laméris, Joran; Hipp, John R; Tolsma, Jochem

    2018-05-01

    This study examines the effects of neighborhood racial in-group size, economic deprivation and the prevalence of crime on neighborhood cohesion among U.S. whites. We explore to what extent residents' perceptions of their neighborhood mediate these macro-micro relationships. We use a recent individual-level data set, the American Social Fabric Study (2012/2013), enriched with contextual-level data from the U.S. Census Bureau (2010) and employ multi-level structural equation models. We show that the racial in-group size is positively related to neighborhood cohesion and that neighborhood cohesion is lower in communities with a high crime rate. Individuals' perceptions of the racial in-group size partly mediate the relationship between the objective racial in-group size and neighborhood cohesion. Residents' perceptions of unsafety from crime also appear to be a mediating factor, not only for the objective crime rate but also for the objective racial in-group size. This is in line with our idea that racial stereotypes link racial minorities to crime whereby neighborhoods with a large non-white population are perceived to be more unsafe. Residents of the same neighborhood differ in how they perceive the degree of economic decay of the neighborhood and this causes them to evaluate neighborhood cohesion differently, however perceptions of neighborhood economic decay do not explain the link between the objective neighborhood context and neighborhood cohesion. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  17. Neighborhood solutions for neighborhood problems: an empirically based violence prevention collaboration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Randall, J; Swenson, C C; Henggeler, S W

    1999-12-01

    Youth antisocial behavior is influenced, in part, by neighborhood context. Yet, rather than attempting to ameliorate factors contributing to youth antisocial behavior, service dollars are primarily devoted to expensive and often ineffective out-of-home placements. This article describes the development and implementation of a collaborative partnership designed to empower an economically disadvantaged neighborhood to address violent criminal behavior, substance abuse, and other serious antisocial problems of its youth while maintaining youth in the neighborhood. Through a collaboration between a university research center and neighborhood stakeholders, services are being provided to address the key priorities identified by neighborhood residents, and extensive efforts are being made to develop family and neighborhood contexts that are conducive to prosocial youth behavior.

  18. Orientation of English Medieval Parish Churches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoare, Peter G.

    Our understanding of the alignment of English medieval parish churches, after more than three centuries of research, is far from complete. The arrangement of relatively few structures has been explained beyond reasonable doubt, and tests of the overwhelmingly popular festival orientation theory are often insufficiently rigorous to provide convincing answers. Much work remains to be done, including verifying and analyzing some of the existing raw data, determining whether the present church was dedicated at the time of construction, examining wills for evidence of early dedications, measuring the effect of eastern horizons on sunrise azimuths, and consulting excavation reports to assess whether earlier buildings may have influenced the arrangement of those churches that replaced them.

  19. Acoustic energy relations in Mudejar-Gothic churches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zamarreño, Teófilo; Girón, Sara; Galindo, Miguel

    2007-01-01

    Extensive objective energy-based parameters have been measured in 12 Mudejar-Gothic churches in the south of Spain. Measurements took place in unoccupied churches according to the ISO-3382 standard. Monoaural objective measures in the 125-4000 Hz frequency range and in their spatial distributions were obtained. Acoustic parameters: clarity C80, definition D50, sound strength G and center time Ts have been deduced using impulse response analysis through a maximum length sequence measurement system in each church. These parameters spectrally averaged according to the most extended criteria in auditoria in order to consider acoustic quality were studied as a function of source-receiver distance. The experimental results were compared with predictions given by classical and other existing theoretical models proposed for concert halls and churches. An analytical semi-empirical model based on the measured values of the C80 parameter is proposed in this work for these spaces. The good agreement between predicted values and experimental data for definition, sound strength, and center time in the churches analyzed shows that the model can be used for design predictions and other purposes with reasonable accuracy.

  20. Thermoluminescence dating of some Hungarian medieval churches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kasa, I.; Bajnoczy, G.

    1984-01-01

    Thermoluminescence dating of three Hungarian historic churches was performed using the quarz inclusion technique and sup(60)Co gamma irradiation. Quarz grains obtained from the bricks were irradiated and the radiation doses were measured by CaSOsub(4):Dy TL dosemeters. Glow curves of irradiated and non-irradiated samples were also measured. From the results it was concluded that the ages of two churches were 10 and 30 percent less, respectively, than the ages estimated earlier. The age of the third church proved to be correct. (R.P.)

  1. Love and Truth in Social Involvement of the Church

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henryk Szmulewicz

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available This study begins with a brief outline of the essence of the whole encyclical Caritas in veritate . Benedict XVI expresses the desire for „the dialogue with the world”. He understands this dialogue as a special kind of the service of the Church towards eternal love and truth, fully revealed in Christ. The dialogue of the Church with the world, in the spirit of love and truth, is accomplished every day at the level of so-called official relations. There are numerous opinions that in the past the Church repeatedly neglected the dialogue with the world. Indeed, the Church historians point out the existence of examples of the fall of the authority of the Holy See in particular countries and circumstances. Similarly, the Church is the sign of objection in the contemporary world. Instructed by past experiences the Church is aware that what is necessary for the renewal of culture and society, is evangelical love and truth.

  2. Radio and the Church – a Historical Glance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carl-Mario Sultana

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Radio is a very powerful mass communication medium. In radio broadcasting, one can hear the echo of Christ’s words to his apostles in the missionary discourse: “You received without charge, give without charge...What you hear in whispers, proclaim from the house tops” (Mt 10,8b.27. Although the Church uses radio as a means to transmit the Good News of salvation, and we as human beings receive radio transmissions as a part of our daily life, we barely stop to think and reflect upon the underlying aspects of radio as a means of communication. In this paper, the Author endeavours to give a historical overview of what makes radio an important medium for evangelisation according to four key documents of the Church, while also studying the underlying theological positions found in these documents. These documents enable us to study radio as a broadcasting medium, highlighting the possible reactions of the Church to radio and how the Church changed its stance on radio over the years. The reason for focussing specifically on radio is for two particular reasons: from the very beginning, the Church has considered radio as a means for evangelising the masses. Notwithstanding this, what is going to be discussing in the paper can be equally applied to Television as a mass communication medium. Secondly, the Church took an active role in radio broadcasting by asking Guglielmo Marconi himself to construct the Vatican Radio in 1931. The documents of the Church also offer us a theology of radio as a mass communication medium, with unity, progress and evangelisation being the fundamental aspects. Church documents posit that not everything should be broadcasted over radio but only messages which bring about peace and unity.

  3. Divine empowerment: The Holy Spirit and church revitalisation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brian A. DeVries

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available How do principles of church revitalisation correlate with the divine work of the Holy Spirit? This article argues that the Spirit is the primary agent of church revitalisation, and churchleaders should cooperate with the Spirit as he works for revitalisation. Thus the Spirit empowers church leaders who are used by him to revive, renew, and revitalise a church community. After briefly defining the Spirit’s empowerment with biblical examples, this article examines the underlying principles of empowerment for church leaders, followed by briefly considering methodology for church revitalisation. The author concludes by suggesting several signs of biblical empowerment in a local church community. Goddelike bemagtiging: Die Heilige Gees en kerkherstel. Watter plek beklee die goddelike werking van die Heilige Gees in die beginsels van kerkherstel? Hierdie artikel poneer dat die Heilige Gees die primêre agent is om nuwe lewe in die kerk te bring en kerkleiers behoort onder leiding van die Heilige Gees hulle hiervoor te beywer. Die Heilige Gees bemagtig dus die kerkleiers wat Hy gebruik om ’n kerklike gemeenskap te laat herleef, te vernuwe en hulle te besiel met lewenskragtigheid. Die Gees se bemagtiging word kortliks aan die hand van bybelse voorbeelde gedefineer, waarna die grondliggende beginsels vir die bemagtiging van die kerkleiers ondersoek word. Daarna word die metodologie om nuwe lewenskrag in die kerk te bring kortliks oorweeg. Die outeur sluit af deur verskeie tekens uit te lig wat op skriftuurlike bemagtiging van die Heilige Gees in die plaaslike kerkgemeenskap dui.

  4. Personality traits of Church Planters in Europe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Paas, S.; van Saane, J.W.; Foppen, Annemarie

    2017-01-01

    In this article we present the results of a Big Five personality test among 59 religious entrepreneurs (church planters) in Europe, and we compare these results with (a) a general database, and (b) existing research among secular entrepreneurs. Our study concludes that church planters are

  5. The amazing growth of the early church

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wim A. Dreyer

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available The church grew rapidly during the first centuries. The question is: Why? Generations of scholars approached this question from different perspectives and with different methods. Historical research, analysis of early Christian texts and theological reflection were the most common methods used to shed light on the growth of the church. In this contribution five different models of growth were discussed, using the approach of A.M. Schor as a point of departure. These models of church growth were put under the headings of an apostolic mission model, values reproduction model, social reaction model, network model with an institutional model added.

  6. The Dutch Reformed Church Mission in Swaziland - A dream come true

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arnau van Wyngaard

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available This article covers the time from 1652 onwards when employees of the Dutch East India Company – most of whom were members of the Reformed Church in the Netherlands – arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in present South Africa. With time, a new church, the Dutch Reformed Church, was established in the Cape. In 1836, a number of pioneers moved from the Cape to the east of South Africa and some of them eventually made Swaziland their new home. Although most members of the white Dutch Reformed Church opposed any integration with Christians from other races, there was nevertheless a desire that they should join a Reformed Church. In 1922, the first Dutch Reformed congregation in Swaziland was established in Goedgegun in the southern region of the country, intended for the exclusive use of white, Afrikaans-speaking church members. In 1944, the first Reformed congregation for Swazi members was formed, which later became known as the Swaziland Reformed Church. This article documents the history of this church and concludes with a description of the Swaziland Reformed Church in 1985, with four missionaries from South Africa ministering in the four regions of Swaziland.

  7. Conversion growth of Protestant churches in Thailand

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Visser, M

    2008-01-01

    This study set out to answer the question what factors are conducive for church growth through conversion in Protestant Thai churches. After 180 years of unhindered Protestant missionary activity only 0.3% of ethnic Thai, about 185,000 people, have become Protestants. Though small, ethnic Thai

  8. Skrif en Kerkorder/Scripture and church order | Celliers | Acta ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This enables the congregation to adhere to its calling for obedience, love, and witness, so that the church can continue to exist. The outlines of the nature and order of the church should be addressed in all church orders to avoid pragmatism and arbitrariness on the one hand, and to create space for the various demands of ...

  9. Church, freedom and bolshevisation of Moscow University

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaina, Alex

    2008-05-01

    A short description of events, occured in Russia after 1917 with emphasysis on main phyilosophycal curents such as marxism and believing, first of atheistic content and second of christian moralty content is given. It is argued, that bolshevicks contributed to progress of Russia, but this was reached by mean of purges and terror, during which many peoples were killed, especially representatives of the Russian Ortodox church. A list of scientists, which contributed more than other to the bolshevisation of the Russia and Moscow University, particularly, is given. The controverse between Hegel and Einstein from one part and Marx and bolshevicks from other part is examined also. The bolshevicks destroyed the Russian ortodox church, instead of its modernisation, is argued. The Calendar in the Russian Ortodox church is discussed, which is Julian, and it is argued, that a peaceful dialogue between the representatives of the Church and scientists is needed in order to make a transition to the Gregorian one.

  10. Poland: A Dark Side of Church Cultural Policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Szocik Konrad

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The cultural policy of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland is incorporated into state-run cultural policies. The organs of public authority enforce the objectives of Church regardless of Church’s actual ability to influence the society. It should be pointed out that the secularization of religion in Poland is frequently misinterpreted and usually equated with its deprivatization. It is worth mentioning that Catholicism is the dominant religion of the country and the Roman Catholic Church has hold a special position in Poland and play a major role in the country’s social and political life. In practice, however, Polish society appears to be religiously indifferent. This paper proves that the official, state-run cultural policy in Poland is based on favoritism of the Roman Catholic Church, regardless of Church’s actual ability to wield influence on society. Thus, there is a variety of implicit and explicit cultural policies implemented by the authorities to support Church. This work also aims at addressing the question of social attitudes to women, especially the one concerning the UN and EU law embracing women’s rights, until recently still not implemented in Poland. This paper further explores some peculiarities of this topic as an example of a specific outcome of Church cultural policy and its impact on both the past and present-day society.

  11. Church parties in the Arian controversy: problems of typologization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Georgy Zakharov

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The article is devoted to the problems of typologization of the church parties of the 4th century. This historical phenomenon arises within the framework of a long church conflict, called the Arian crisis. The designations of the church parties used by contemporaries are polemical concepts and do not correspond to the self-consciousness of their supporters. In the early Christian heresiological tradition and in the modern historiography, the basis of church parties’ classification is their theological position. However, it is necessary to take into account other consolidating factors, such as Eucharistic communion and church-political activity. The formation of church parties, as a rule, was directly related to the development of the synodal institution. Analysis of sources in the 4th century allows us to distinguish, in addition to the extensive currents - macro-parties - claiming a universal or regional consensus based on the heritage of one of the representative and authoritative councils, some small consolidated groups - micro-parties, which gather for little councils and constantly coordinate their actions within the ecclesiastical confrontation. Micro-parties could exist both within the limits of macro-party, in many respects determining the trends of it’s development, and beyond it’s boundaries. In the latter case, it is actually a marginal church group rallied around one or more extraordinary theologian, sometimes even without the episcopal rank.

  12. Church attendance and self-esteem among adolescents

    OpenAIRE

    Robbins, Mandy; Francis, Leslie J.; Williams, Emyr

    2007-01-01

    A total of 279 young people (123 males and 156 females) aged between 12 and 16 years of age attending one school in Wales completed the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory alongside a measure of frequency of church attendance. The data indicate a small positive correlation (r = .18) between self-esteem and church attendance.

  13. Church-Based Recruitment to Reach Korean Immigrants: An Integrative Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Chorong; Jang, Myoungock; Nam, Soohyun; Grey, Margaret; Whittemore, Robin

    2017-04-01

    Although the Korean church has been frequently used to recruit Korean immigrants in research, little is known about the specific strategies and process. The purpose of this integrative review was to describe recruitment strategies in studies of Korean immigrants and to identify the process of Korean church-based recruitment. Thirty-three studies met inclusion criteria. Four stages of church-based recruitment were identified: initiation, endorsement, advertisement, and implementation. This review identified aspects of the church-based recruitment process in Korean immigrants, which are different from the Black and Hispanic literature, due to their hierarchical culture and language barriers. Getting permission from pastors and announcing the study by pastors at Sunday services were identified as the key components of the process. Using the church newsletter to advertise the study was the most effective strategy for the advertisement stage. Despite several limitations, church-based recruitment is a very feasible and effective way to recruit Korean immigrants.

  14. Aurora Borealis, A Painting by Frederic Edwin Church

    Science.gov (United States)

    Love, J. J.

    2015-12-01

    This year marks the sesquicentennial anniversary of the end of the American Civil War. In 1865, the same year as the War's end, the great American landscape artist, Frederic Edwin Church, unveiled Aurora Borealis, a painting that depicts a fantastic, far-northern place, an auroral arch stretched across a quiet night-time sky, above dark mountains and a frozen sea. Church was born in Connecticut, lived in New York, and traveled to Labrador; he would have often seen the northern lights. Church might have also been influenced by the spectacular displays of aurora that were caused by some unusually intense magnetic storms in 1859. Aurora Borealis can certainly be interpreted in terms of 19th-century romanticism, scientific philosophy, and Arctic missions of exploration, all subjects of interest to Church. As with so many of his paintings, Church's meticulous attention to detail in Aurora Borealis reveals his deep admiration of nature. But his depiction of auroral light is a curious and possibly intentional departure from natural verisimilitude. Some art historians have suggested that Church painted Aurora Borealis as a subdued tribute to the end of the Civil War, with the drapery of auroral light forming an abstract representation of the American flag. If so, then colors of the flag have been unfurled across a cold and barren landscape, not in extravagant celebration, but in somber recognition of the reality of post-war desolation and an uncertain future.

  15. La chiesa di Richard Meier a Tor Tre Teste e il suo contributo al consolidamento identitario dei nuovi quartieri romani oltre il GRA / The church designed by Richard Meier in Tor Tre Teste and the identity consolidation in the new roman neighbourhoods beyond the Great Circular Road

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giuseppe Bonaccorso

    2014-06-01

    . The most important aspects of the eastern quadrant of the Roman periphery are described “from the inside”, accentuating the passages, spaces and elements of composition standing in the origin of form and structure of the neighborhoods in the vicinity of Great Circular Road. The article proposes that the key episodes in this process are the new churches by internationally famous architects, created as new focal points for peripheral neighborhoods whilst replacing libraries, squares and malls. Recent realizations are seen as intention to enforce, or, better, to construct, an identity factor for each of the neighborhoods in the dicussed sector of the city. Starting from the general discourse, the article focuses on one church and one neighborhood that might be considered as models to follow in the entire periphery around GCR: the jubilee church of God the Father of Mercy designed by Richard Meier in the neighborhood of Tor Tre Teste. The sequence of events related to the architectural competition for the church, the choice of proposal by Richard Meier, the complexity of construction as well as the technical, stylistic and symbolical analysis of the building are put in relation to the neighborhood, and finally read as an attempt to create centre of attention for the entire periphery.

  16. The facilitation by church leaders in overcoming resistance to change.

    OpenAIRE

    2008-01-01

    Little has been done to address the issue of how to overcome resistance to change in a change effort in the church world. “How to overcome resistance to change?” is a question that requires serious consideration among church leaders. Church leaders continue to act in ways that produce resistance to change and ultimately failed change efforts. These actions on the part of church leaders often strengthen and reinforce the sources of resistance to change, making it very difficult for change to b...

  17. Neighborhood context and health: How neighborhood social capital affects individual health

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mohnen, S.M.

    2012-01-01

    Does it matter for my health in which neighborhood I live? The fact is, health is determined not only by individual characteristics but also by the neighborhood in which someone lives. This thesis shows that health clusters in Dutch neighborhoods and that this is not only a composition effect (that

  18. The birth of an Empire of Two Churches : church property, theologians, and the League of Schmalkalden

    OpenAIRE

    Ocker, Christopher

    2010-01-01

    Did the creation of Protestant churches in Germany during Luther's generation follow someone's intentions? Heiko Oberman, appealing to a medieval Luther, portrays the reformer as herald of a dawning apocalypse, a monk at war with the devil, who expected God to judge the world and rescue Christians with no help from human institutions, abilities, and processes. This Luther could not have intended the creation of a new church. Dorothea Wendebourg and Hans-Jürgen Goertz stress the diversity of e...

  19. The church and nuclear energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Phillips, G.O.

    1978-03-01

    The subject is covered in sections, entitled: foreword (explaining that report is a synopsis of the Hearing on Nuclear Energy arranged by the World Council of Churches, held in Sigtune, Sweden, June 24 to 29, 1975); humanity's energy needs); alternative sources of energy (nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, non-nuclear processes; some generalisations (concerning the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy to various sections of the world); what risks are acceptable (radiation hazards, reactor safety, radioactive wastes, misuse of Pu, safeguarding); nuclear weapons; nuclear energy - a challenge to the Churches; social and ethical issues; certain conclusions; postscript -the American move. (U.K.)

  20. HEALS: A Faith-Based Hypertension Control and Prevention Program for African American Churches: Training of Church Leaders as Program Interventionists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dodani, Sunita; Sullivan, Debra; Pankey, Sydney; Champagne, Catherine

    2011-01-01

    Background. A 12-session church-based HEALS program (healthy eating and living spiritually) was developed for hypertension control and prevention program in African Americans (AAs). This study presents specifics of training lay health educators to effectively deliver HEALS to high-risk AAs. Methods. A one-day workshop was conducted by the research experts in an AA church. Five church members were recruited to be program interventionists called church health counselors (CHCs). Results. Using principles of adult education, a training protocol was developed with the intention of recognizing and supporting CHCs skills. CHCs received training on delivering HEALS program. The process of training emphasized action methods including role playing and hands-on experience with diet portion measurements. Conclusion. With adequate training, the community lay health educator can be an essential partner in a community-based hypertension control programs. This may motivate program participants more and encourages the individual to make the behavior modifications on a permanent basis.

  1. A Viennese Project in Valpovo (Croatia. Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Valpovo and Baroque Churches with Two-Bay Naves

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Horvat-Levaj, Katarina

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available The Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary in Valpovo (1733–1736, exceptional both in its spatial organization and the design of its exterior, was constructed in specific circumstances in the aftermath of the liberation of Slavonia from the Ottoman occupation. The old lands of Valpovo, with the medieval fort of Morović, were, in accordance with the Habsburg politics, given as a feud to Baron Hilleprand by Charles VI. The baron initiated the construction of a monumental parish church on his estate by commissioning its design in Vienna, as evidenced by the rich archival material on Hilleprand's property housed at the State Archive in Osijek. In keeping with the provenance of its design, the church was built as a monumental structure consisting of a two-bay nave covered with domical vaults and flanked by a narrower semicircular groin-vaulted sanctuary and a facade belfry. The type represented by the church in Valpovo – single-aisled structure with two bays – was a sort of innovation by Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt, inspired by the famous church of San Fedele in Milan (1569 and often used by Hildebrandt in his own church projects built under the patronage of high Austrian nobility, such as the parish church in Seelowitz in Moravia (1722–27 with an integrated facade belfry, or the parish churches in Aspersdorf (1730, Stranzendorf (1733 and Großstelzendorf (1735–37. This architectural type was adopted and further developed by Hildebrandt's contemporaries, especially his immediate follower Franz Anton Pilgram, a Viennese architect whose design for the parish church in Münchendorf (1740 shows great similarity with the Valpovo church, both in its proportions and in the treatment of details. All this is hardly surprising if one keeps in mind the Viennese origin and the courtly status of the commissioner and donor of the parish church in Valpovo. It took more than two decades for the spatial features of this church to

  2. REMARKS ON THE CHURCH IN THE CONSUMER SOCIETY ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    1.1 Product and services are inseparable. In business the concept of the customer is of paramount importance. The customer is so powerful that .... the early history of the church, it has always been evident that the church makes a difference in ...

  3. the racial discourse and the dutch reformed church

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) distanced itself from racism in the middle eighties, and in ... “card” is part of the current debate, and the church is part of the discussion ...... Race an inequality in Brazil, South Africa and the United. States.

  4. Use of GIS to identify optimal settings for cancer prevention and control in African American communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alcaraz, Kassandra I.; Kreuter, Matthew W.; Bryan, Rebecca P.

    2009-01-01

    Objective Rarely have Geographic Information Systems (GIS) been used to inform community-based outreach and intervention planning. This study sought to identify community settings most likely to reach individuals from geographically localized areas. Method An observational study conducted in an urban city in Missouri during 2003–2007 placed computerized breast cancer education kiosks in seven types of community settings: beauty salons, churches, health fairs, neighborhood health centers, Laundromats, public libraries and social service agencies. We used GIS to measure distance between kiosk users’ (n=7,297) home ZIP codes and the location where they used the kiosk. Mean distances were compared across settings. Results Mean distance between individuals’ home ZIP codes and the location where they used the kiosk varied significantly (pLaundromats (2.3 miles) and public libraries (2.8 miles) and greatest among kiosk users at health fairs (7.6 miles). Conclusion Some community settings are more likely than others to reach highly localized populations. A better understanding of how and where to reach specific populations can complement the progress already being made in identifying populations at increased disease risk. PMID:19422844

  5. A pastoral examination of the Christian Church's response to fears of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2014-02-24

    Feb 24, 2014 ... churches), the second is the African Independent Churches and the third is ..... Spiritual warfare is a lifestyle, not just an occasional event of .... and are mutually exclusive', The church leader in Africa: A training publication of.

  6. Calvin’s view on church discipline and unity: a South African perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P.J. Strauss

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available The reformer John Calvin, born in 1509, considers discipline and unity as two essential aspects of the Christian church. According to him, the bond of church discipline is a way to unite church members in the truth of the Word and the Christian faith based thereupon. If discipline is exercised with exaggerated strictness and without compassion, tolerance and love, it can break the unity. Because church unity is essentially a unity of faith, or a unity in the truth of the Word, discipline can sever adulterated elements that threaten the unity from the church. Discipline, if correctly ap- plied, builds the unity of the church as a unity in religious truths.

  7. Medieval Round Churches and the Shape of the Earth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haagensen, Erling; Lind, Niels C

    2015-12-01

    There is a unique cluster of four medieval round churches, linked by a simple geometry, on Bornholm Island in the Baltic Sea. Why so many and why so close together? Immediate simple answers are "Just by chance" and "For no reason." Why are the churches round? "Defense." This essay proposes another hypothesis for this unique situation: the churches are astronomical observatories, meant to solve a scientific problem (Is the Earth really spherical?) and a practical problem (How far is it to sail west to the Orient?). The capacity and desire to find answers, together with other practical needs related to astronomy, can better explain these round churches' special architecture. The geometry that connects them fits the ideal pattern with an angular accuracy of 1 minute of a degree. The round churches may be the earliest astronomical observatories in Christian Europe; other hypotheses have been shown to be untenable. Their location provides for a good method to estimate the Earth's extent in the east-west direction, seemingly the earliest such measurements.

  8. The Christian Churches, the State, and Genocide in Rwanda

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Court, Anthony

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The churches in Rwanda have exercised considerable political influence during both the colonial and post-colonial periods. Although formally autonomous institutions subordinate to the state, in actuality they have cultivated political influence through their religious teachings and secular role as the loci of material and social resources. However, there is at least one key factor, which has contributed to their fluctuating political influence within Rwanda. During the colonial period, the dominant Catholic Church functioned within a colonial regime of indirect rule, predicated on sustaining the political authority of a Tutsi-dominated Central Court presiding over the territories roughly contiguous with the present-day republic. This threefold division of power and authority acted as a brake upon the hegemonic ambitions of the Church, the royal house and the colonial administrators. Following the abolition of the monarchy in 1961, the structure of political power and authority of the state was fundamentally transformed, clearing the way for the emergence of a state church whose political role in the two Hutu dominated post-colonial republics would have significant historical implications. In this essay, I argue that it was this structural transformation of the Rwandan polity - marking the shift from a trilateral to a dual relationship between state and Church -, which contributes to our understanding of how the Church became embroiled in the mass violence and genocide in the twentieth century Rwandan polity.

  9. Durham Neighborhood Compass Neighborhoods

    Data.gov (United States)

    City and County of Durham, North Carolina — The Durham Neighborhood Compass is a quantitative indicators project with qualitative values, integrating data from local government, the Census Bureau and other...

  10. Perceptions as the crucial link? The mediating role of neighborhood perceptions in the relationship between the neighborhood context and neighborhood cohesion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lamé ris, J.G.; Hipp, J.R.; Tolsma, J.

    2018-01-01

    This study examines the effects of neighborhood racial in-group size, economic deprivation and the prevalence of crime on neighborhood cohesion among U.S. whites. We explore to what extent residents' perceptions of their neighborhood mediate these macro-micro relationships. We use a recent

  11. Against all odds: Alphaeus Zulu and racism in church and society

    OpenAIRE

    Simangaliso Kumalo, R; Mbaya, Henry

    2015-01-01

    This article examines the response of Bishop Alphaeus Hamilton Zulu to the racism that was prevalent in both the church and society when he was elected as the first African Bishop of the Anglican Church in South Africa. Clergy, especially bishops, are by virtue of their ecclesial positions expected to transcend racial prejudices, to embrace all members of their churches and to transform their churches to multi-racial ones. This means that they have to deal with racial stereotypes both within ...

  12. INCREASING ECONOMIC WELFARE OF CHURCH CONGREGATION : A CONCEPT OF EMPOWERMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    TONGAM SIHOL NABABAN

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available In our community, many structural problems unresolved well, especially in social and economic life. Seeing this reality, the Church needs to have a sensitivity and a strong commitment to encourage cooperation of some parties to empower people, especially its congregation. Congregation of the Church, especially the poor need to be raised and empowered to pursue their own welfare through economic business. One manifestation of the Church's task is to empower the community-based and to revitalize its role more focused on optimizing the institution of community economy. For that, it is important to use the Model of Empowerment of Congregation-Based Community Economic in form of business partnership. The success of congregation economic empowerment lies in the motivation and orientation of the actors themselves, where the Church is expected to seriously fight. Keywords: Church, Congregation, Community-Based Economic, Business Partnership,  Empowerment.

  13. Solar and Calendrical Symbolism in the Early Medieval Finnish Church Murals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ridderstad, Marianna

    2015-05-01

    The earliest church murals of the first stone churches in Finland were painted at the time when Christianity had only just become the official faith in the region and the old ethnic religion was still widely practiced. The 'pagan' motifs of these Early Medieval Finnish church murals reflect the complexity of the religious beliefs in this transition phase. The church actively transformed the festivals of the vernacular religion by giving Christian meanings to the symbols and rituals, as well as by replacing the ethnic deities with Christian figures. The solar symbolism and the calendrical motifs of the church murals are interpreted as imagery largely based on the Christianized remnants of the pre-Christian annual festivals. The earliest church murals thus provide important insight into the pre-Christian religious beliefs of late Iron Age Finland. Many of the motifs and symbols represented in the murals are related to the annual fertility cult and the solar goddess as one of its central figures.

  14. Black churches and HIV/AIDS: factors influencing congregations’ responsiveness to social issues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fulton, Brad R

    2011-01-01

    The ambivalent response of many black churches to current social issues has caused some scholars to question the centrality of black churches within African-American communities. Using a nationally representative sample of black congregations, this study engages the debate about the institutional centrality of black churches by focusing on their response to HIV/AIDS. Although many congregational studies treat black churches as a monolithic whole, this analysis identifies heterogeneity among black churches that shapes their responsiveness to social issues. Contrary to prior claims, a congregation's liberal-conservative ideological orientation does not significantly affect its likelihood of having an HIV/AIDS program. Beyond assessing churches’ internal characteristics, this study uses institutional theory to analyze churches as open systems that can be influenced by their surrounding environment. It demonstrates that externally engaged congregations are significantly more likely to have a program. These results indicate that black churches maintain institutional centrality by engaging their external environment.

  15. SOME CHURCH MANAGEMENT IN THE PRINCIPALITY SOUTHEAST RUSSIA IN XI-XII CENTURIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Наталья Вячеславовна Логачёва

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper shows that the joint cooperation of church and state in the principalities of South-Eastern XI-XII centuries. Emphasizes that the problem is not only scientific but also of practical interest for the modern Russian society. This experience is for national history an invaluable contribution to the field, both secular and ecclesiastical administration in feudal principalities and Old Russian state as a whole. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the process of establishing the relationship between church and state, which were formed, changed and improved over the centuries. In particular, the article says that the medieval relations between church and state were more active and expressed that the church served a number of public functions and is thus, a special part of government agencies and their authorities. At the same time, the author notes that the church was in this historical financial content of the state apparatus. In view of this church-state relations in ancient Russia, primarily in the South-East of Russia, wore a special character - the church was interested in the state, and the state - in the church.

  16. Christian Church: A Catalyst for Economic Development in Nigeria

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Toshiba

    The issue of economic development is of national concern. The. Nigerian economy ..... The Christian church has provided both moral and economic impetus ... posits that the church needs to concentrate on the business of creating economic ...

  17. China’s Neighborhood Environment and Options for Neighborhood Strategy

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    ZHOU FANGYIN

    2016-01-01

    Since the 18th CPC National Congress,especially since the Central Conference on Work Relating to Neighborhood Diplomacy held in October 2013,China’s neighborhood diplomacy has been energetic,proactive and promising,achieving important results in several aspects.At the same time,it is also in face of challenges

  18. Neighborhood Quality and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Quasi-Random Neighborhood Assignment of Immigrants

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Damm, Anna Piil

    2012-01-01

    of men living in the neighborhood, but positively affected by the employment rate of non-Western immigrant men and co-national men living in the neighborhood. This is strong evidence that immigrants find jobs in part through their employed immigrant and co-ethnic contacts in the neighborhood of residence...... successfully addresses the methodological problem of endogenous neighborhood selection. Taking account of location sorting, living in a socially deprived neighborhood does not affect labor market outcomes of refugee men. Furthermore, their labor market outcomes are not affected by the overall employment rate...

  19. Unshackling the Church

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vuyani Vellem

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available In whose ‘order’, ‘newness’ and ‘foundation’ is ecclesiology based in South Africa? The colonial legacy of pigmentocracy, the cultural domination and annihilation of the indigenous dispensation of black Africans, is not devoid of institutional structures of faith and their historical performance in South Africa. The church is one institution in South Africa that played a crucial role in perpetrating perversities of racial, economic and cultural exclusion with a fetish of its institutional character that is still pervasive and dangerously residual in post-1994 South Africa. By presenting a brief outline of the basics on ecclesiology, the article argues that things remain the same the more things seem to change if the methodological approach to ecclesiology circumvents the edifice and foundations on which the history of ecclesiology in South Africa is built. To unshackle the church, a Black Theology of liberation must begin from and debunk the foundations of models of ecclesiology that are conceived on perverse theological and ideologised forms of faith that have become residually hazardous in South Africa post-1994.

  20. Pentecostal mission spirituality: a study of the classical Pentecostal Churches in Ghana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    White, Peter

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Mission is not just about proclaiming the gospel - it encompasses spiritual preparation of those involved in both mission activity and in converted souls. This approach is what is termed as mission spirituality in this article. Mission spirituality is the means by which churches and individual believers participate in the mission of God, through the way they live in and by the Holy Spirit, in order to know the will of God regarding what He is doing in their context and to follow His example. In view of the importance of mission spirituality in missionary activities of the church, this article explores the mission spirituality of the classical Pentecostal churches in Ghana (The church of Pentecost, Christ Apostolic Church International, The Apostolic Church Ghana and the Assemblies of God.

  1. Elaborating on ubuntu in a Johannesburg inner-city church

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elina Hankela

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The article was originally delivered as the speech of the winner of the 2014 Donner Institute Prize for Outstanding Research into Religion, and deals with some core findings of the research that won the prize, namely, the doctoral thesis Challenging Ubuntu: Open Doors and Exclusionary Boundaries at the Central Methodist Mission in Johannesburg. The author approaches the meanings of ubuntu (Nguni: humanity/humanness in the context of a Methodist church that sheltered thousands of African migrants in its premises in the inner city of Johannesburg. Using ethnographic research methods, she analyses both the inclusionary message of humanity preached at the church and the exclusionary boundaries between the people who lived in the church and the local congregation that worshipped there. Based on the social dynamics of the church community, the author suggests the rules of reciprocity and survival as some of the socio-moral patterns that set the boundaries to the actualisation of the moral ideal of ubuntu in this context. Overall, the case of this particular church speaks to a broader discussion of the meaning of and limits to being human in one world.

  2. HEALS Hypertension Control Program: Training Church Members as Program Leaders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dodani, Sunita; Beayler, Irmatine; Lewis, Jennifer; Sowders, Lindsey A

    2014-01-01

    Health disparities related to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) including stroke have remained higher in the African-Americans (AAs) than in other populations. HEALS is a faith-based hypertension (HTN) control program modified according to AA community needs, and delivered by the church-lay members called church health advisors (CHAs). This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of training CHAs as HEALS program leaders. Four CHAs completed a 10-hour HEALS program training workshop at the Church, conducted by the nutrition experts. Workshop was evaluated by CHAs on their level of satisfaction, clarity of contents covered and comfort in delivery the program to the church congregation. The overall six main HEALS curriculum components were completed. Workshop was highly evaluated by CHAs on length of training, balance between content and skills development, and level of satisfaction with program delivery. Church-based culturally modified health promotion interventions conducted by the community lay members may be a way to reduce health disparities in ethnic minorities.

  3. Portuguese Cistercian Churches - An acoustic legacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodrigues, Fabiel G.; Lanzinha, João C. G.; Martins, Ana M. T.

    2017-10-01

    The Cistercian Order (11th century) stands out as an apologist of the simplicity and austerity of the space. According to the Order of Cîteaux, only with an austere space, without any distractions, the true spiritual contemplation is achieved. This Order was an aggregator and consolidator pole during the Christian Reconquest. Thus, as it happens with other Religious Orders, Cîteaux has a vast heritage legacy. This heritage is witness, not only of the historical, but also social, political, and spiritual evolution. This legacy resumes the key principles to an austere liturgy, which requirements, in the beginning, are based on the simplicity of worship and of the connection between man and God. Later, these requirements allowed the development of the liturgy itself and its relation with the believers. Consequently, it can be concisely established an empirical approach between the Cistercian churches and the acoustics conditioning of these spaces. This outcome is fundamental in order to understand the connection between liturgy and the conception of the Cistercian churches as well as the constructed space and its history. So, an analysis of these principles is essential to establish the relation between acoustic and religious buildings design throughout history. It is also a mean of understanding the knowledge of acoustics principles that the Cistercian Order bequeathed to Portugal. This paper presents an empirical approach on Cistercian monastic churches acoustics. These spaces are the place where the greatest acoustic efforts are concentrated and it is also the space where the liturgy reaches greater importance. On the other hand, Portugal is a country which has an important Cistercian legacy over several periods of history. Consequently, the Portuguese Cistercian monastic churches are representative of the development of the liturgy, the design of spaces and of the acoustic requirements of their churches since the 12th century until the 21st century and it is of

  4. Getting young adults back to church: A marketing approach

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2013-04-04

    Apr 4, 2013 ... In a business context, marketing is used to recruit new customers. Similarly, the .... church can be used as a basis for young adults to experience the church .... the spatial relationships (distances) between the items, whereas ...

  5. Geological and geotechnical properties of the medieval rock hewn churches of Lalibela, Northern Ethiopia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asrat, Asfawossen; Ayallew, Yodit

    2011-01-01

    Lalibela is a medieval settlement in Northern Ethiopia famous for its 11 beautifully carved rock hewn churches, registered as World Heritage Site in 1978. The rock hewn churches are grouped into three based on their proximity: the Bete Medhane Alem (Church of the Holy Saviour), Bete Gabriel-Rufael (Church of St. Gabriel-Rafael) and Bete Giorgis (Church of St. George) groups. The churches are carved out of a single, massive scoriaceous basalt hill which was deposited along an East-West extending palaeovalley in the Oligo-Miocene Trap basalt of the northwestern Ethiopian plateau. The Rock Mass Rating (RMR) classification scheme was used to classify the rock mass (assuming each church as a separate rock mass) based on their uniaxial compressive strength and the spacing and conditions of discontinuities. Though most of the churches are hewn from medium to high strength rock mass, discontinuities make them vulnerable to other deteriorating agents mainly weathering, and water infiltration. Most of the rock hewn churches are affected by pre-carving cooling joints and bedding plane discontinuities, and by mostly but not necessarily post-carving tectonic and seismic induced cracks and fractures. Material loss due to deep weathering triggered by rain water infiltration and uncontrolled groundwater seepage affects most of the churches, particularly the Bete Merqorios (Church of St. Mark) and Bete Aba Libanos (Church of Father Libanos) churches. The scoriaceous basalt which is porous and permeable allows easy passage of water while the underlying basalt is impermeable, increasing the residence time of water in the porous material, causing deep weathering and subsequent loss of material in some of the churches and adjoining courtyards.

  6. Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation, perceived neighborhood factors, and cortisol responses to induced stress among healthy adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrington, Wendy E; Stafford, Mai; Hamer, Mark; Beresford, Shirley A A; Koepsell, Thomas; Steptoe, Andrew

    2014-05-01

    Associations between measures of neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and health have been identified, yet work is needed to uncover explanatory mechanisms. One hypothesized pathway is through stress, yet the few studies that have evaluated associations between characteristics of deprived neighborhoods and biomarkers of stress are mixed. This study evaluated whether objectively measured neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and individual perceived neighborhood characteristics (i.e. social control and fear of crime) impacted cortisol responses to an induced stressor among older healthy adults. Data from Heart Scan, a sub-study of the Whitehall II cohort, were used to generate multilevel piecewise growth-curve models of cortisol trajectories after a laboratory stressor accounting for neighborhood and demographic characteristics. Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation was significantly associated with individual perceptions of social control and fear of crime in the neighborhood while an association with blunted cortisol reactivity was only evidence among women. Social control was significantly associated with greater cortisol reactivity and mediation between neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and cortisol reactivity was suggested among women. These findings support a gender-dependent role of neighborhood in stress process models of health. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  7. Hiding behind the Cloth: Child Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dale, Kathryn A.; Alpert, Judith L.

    2007-01-01

    The existence of child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church has shocked many. In this article, the authors review the history of child sexual abuse in the church, the recent events that brought this tragedy into societal consciousness, and the efforts by the church to conceal the abuse. Two sources of empirical literature, the general…

  8. Statements of the church on the peaceful use of nuclear energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feldhaus, S.

    1990-01-01

    Also the churches participated in the extensive discussion of energy politics effected in the FRG in the middle of the 70ies by the increased use of nuclear energy. There are a whole host of statements of the church, from general questions of energy supply to concrete yes/no statements on the further peaceful use of nuclear energy. Within the framework of a comparative analysis it has been tried to bring out of records the chronological order of statements on this subject made by both churches as well as by the ecumenical movement, the differences and common ground with regard to the analysis categories, the way the church sees herself, theological interpretations, ethical criteria and thus the requirements concerning energy politics based on these. The result shows that there are considerable differences of opinion between the Catholic and the Protestant Church about nuclear energy whereas the ecumenical statements constitute a real compromise as in the end the opinion of none of the two churches could gain full acceptance. (orig.) [de

  9. Church Member Support Benefits Psychological Well-Being of Pregnant African American Women

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giurgescu, Carmen; Murn, Nicole L.

    2016-01-01

    Depression during pregnancy is common, and pregnant African American (AA) women are more likely to experience depressive symptoms compared with pregnant non-Hispanic white women. This study explored AA women’s experience of church attendance, church member support, depressive symptoms, and psychological well-being at 15–25 weeks’ gestation. Nurses need to be aware of the importance of church support and encourage clergy and church members to be supportive of pregnant women. PMID:27119803

  10. Northeast Church Rock Mine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Northeast Church Rock Mine, a former uranium mine 17 miles northeast of Gallup, NM in the Pinedale Chapter of the Navajo Nation. EPA is working with NNEPA to oversee cleanup work by United Nuclear Corporation, a company owned by General Electric (GE).

  11. Hierarchy of the Russian Church and Relations between the Horde and the Russian Church during the Tatar-Mongol Invasion of 1237–1240 according to Contemporary Estimates.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T.R. Galimov

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The author analyzes activities of the Russian church and its supreme hierarchs during the most active period of the Russian-Horde conflict (1237–1240. Materials: Old Russian chronicles and tales remain the main source of information on the activities of the church hierarchy during the military-political confrontation between Russian principalities and the Horde. As it has been shown by studies of recent years, complex of scenes depicting the struggle against the invaders is not so clear, as it was considered to be in the national historiography for many decades. This observation allows a new reading of the reports on church life in Rus’ during the most acute phase of Russian-Horde war. Results and novelty of the research: Events of 1237–1240 led to a fundamental change in the existing situation in Rus’. This concerned not only the power but also religious institutions. The results of this study suggest that behavior of church hierarchs became the main cause of changes in the socio-political and economic spheres of ancient Russian ecclesiastical organization. The church accepted the rule of the Horde over Rus’ and the Horde benefits and awards reinforced the higher clergy’s loyalty to the khans’ power. This circumstance required the church to declare its stance in respect to the new power. As a result, the need for accepting existing relations between the church and the Horde found its justification in the concept of “Plagues of God”. Such an ideological justification removed conquerors’ responsibility for the ills that befell Rus’ and justified contacts between the church and the Horde. Old Russian sources do not provide direct estimates of the prelates’ behavior. But reading of the chronicle reports leave the impression that contemporaries assessed the behavior of the church quite ambiguously and probably reprehensibly.

  12. Christianization of folk customs: An example of Ox'Church

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivanović-Barišić Milina

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the process of transformation of a pre-Christian custom in Zuce, a village near by Belgrade. The custom is called 'provlaka', held all until the WW II on August 29. This custom was established after the cattle pest in the village. Since WW II, however, this day is celebrated as the village St. patrons/slava day. After the village church has been built and blessed in 2002, the day became also celebrated as one of the church's slava days. Transformation of holidays assumes vanishing of some and appearance of some other segments of the given custom: 1. Until WW II the most important segment of the custom 'provlaka' was extracting wild fire and passage of people and cattle. This custom was maintained with an aim of preventive protection against epidemics. 2. A significant feature of annual celebration of calendar holidays included collective gatherings. On this day people visit relatives from other villages, attend lunch together, and gather at a particular village spot in the afternoon. 3. The beginning of the church building has allowed introduction of religious elements in celebration. In the morning, it is a time usually to attend a liturgy, while what follows represent some inherited customs like reception and eating together with relatives and friends. 4. After the village church has been built and blessed in 2002, the day became also celebrated as one of the church's slava days. This assumes presentation of the village cake maker and cake cutting in the church, accompanied by a local priest.

  13. Connecting Schools to Neighborhood Revitalization: The Case of the Maple Heights Neighborhood Association

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pesch, Lawrence P.

    2014-01-01

    This case study focuses on the way a neighborhood association connects schools to broad change in an urban neighborhood of a large Midwestern city. The first section provides a review of the literature on community involvement in school and neighborhood reform. It reviews the historical origins of the current school-community relationship, the…

  14. Insight into the Fulnek Church and Parish Medieval Building Chronology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Augustinková Lucie

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The church of the Holy Trinity and parish in Fulnek was for nearly four centuries an Augustinian canonry and collegiate church (1293-1389. The medieval church and parish building chronology, however, have not been thus far established. From research between 2015 and 2016 we have been able to identify medieval portions of the buildings, clarify the site medieval construction phases and date the parish buildings (formerly the canonry from dendrochronological analysis of embedded wooden scaffolding.

  15. Phthalate and non-phthalate plasticizers in indoor dust from childcare facilities, salons, and homes across the USA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Subedi, Bikram; Sullivan, Kenneth D; Dhungana, Birendra

    2017-11-01

    The quality of indoor environment has received considerable attention owing to the declining outdoor human activities and the associated public health issues. The prolonged exposure of children in childcare facilities or the occupational exposure of adults to indoor environmental triggers can be a culprit of the pathophysiology of several commonly observed idiopathic syndromes. In this study, concentrations of potentially toxic plasticizers (phthalates as well as non-phthalates) were investigated in 28 dust samples collected from three different indoor environments across the USA. The mean concentrations of non-phthalate plasticizers [acetyl tri-n-butyl citrate (ATBC), di-(2-ethylhexyl) adipate (DEHA), and di-isobutyl adipate (DIBA)] were found at 0.51-880 μg/g for the first time in indoor dust samples from childcare facilities, homes, and salons across the USA. The observed concentrations of these replacement non-phthalate plasticizer were as high as di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, the most frequently detected phthalate plasticizer at highest concentration worldwide, in most of indoor dust samples. The estimated daily intakes of total phthalates (n = 7) by children and toddlers through indoor dust in childcare facilities were 1.6 times higher than the non-phthalate plasticizers (n = 3), whereas estimated daily intake of total non-phthalates for all age groups at homes were 1.9 times higher than the phthalate plasticizers. This study reveals, for the first time, a more elevated (∼3 folds) occupational intake of phthalate and non-phthalate plasticizers through the indoor dust at salons (214 and 285 ng/kg-bw/day, respectively) than at homes in the USA. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Theologian in the service of the Church

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gheorghe Metallinos

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The word about God anticipates some knowledge of God, and the knowledge of God can never be a fruit of the rational, intellectual, metaphysical research, but only of the holy-spiritual experience. Consequently, a theologian of the Church is not the rational man, however great his achievements may be, but the spirtual man, who has the experience of the Saints, namely who has tasted and is living the states of purification, illumination and deification. Disconnected from the reality of the spiritual life, a theologian becomes a false prophet. On the other hand, the Church cannot be divided into two parts, one that ministers to the believers in the place of worship, and another one that speaks from the teacher’s desk, through the theologians’ voice, but is one and the same Church. Actually, there is no existence more tragic than the one of a theologian, on any education level, teaching things to which he is not connected on the inside, by the heart, and which he does not accept or believe. If such a thing means failure for any science, however, for the area of Theology it is directly suicidal. In fact, the lack of the Orthodox and ecclesial way of thinking and living makes the person theologizing in the area of the Orthodoxy dangerous, because as an officially recognized teacher of Orthodox Theology, he functions as a representative of the Church tradition, while he is nothing but a false prophet. And, while, probably, the science of philology is not endangered by an unlearned philologist or the science of law by an unjust legist, the science of theology is logically denied in the person of its servant who is an unbelieving or atheist theologian and creates very great obstacles in the way of the accomplishment of the redeeming mission of the Church in the world.

  17. Operational efficiency of the lighting system of bus salons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brytkovskyi V.M.

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available In recent years the problem of safety of people is studied primarily in aspects of natural and man-made disasters, fire, health and safety in the workplace. A problem connected with the way of life of the people, in particular with the use of bus transport remains almost out of sight. In addition to the foregoing, there is another side to the issue: modern development of industry and transport is characterized by large-scale introduction of technical measures aimed at saving energy In the specified aspect theoretical dependences for evaluation of technological economic efficiency of light sources in indoor lighting system buses are grounded. This theoretical dependency will make analytical framework justification applying the respective sources of light, taking into account the hygiene requirements to illumination. The methodology of calculation of economic efficiency of lighting of bus salons is offered. Estimating parameter is justified relative objective function value costs per unit of time or distance. The greatest costs are typical for lamps with incandescent bulbs. The least is common to lamps with fluorescent lamps. Led bulbs have no significant advantage even over incandescent lamps. The reason for this is the relatively high color temperature radiation of LED lamps that requires more light levels and, consequently, the high cost of energy, as well as relatively large initial cost of these lamps.

  18. « Puedes hablar italiano » : négocier la conversation plurilingue dans un salon commercial international

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vanessa Piccoli

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Cet article propose une étude conversationnelle de quelques séquences de négociation de la langue entre locuteurs de langues romanes dans deux salons commerciaux internationaux (en France et en Italie. Par le biais de l’analyse de données audiovisuelles authentiques, nous observons comment les locuteurs gèrent spontanément une situation de plurilinguisme, quelle est leur attitude face au recours à une conversation plurilingue et à travers quelles pratiques cette-ci est mise en place. La motivation des participants est également prise en compte comme élément pivot, qui pousse les locuteurs à se mettre en jeu dans une conversation plurilingue.

  19. Probabilistic Feasibility of the Reconstruction Process of Russian-Orthodox Churches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chizhova, M.; Brunn, A.; Stilla, U.

    2016-06-01

    The cultural human heritage is important for the identity of following generations and has to be preserved in a suitable manner. In the course of time a lot of information about former cultural constructions has been lost because some objects were strongly damaged by natural erosion or on account of human work or were even destroyed. It is important to capture still available building parts of former buildings, mostly ruins. This data could be the basis for a virtual reconstruction. Laserscanning offers in principle the possibility to take up extensively surfaces of buildings in its actual status. In this paper we assume a priori given 3d-laserscanner data, 3d point cloud for the partly destroyed church. There are many well known algorithms, that describe different methods of extraction and detection of geometric primitives, which are recognized separately in 3d points clouds. In our work we put them in a common probabilistic framework, which guides the complete reconstruction process of complex buildings, in our case russian-orthodox churches. Churches are modeled with their functional volumetric components, enriched with a priori known probabilities, which are deduced from a database of russian-orthodox churches. Each set of components represents a complete church. The power of the new method is shown for a simulated dataset of 100 russian-orthodox churches.

  20. A Model Program for Churches and Ex-Offender Reintegration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Connor, Thomas; Ryan, Patricia; Parikh, Crystal

    1998-01-01

    Prison Fellowship Ministries' church and community based Transition of Prisoners (TOP) program in Detroit is examined. TOP mobilizes, trains, and equips primarily African-American churches and volunteers to assist ex-offenders to successfully reintegrate into their community. Preliminary outcome data suggest that participation in TOP reduces need…

  1. Iceland as a western country. How to classify medieval church law in the vernacular

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lára Magnúsardóttir

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Iceland’s subjection to the king of Norway in 1262-64 was followed by a legislation in which a law book for Church and spiritual matters was composed in the vernacular for each country. Such law was implemented in Iceland in 1275 along with a separate secular law book in 1281. Both books remained in force until the middle of the 16th century. A church law that was separate, both from the secular law and that of Roman Church appears to set Iceland apart from other Western European countries where spiritual matters were governed according to the Latin law of the Roman Church. This has been viewed as an indication of constant rivalry between the religious and secular authorities, usually presenting the Church as an overreaching and even oppressive institution against which laity struggled. But a comparison of Icelandic Church law with the Latin Canon law shows that the Church in Iceland submitted entirely to the authority of the Roman Church and thus shows that the Icelandic Church law was, despite its obscure language, a specific representation of the law of the Roman Church. A Norwegian concordat from 1277 shows the king’s recognition of separate spiritual and temporal jurisdictions. This cooperation is readily apparent in later court cases.

  2. Measuring physical neighborhood quality related to health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rollings, Kimberly A; Wells, Nancy M; Evans, Gary W

    2015-04-29

    Although sociodemographic factors are one aspect of understanding the effects of neighborhood environments on health, equating neighborhood quality with socioeconomic status ignores the important role of physical neighborhood attributes. Prior work on neighborhood environments and health has relied primarily on level of socioeconomic disadvantage as the indicator of neighborhood quality without attention to physical neighborhood quality. A small but increasing number of studies have assessed neighborhood physical characteristics. Findings generally indicate that there is an association between living in deprived neighborhoods and poor health outcomes, but rigorous evidence linking specific physical neighborhood attributes to particular health outcomes is lacking. This paper discusses the methodological challenges and limitations of measuring physical neighborhood environments relevant to health and concludes with proposed directions for future work.

  3. Alexios I Komnenos and his Church Policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iakovos MENELAOU

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Alexios I Komnenos has been characterized as a gifted military leader. Nevertheless, apart from his military career and after he took the throne, Alexios proceeded to certain measures in order to revive an empire in condition of decline. Alexios established himself as a defender of Orthodoxy, since he helped monasticism, fought heresies and supported the building or renewal of foundations, such as monasteries and churches. In this paper, I deal with Alexios’ church policy and how he defended Orthodoxy.

  4. The Potential Role of Business Intelligence in Church Organizations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Felder, Charmaine

    2012-01-01

    Business intelligence (BI) involves transforming data into actionable information to make better business decisions that may help improve operations. Although businesses have experienced success with BI, how leaders of church organizations might be able to exploit the advantages of BI in church organizations remains largely unexplored. The purpose…

  5. Missional church and local constraints: A Dutch perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rein Brouwer

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available The missional church concept promises to guide local churches in the direction of a new identity and mission. It is a response to a sense of ecclesiological and congregational urgency that is felt all over the world. In Africa, North America and Europe, churches and local faith communities have been challenged by the changes in the religious state of affairs since the 1960s. Whether we still call it �secularisation� or rephrase it as �differentiated transformation�, the face of religion is changing globally. In many parts of the world, this raises a feeling of crisis that gives way to the redef nition of the mission and purpose of the church. �Missional church�, however, is a precarious concept. Nobody disagrees with the intention but can it be more than an inspiring vision? In order to realise this vision, a multi-layered and multi-dimensional analysis of �culture� is essential. We should move the analysis beyond the philosophical interpretation of relatively abstract and evasive macro-level processes, such as �modernity� and �post-modernity�. The future of the missional church depends on a differentiated and empirical, informed perspective on culture. For this purpose, this article proposes the concept of ecology: A system of diverse populations, including populations of congregations and faith communities, that interacts with these populations and with their specific environments. Preparing a missional congregation for the future should be accompanied with a thorough empirical investigation into the ecology of the congregation. We should be thinking intensively about and looking for vital ecologies.

  6. Healthcare and Catholic identity in the universal Church.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danneels, C D

    1987-10-01

    Two topics that are closely related to the daily work and the primordial concern of Catholic healthcare givers are the meaning and sense of Catholic healthcare institutions, and the relationship between a particular Church and the universal Church, especially since the Second Vatican Council. Some question whether it is worthwhile to maintain independent Catholic institutions, rather than working with others in nondenominational healthcare institutions. Christian institutions are indispensable as a defense against the well-organized forces of evil in the world, and because togetherness is needed in the struggle for good and for faith. Without this togetherness, the danger exists that the power of faith will be taken over by the power of money and financial interest groups. The elements of the Catholic identity of institutions and organizations are a service to the world, the Gospel message, a balance between technology and humanism, a permanent solicitude for the whole person, and a respect for human liberty. This Catholic identity must be fostered in our institutions, especially among the laypeople working there. The relationship between the universal Church and local Churches has come under stress since the Second Vatican Council, and a balance must be found. The problem has two aspects: the theological, and the cultural and psychological. A sound communion theology must be established to provide a good perspective on the relationship. In addition, a dialogue must be established between Rome and the particular Churches to prevent the universal message of Christ in his Gospel from conflicting more and more with local styling of the message.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

  7. Employing the Church as a Marketer of Cancer Prevention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lumpkins, Crystal Y.; Coffey, Candice R.; Daley, Christine M.; Greiner, K. Allen

    2013-01-01

    Health promotion programs designed to address colorectal cancer disparities among African Americans are increasing. Unfortunately, this group still shoulders a disproportionate mortality burden in the United States; these numbers are also reflective of colorectal cancer (CRC) disparities in the Midwest. The purpose of this study was to extrapolate results from in-depth interviews and brief surveys on the effectiveness of the church as a social marketer of CRC-prevention messages. Results show that pastors believe the congregation has limited knowledge about CRC risk and prevention; they also believe the church can improve cancer-prevention communication among members and those affiliated with the church. PMID:23718957

  8. Spolia from the Church of St. Nicholas in Nikoljac

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pejić Svetlana

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Two, so far unknown, spolia with carved interlace ornaments, built into the wall of the Church of St. Nicholas in Nikoljac are analyzed. These spolia are a part of the collection of fragments discovered earlier in the Church of St. Peter in Bijelo Polje. A comparative analysis was performed on a multitude of pre-Romanic material, in order to determine the time when they were made and whether they originated from any specific circle of stonemasons, and also to identify the initial position of the fragments in the liturgical church furniture for which they had been carved. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177036

  9. Instituting dispute resolution procedures in the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe church

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norman Chivasa

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The need to institute dispute resolution procedures in the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM in Zimbabwe church informs this study. Remarkably, one of the most critical problems facing the AFM in Zimbabwe church is intrachurch disputes, which manifest in diverse forms such as pastors’ transfers disputes, election disputes and pastors’ performance disputes. Such disputes have produced undesirable consequences not only for pastors but also for the wellbeing of the church in general. Intrachurch disputes require internal mechanisms to manage them so that constructive rather than destructive results are achieved. To do this, internal dispute resolution procedures become critical as they provide a framework for the constructive resolution of disputes. The lived experience of disputes in the AFM in Zimbabwe church confirms the appropriateness of systems theory, which states that social institutions are vulnerable to disharmony owing to differing interacting elements. To mitigate the negative impact associated with disputes, this study proposes the need to institute dispute resolution procedures in the AFM in Zimbabwe, because the church currently relies only on disciplinary procedures to address disputes. The study further emphasises that instituting dispute resolution procedures will help the church handle disputes from within its ranks without necessarily involving local courts, which may have negative financial and relationship implications. Finally, the study develops a model for dispute resolution procedures as an instrument that can assist local churches in AFM in Zimbabwe church to handle disputes as and when they arise.

  10. Acoustic simulations of Mudejar-Gothic churches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galindo, Miguel; Zamarreño, Teófilo; Girón, Sara

    2009-09-01

    In this paper, an iterative process is used in order to estimate the values of absorption coefficients of those materials of which little is known in the literature, so that an acoustic simulation can be carried out in Mudejar-Gothic churches. The estimation of the scattering coefficients, which is even less developed, is based on the size of the irregularities. This methodology implemented is applied to six Mudejar-Gothic churches of Seville (southern Spain). The simulated monophonic acoustic parameters, both in the frequency domain and as a function of source-receiver distance (spatial distribution), are analyzed and compared with the in situ measures. Good agreement has been found between these sets of values, whereby each parameter is discussed in terms of the just noticeable difference. This procedure for existing buildings, especially for those which are rich in heritage, enables a reliable evaluation of the effect on the maintenance, restoration, and conditioning for new uses, as well as the recreation of the acoustic environment of ancient times. Along these lines, the acoustic influence of the timber roof and the presence of the public in these churches have also been studied.

  11. Oral Sources and Missionary Historiography in Igbo Church History ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The paper takes a look at the problems of oral sources and missionary historiography in Igbo church history, 1940-2012. Findings show that the problems of missionary and African Christian oral informants and historiographers had significant effect on Igbo church history. Primary and secondary means in the collection of ...

  12. Scientific evaluation of wall paintings from Bunesti Evangelical Church, Brasov county

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baciu, Annamaria; MǎruÅ£oiu, Constantin; Bibire, Cristina; Vornicu, Nicoleta; Dreve, Simina

    2013-11-01

    Evangelical Church in the village Bunesti, Brasov county, is part of the fortified churches built since the XIV century at the south-eastern territory of Transylvania. Developed by addition in several stages during centuries, the church begun as Catholic chapel, then that was amplified in the sixteenth century, when Reform was adopted by the Saxon communities. In that period the building was extended in length and height and the catholic specific iconographic decorations were cancelled by covering with different layers of plaster and paint. The campaign of introducing in touristic circuit of old Saxon fortified churches generated, in terms of maintenance and renovations undertaken, the discovery of significant wall paintings, as treasures to be rescued and put into value. Our present efforts are focused on scientific evaluation of mural paintings found in Evangelical Church from Bunesti, by XRF and specific analysis performed on 10 different samples of mural paintings, completing visual and artistic analysis in order to establish the strategies for their recovering and preservation.

  13. Neighborhood spaces

    OpenAIRE

    D. C. Kent; Won Keun Min

    2002-01-01

    Neighborhood spaces, pretopological spaces, and closure spaces are topological space generalizations which can be characterized by means of their associated interior (or closure) operators. The category NBD of neighborhood spaces and continuous maps contains PRTOP as a bicoreflective subcategory and CLS as a bireflective subcategory, whereas TOP is bireflectively embedded in PRTOP and bicoreflectively embedded in CLS. Initial and final structures are described in these categories, and it is s...

  14. Responses to migration: Tensions and ambiguities of churches in Pretoria Central and Mamelodi East

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wayne Renkin

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This article is a result of research being conducted to explore how churches in two regions of the City of Tshwane – Pretoria Central and Mamelodi East – respond to urban change and vulnerability. Both regions are deeply affected by urban migration patterns. Firstly, I will explore various forms of migration – transnational, rural-urban, urban–suburban and generational – and the causes of migration – social-economic and political – as experienced and described by the churches themselves. Secondly, I will seek to reflect on some of the tensions or ambiguities of how churches respond to migration, how the identity, self-understanding or locatedness of churches inform their responses to migration, and/or how churches and their identity are shaped by migration – commuter or local church, home or temporary church.

  15. The Irish Church Disestablishment Act (1869) and the General Synod of the Church of Ireland (1871): The Art and Structure of Educational Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCormack, Christopher F.

    2018-01-01

    Historians have observed that the period 1860-1890 was educationally progressive. This paper identifies the renaissance with the creation of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland in the aftermath of Church Disestablishment. Disestablishment legislation facilitated the inclusion of the laity in Synod. The paper argues that the lay-clerical…

  16. The Brand's PREACH Model: Predicting Readiness to Engage African American Churches in Health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brand, Dorine J; Alston, Reginald J

    2017-09-01

    Despite many attempts to reduce health disparities, health professionals face obstacles in improving poor health outcomes within the African American (AA) community. To promote change for improved health measures, it is important to implement culturally tailored programming through a trusted institution, such as the AA church. While churches have the potential to play an important role in positively impacting health among AAs, it is unclear what attributes are necessary to predict success or failure for health promotion within these institutions. The purpose of this study was to create a model, the Brand's PREACH ( Predicting Readiness to Engage African American Churches in Health) Model, to predict the readiness of AA churches to engage in health promotion programming. Thirty-six semistructured key informant interviews were conducted with 12 pastors, 12 health leaders, and 12 congregants to gain information on the relationship between church infrastructure (physical structure, personnel, funding, and social/cultural support), readiness, and health promotion programming. The findings revealed that church infrastructure has an association with and will predict the readiness of a church to engage in health promotion programming. The ability to identify readiness early on will be useful for developing, implementing, and evaluating faith-based interventions, in partnership with churches, which is a key factor for sustainable and effective programs.

  17. The political economy of churches in Denmark, 1300-2015

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Paldam, Martin; Paldam, Ella

    2017-01-01

    The paper reports new time-series for the numbers and sizes of churches in Denmark over a 715-year period. Per capita, the new series are termed church densities. A pattern emerges in the series that corresponds to the main development in the economy: Until 1750, the economy was in the traditional...

  18. The Pauluskerk: an unorthodox church in Rotterdam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frank van der Hoeven

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The tale of the rebuilding of the Pauluskerk (St. Paul’s Church in the Dutch city of Rotterdam is a multilayered story that blurs the lines between architecture, societal issues, policymaking and urban redevelopment.The original Pauluskerk was built in the late 1950s in a city centre that was still recovering from the damage it suffered during the Second World War. The church may never have received the attention it has were it not for Reverend Visser, who developed the church into a refuge for the outcasts of Dutch society: asylum seekers, homeless people and drug addicts. Visser’s activism eventually evolved into the Perron Nul (Platform Zero initiative, through which he organized support for the addicted and indigent on a scale not seen before in the city.The close proximity of the Pauluskerk to Rotterdam Central Station and the controversy surrounding its mission brought it slowly but steadily onto a collision course with the renewal and redevelopment of the station area, which would eventually lead to the demolition of the original Pauluskerk in 2007 and the construction of a new church building as part of the CalypSO project, designed by British architect William Alsop.This article brings these story lines together to showcase the complex process involved in an inner-city urban development founded in the well-established practice of local democracy, where consensus-seeking is the norm, even when this crosses societal borders.

  19. Indicators of Commitment to the Church: A Longitudinal Study of Church-Affiliated Youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dudley, Roger L.

    1993-01-01

    Examined late adolescents who drop out of church and others who remain committed to it. Survey of Seventh-day Adventist youth found commitment related to cognitive, experiential, and activity dimensions of religion. Ethical considerations, perception of one's importance to local congregation, and peer influence also played part in stepwise…

  20. Acoustic analysis in Mudejar-Gothic churches: experimental results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galindo, Miguel; Zamarreño, Teófilo; Girón, Sara

    2005-05-01

    This paper describes the preliminary results of research work in acoustics, conducted in a set of 12 Mudejar-Gothic churches in the city of Seville in the south of Spain. Despite common architectural style, the churches feature individual characteristics and have volumes ranging from 3947 to 10 708 m3. Acoustic parameters were measured in unoccupied churches according to the ISO-3382 standard. An extensive experimental study was carried out using impulse response analysis through a maximum length sequence measurement system in each church. It covered aspects such as reverberation (reverberation times, early decay times), distribution of sound levels (sound strength); early to late sound energy parameters derived from the impulse responses (center time, clarity for speech, clarity, definition, lateral energy fraction), and speech intelligibility (rapid speech transmission index), which all take both spectral and spatial distribution into account. Background noise was also measured to obtain the NR indices. The study describes the acoustic field inside each temple and establishes a discussion for each one of the acoustic descriptors mentioned by using the theoretical models available and the principles of architectural acoustics. Analysis of the quality of the spaces for music and speech is carried out according to the most widespread criteria for auditoria.

  1. Acoustic analysis in Mudejar-Gothic churches: Experimental results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galindo, Miguel; Zamarreño, Teófilo; Girón, Sara

    2005-05-01

    This paper describes the preliminary results of research work in acoustics, conducted in a set of 12 Mudejar-Gothic churches in the city of Seville in the south of Spain. Despite common architectural style, the churches feature individual characteristics and have volumes ranging from 3947 to 10 708 m3. Acoustic parameters were measured in unoccupied churches according to the ISO-3382 standard. An extensive experimental study was carried out using impulse response analysis through a maximum length sequence measurement system in each church. It covered aspects such as reverberation (reverberation times, early decay times), distribution of sound levels (sound strength); early to late sound energy parameters derived from the impulse responses (center time, clarity for speech, clarity, definition, lateral energy fraction), and speech intelligibility (rapid speech transmission index), which all take both spectral and spatial distribution into account. Background noise was also measured to obtain the NR indices. The study describes the acoustic field inside each temple and establishes a discussion for each one of the acoustic descriptors mentioned by using the theoretical models available and the principles of architectural acoustics. Analysis of the quality of the spaces for music and speech is carried out according to the most widespread criteria for auditoria. .

  2. How Neighborhood Disadvantage Reduces Birth Weight

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emily Moiduddin

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available In this analysis we connect structural neighborhood conditions to birth outcomes through their intermediate effects on mothers’ perceptions of neighborhood danger and their tendency to abuse substances during pregnancy. We hypothesize that neighborhood poverty and racial/ethnic concentration combine to produce environments that mothers perceive as unsafe, thereby increasing the likelihood of negative coping behaviors (substance abuse. We expect these behaviors, in turn, to produce lower birth weights. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a survey of a cohort of children born between 1998 and 2000 and their mothers in large cities in the United States, we find little evidence to suggest that neighborhood circumstances have strong, direct effects on birth weight. Living in a neighborhood with more foreigners had a positive effect on birth weight. To the extent that neighborhood conditions influence birth weight, the effect mainly occurs through an association with perceived neighborhood danger and subsequent negative coping behaviors. Poverty and racial/ethnic concentration increase a mother’s sense that her neighborhood is unsafe. The perception of an unsafe neighborhood, in turn, associates with a greater likelihood of smoking cigarettes and using illegal drugs, and these behaviors have strong and significant effects in reducing birth weight. However, demographic characteristics, rather than perceived danger or substance abuse, mediate the influence of neighborhood characteristics on birth weight.

  3. Community, Democracy, and Neighborhood News.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hindman, Elizabeth Blanks

    1998-01-01

    Contributes to scholarship on democracy, community, and journalism by examining the interplay between communication, democracy, and community at an inner-city neighborhood newspaper. Concludes that, through its focus on neighborhood culture, acknowledgment of conflict, and attempts to provide a forum for the neighborhood's self-definition, the…

  4. The data collection/data distribution center: building a sustainable African-American church-based research network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldmon, Moses; Roberson, James T; Carey, Tim; Godley, Paul; Howard, Daniel L; Boyd, Carlton; Ammerman, Alice

    2008-01-01

    This article describes the Carolina-Shaw Partnership for the Elimination of Health Disparities efforts to engage a diverse group of Black churches in a sustainable network. We sought to develop a diverse network of 25 churches to work with the Carolina-Shaw Partnership to develop sustainable health disparities research, education, and intervention initiatives. Churches were selected based on location, pastoral buy-in, and capacity to engage. A purposive sampling technique was applied. (1) Collecting information on the location and characteristics of churches helps to identify and recruit churches that possess the desired qualities and characteristics. (2) The process used to identify, recruit, and select churches is time intensive. (3) The time, energy, and effort required managing an inter-institutional partnership and engage churches in health disparities research and interventions lends itself to sustainability. The development of a sustainable network of churches could lead to successful health disparities initiatives.

  5. Constantine and Christianity: The formation of church/state relations ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper discusses the effects of the events and legislation of that period on both church and state. It will attempt to explain how as a result of Constantine's policies, the Christian Church and the Roman State each gained control of, and influence over the other. This in turn resulted in a mutual dependency which allowed ...

  6. The racial discourse and the Dutch Reformed Church: Looking ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The aim of this article is to give a descriptive-empirical description of the relationship between the DRC and race by using the Church Mirror surveys. An altered social distance scale is used to measure church acceptance. In the discourse on race, acceptance and unity in the DRC with regard to racial prejudice and attitudes ...

  7. 21st Century Notae Ecclesiae specifically necessary for churches

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Test

    2011-06-07

    Jun 7, 2011 ... the true church from the false as arcane disciplines. However, these marks ... gospel is by the spread of gossip. ... are the four conditions of the true church. ..... to share the good news of the kingdom' (WCC, NMC 2005:11,. §41). .... February 2010, from http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=505.

  8. Atomic energy - challenge to the church. Atomenergie - Herausforderung an die Kirchen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Altner, G [comp.

    1977-01-01

    In the nuclear debate, the church has astonishingly soon and clearly stated its point of view and supported the social-ethic commitment of many of its members, of preachers, bishops, and church councils. This volume, in its first part, presents and comments on the church's statements concerning the nuclear problem, with special interest in the focal points of the nuclear debate, i.e. Wyhl, Brokdorf, Biblis, Grafenrheinfeld, and Borken. The second part deals with the challenge of nuclear power.

  9. The law and financial transparency in churches: reconsidering the form 990 exemption

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Montague

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Il contributo - già apparso su Cardozo Law Review, vol. 35, october 2013, n. 1, pp. 213-265 - è ora pubblicato per la cortesia dell’EditoreTABLE OF CONTENTS: Introduction - I. Legislative History A. Early Legislative History of the Information Return Requirement - The Revenue Act of 1943 - 2. The Imposition of the Unrelated Business Income Tax in 1950 - 3. Expanding the Information Return and Unrelated Business Income Tax in 1969 - B. Televangelist Scandals During the 1980s - C. Recent Legislative History of the Information Return - 1. The William Aramony Scandal and Aftermath - 2. Recent Revisions to Form -II. Increased public access to and use of FORM 990 Information Returns - III. Churches should not be exempt from filing form - A. Churches Are Especially Susceptible to Financial Abuses /- 1. Many Churches Lack Basic Forms of Oversight and Accountability, Revealing Too Much Trust in the Honesty of Religious People - 2. Churches Where Power is Concentrated in the Hands of One Leader Provide the Ideal Structure for Financial Abuse - 3. Even at Churches with More Independent Boards, Leaders Still Maintain Undue Influence - 4. The Nature of Spiritual Leadership Gives Church Pastors Extraordinary Power - 5. Hierarchical Churches also Lack Proper Financial Oversight, and Lay Members Have Little Say in Accountability - B. Churches Themselves Would Benefit from Increased Transparency and Accountability - 1. Greater Transparency May Increase Donations - 2. Requiring Transparency Would Mitigate the Inevitable Fall in Donations from Scandals at Similar Institutions -3. Financial and Other Scandals, Caused or Exacerbated by Lack of Transparency, Have the Potential to Damage the Spiritual Lives of Churchgoers - C. Many Churchgoers Would Likely Welcome More Financial Transparency - D. Financial Transparency is Consistent with the Teachings of Many Churches - E. Self-Regulation Is Insufficient to Prevent Financial Abuse

  10. The use of the term ‘DNA’ as a missiological metaphor in contemporary Church narratives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Scott Andrews

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Missiologists propose that the Church and mission are inseparable as the Church has its very being because there is mission, and it is the Missio Dei which constitutes the Church. In recent history the Anglican Church has interpreted this as the essential ‘DNA’ of the local church which is to be a missional community. The church’s mission therefore is presented as the gift of participating through the Holy Spirit in the Son’s mission from the Father to the world. In other words, it is proposed that the Church is both the fruit of God’s mission and the agent of His mission. But, in order to communicate this relationship between Church and mission in a postmodern context, the use of new metaphors and new terminologies, which are derived from our contemporary context, is shaping new ways of thinking. An exploration of the development of missional churches considers the significance of developing and embedding what has become referred to as missional DNA or mDNA at every level of the organisation of the Church. This mDNA is the outward model of missional behaviour that compels the whole church to reach a lost world. It can be seen from evidence-based, case study research amongst large churches in the UK that there is consistency in the adoption and use of the term DNA by its leadership in reference to the local church’s values and its attitude towards mission. This article explores the hypothesis that the term DNA is commonly accepted amongst local churches as a contributor to a contemporary language that forms the narrative of the Church and explores its feasibility and shortcomings as an adopted missiological metaphor.

  11. Perceived School and Neighborhood Safety, Neighborhood Violence and Academic Achievement in Urban School Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    AJ, Milam; CDM, Furr-Holden; PJ, Leaf

    2010-01-01

    Community and school violence continue to be a major public health problem, especially among urban children and adolescents. Little research has focused on the effect of school safety and neighborhood violence on academic performance. This study examines the effect of the school and neighborhood climate on academic achievement among a population of 3rd-5th grade students in an urban public school system. Community and school safety were assessed using the School Climate Survey, an annual city-wide assessment of student’s perception of school and community safety. Community violence was measured using the Neighborhood Inventory for Environmental Typology, an objective observational assessment of neighborhood characteristics. Academic achievement was measured using the Maryland State Assessment (MSA), a standardized exam given to all Maryland 3rd-8th graders. School Climate Data and MSA data were aggregated by school and grade. Objective assessments of neighborhood environment and students’ self-reported school and neighborhood safety were both strongly associated with academic performance. Increasing neighborhood violence was associated with statistically significant decreases from 4.2%-8.7% in math and reading achievement; increasing perceived safety was associated with significant increases in achievement from 16%-22%. These preliminary findings highlight the adverse impact of perceived safety and community violence exposure on primary school children’s academic performance. PMID:21197388

  12. PROMOTING TRADITIONAL FAMILY BY THE CHURCH – RELIGIOUS MARKETING STRATEGIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ciprian GAVRA

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available We live in a postmodern period where the old values or imperatives have lost the force as they were replaced by new values. Amidst this chaos, the Church opens its road by promoting values such as family and marriage based upon responsibility, understanding, compromise, etc. If the current trends move towards the personal satisfaction with everything this aspect involves, the Church is trying to preserve the traditionalism, the union between a man and a woman, the marriage. In our work we aim to analyze the methods by which the Orthodox Church promotes the heterosexual marriage.

  13. Church-Based Social Support Among Caribbean Blacks in the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Ann W.; Taylor, Robert Joseph; Chatters, Linda M.

    2016-01-01

    An emerging body of research notes the importance of church-based social support networks in the daily lives of Americans. However, few studies examine church-based support, and especially among ethnic subgroups within the U.S. Black population, such as Caribbean Blacks. This study uses data from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL) to examine demographic and religious participation (e.g., attendance, interaction) correlates of church-based social support (e.g., receipt of emotional support, receipt of general support, provision of support to others, and negative interaction) among Caribbean Blacks residing in the U.S. Multiple regression analyses indicated that religious participation was associated with all four dependent variables. Church attendance was positively associated with receiving emotional support, general social support, and providing support to others, but was not associated with negative interaction. Frequency of interaction with fellow congregants was positively associated with receiving emotional support, receiving general support, providing support to others and negative interaction. Demographic findings indicated that women provided more support to church members and experienced more negative interactions with members than did men. Education was positively associated with frequency of support; household income was negatively associated with receiving emotional support and providing social support to others. Findings are discussed in relation to the role of church-based support networks in the lives of Caribbean Black immigrants and communities. PMID:27942078

  14. Neighborhood Quality and Labor Market Outcomes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Damm, Anna Piil

    of men living in the neighborhood, but positively affected by the employment rate of non-Western immigrant men and co-national men living in the neighborhood. This is strong evidence that immigrants find jobs in part through their employed immigrant and co-ethnic contacts in the neighborhood of residence...... successfully addresses the methodological problem of endogenous neighborhood selection. Taking account of location sorting, living in a socially deprived neighborhood does not affect labor market outcomes of refugee men. Furthermore, their labor market outcomes are not affected by the overall employment rate...

  15. Neighborhood cohesion, neighborhood disorder, and cardiometabolic risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinette, Jennifer W; Charles, Susan T; Gruenewald, Tara L

    2018-02-01

    Perceptions of neighborhood disorder (trash, vandalism) and cohesion (neighbors trust one another) are related to residents' health. Affective and behavioral factors have been identified, but often in studies using geographically select samples. We use a nationally representative sample (n = 9032) of United States older adults from the Health and Retirement Study to examine cardiometabolic risk in relation to perceptions of neighborhood cohesion and disorder. Lower cohesion is significantly related to greater cardiometabolic risk in 2006/2008 and predicts greater risk four years later (2010/2012). The longitudinal relation is partially accounted for by anxiety and physical activity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Financing of the National Churches in the Nordic Countries, England and Scotland

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjems, Sidsel; Bille, Trine

    This article analyses the financing of seven national churches in a large comparative study. The national churches in the Nordic countries and in England and Scotland are compared. They have many similarities in terms of history, intertwinement with the state, type and level of religiosity...... of the population, public role and public responsibilities, but the level of financing differs greatly. The purpose of the article is to discuss possible explanations for the differences in the level of financing. Adjusting for cost of public service tasks and for GDP leaves a large difference in financing among...... the seven national churches. We suggest that the source of finance is a determinant factor for the level of finance of national churches. Comparing the sources and level of financing of seven national churches in the Nordic countries, England and Scotland shows that financing by a taxation right yields...

  17. Who Gentrifies Low-Income Neighborhoods?

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKinnish, Terra; Walsh, Randall; White, T Kirk

    2010-03-01

    This paper uses confidential Census data, specifically the 1990 and 2000 Census Long Form data, to study demographic processes in neighborhoods that gentrified during the 1990's. In contrast to previous studies, the analysis is conducted at the more refined census-tract level, with a narrower definition of gentrification and more closely matched comparison neighborhoods. Furthermore, our access to individual-level data with census tract identifiers allows us to separately identify recent in-migrants and long-term residents. Our results indicate that, on average, the demographic flows associated with the gentrification of urban neighborhoods during the 1990's are not consistent with displacement and harm to minority households. In fact, taken as a whole, our results suggest that gentrification of predominantly black neighborhoods creates neighborhoods that are attractive to middle-class black households.

  18. Neighborhood-Specific and General Social Support: Which Buffers the Effect of Neighborhood Disorder on Depression?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Joongbaeck; Ross, Catherine E.

    2009-01-01

    Is neighborhood-specific social support the most effective type of social support for buffering the effect of neighborhood disorder on depression? Matching theory suggests that it is. The authors extend the research on neighborhood disorder and adult depression by showing that individuals who have higher levels of both general and…

  19. Ecumenical church renewal: the example of the United Reformed Church.

    OpenAIRE

    Camroux, Martin Frederick

    2014-01-01

    Background to the Research.\\ud In his enthronement sermon as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1942 William Temple famously declared the ecumenical movement to be ‘the great new fact of our era’. For much of the twentieth century it was the major metanarrative of Church renewal. By the end of the century however the enthusiasm had largely dissipated, the organizations which represented it were in decline, and the hoped for organic unity looked further away than ever. Surprisingly little has been wr...

  20. Volunteer work in the church among older Mexican Americans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krause, Neal; Hayward, R David

    2012-07-01

    The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that influence the amount of volunteer work that older Mexican Americans perform in the place where they worship. The relationship between religion and volunteering is viewed from a social identity perspective. Data from a nationally representative sample of older Mexican Americans suggest that Evangelical/Pentecostal church members spend more time performing volunteer work at church than older Mexican Americans who affiliate with other denominations. Moreover, the findings indicate that the difference in the amount of volunteering between the two groups can largely be explained by differences in the nature of the spiritual support that Evangelical/Pentecostal receive from their fellow church members as well as depth of their commitment to their faith.

  1. A Longitudinal Analysis of the Influence of the Neighborhood Environment on Recreational Walking within the Neighborhood: Results from RESIDE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christian, Hayley; Knuiman, Matthew; Divitini, Mark; Foster, Sarah; Hooper, Paula; Boruff, Bryan; Bull, Fiona; Giles-Corti, Billie

    2017-07-12

    There is limited longitudinal evidence confirming the role of neighborhood environment attributes in encouraging people to walk more or if active people simply choose to live in activity-friendly neighborhoods. Natural experiments of policy changes to create more walkable communities provide stronger evidence for a causal effect of neighborhood environments on residents' walking. We aimed to investigate longitudinal associations between objective and perceived neighborhood environment measures and neighborhood recreational walking. We analyzed longitudinal data collected over 8 yr (four surveys) from the RESIDential Environments (RESIDE) Study (Perth, Australia, 2003-2012). At each time point, participants reported the frequency and total minutes of recreational walking/week within their neighborhood and neighborhood environment perceptions. Objective measures of the neighborhood environment were generated using a Geographic Information System (GIS). Local recreational walking was influenced by objectively measured access to a medium-/large-size park, beach access, and higher street connectivity, which was reduced when adjusted for neighborhood perceptions. In adjusted models, positive perceptions of access to a park and beach, higher street connectivity, neighborhood esthetics, and safety from crime were independent determinants of increased neighborhood recreational walking. Local recreational walking increased by 9 min/wk (12% increase in frequency) for each additional perceived neighborhood attribute present. Our findings provide urban planners and policy makers with stronger causal evidence of the positive impact of well-connected neighborhoods and access to local parks of varying sizes on local residents' recreational walking and health. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP823.

  2. Liquidation of the Belarusian Renovationist Church in 1934–1938

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Baranenko Viktor

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the process of liquidation in 1934-1938 of the Belarusian Renovationist Church as a religious community having its hierarchical and organisational structure. The study is based on a complex of legal archival documents. The aim of the paper is to describe the activity of renovationist institutions in the territory of the BSSR in the absence of a collective form of government of the Russian Orthodox (Renovationist Church during the period of “independent clerical government”. The paper also gives statistics on the clergy and Orthodox ecclesiastical institutions of the BSSR in the 2nd half of the 1930s. It also discusses forms of adaptation of Orthodox clergy to prohibitions and limitations imposed by the state during the period of the “Great Purge”. The main conclusion of the paper is that the reason for the disappearance of Church Renovationism in the BSSR was the oppressive politics of the Soviet government against the Belarusian Renovationist Church fi gures.

  3. 360° FILM BRINGS BOMBED CHURCH TO LIFE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Kwiatek

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores how a computer-generated reconstruction of a church can be adapted to create a panoramic film that is presented in a panoramic viewer and also on a wrap-around projection system. It focuses on the fundamental principles of creating 360º films, not only in 3D modelling software, but also presents how to record 360º video using panoramic cameras inside the heritage site. These issues are explored in a case study of Charles Church in Plymouth, UK that was bombed in 1941 and has never been rebuilt. The generation of a 3D model of the bombed church started from the creation of five spherical panoramas and through the use of Autodesk ImageModeler software. The processed files were imported and merged together in Autodesk 3ds Max where a visualisation of the ruin was produced. A number of historical images were found and this collection enabled the process of a virtual reconstruction of the site. The aspect of merging two still or two video panoramas (one from 3D modelling software, the other one recorded on the site from the same locations or with the same trajectories is also discussed. The prototype of 360º non-linear film tells a narrative of a wartime wedding that occurred in this church. The film was presented on two 360º screens where members of the audience could make decisions on whether to continue the ceremony or whether to run away when the bombing of the church starts. 3D modelling software made this possible to render a number of different alternati ves (360º images and 360º video. Immersive environments empower the visitor to imagine the building before it was destroyed.

  4. 360° Film Brings Bombed Church to Life

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwiatek, K.

    2011-09-01

    This paper explores how a computer-generated reconstruction of a church can be adapted to create a panoramic film that is presented in a panoramic viewer and also on a wrap-around projection system. It focuses on the fundamental principles of creating 360º films, not only in 3D modelling software, but also presents how to record 360º video using panoramic cameras inside the heritage site. These issues are explored in a case study of Charles Church in Plymouth, UK that was bombed in 1941 and has never been rebuilt. The generation of a 3D model of the bombed church started from the creation of five spherical panoramas and through the use of Autodesk ImageModeler software. The processed files were imported and merged together in Autodesk 3ds Max where a visualisation of the ruin was produced. A number of historical images were found and this collection enabled the process of a virtual reconstruction of the site. The aspect of merging two still or two video panoramas (one from 3D modelling software, the other one recorded on the site) from the same locations or with the same trajectories is also discussed. The prototype of 360º non-linear film tells a narrative of a wartime wedding that occurred in this church. The film was presented on two 360º screens where members of the audience could make decisions on whether to continue the ceremony or whether to run away when the bombing of the church starts. 3D modelling software made this possible to render a number of different alternati ves (360º images and 360º video). Immersive environments empower the visitor to imagine the building before it was destroyed.

  5. Urbanism, Neighborhood Context, and Social Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornwell, Erin York; Behler, Rachel L

    2015-09-01

    Theories of urbanism suggest that the urban context erodes individuals' strong social ties with friends and family. Recent research has narrowed focus to the neighborhood context, emphasizing how localized structural disadvantage affects community-level cohesion and social capital. In this paper, we argue that neighborhood context also shapes social ties with friends and family- particularly for community-dwelling seniors. We hypothesize that neighborhood disadvantage, residential instability, and disorder restrict residents' abilities to cultivate close relationships with neighbors and non-neighbor friends and family. Using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), we find that older adults who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods have smaller social networks. Neighborhood disadvantage is also associated with less close network ties and less frequent interaction - but only among men. Furthermore, residents of disordered neighborhoods have smaller networks and weaker ties. We urge scholars to pay greater attention to how neighborhood context contributes to disparities in network-based access to resources.

  6. Assessment of Participation of Churches in Social Forestry in Uyo ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    These reasons, individually had significant (p<0.05) influence on respondents' unwillingness to plant trees on vacant lands. There is need for enlightenment campaigns in churches in Uyo LGA of Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, to deflate wrong beliefs that trees host evil spirits. Keywords: Participation, churches, social forestry, Uyo ...

  7. ''Your Big Wedding Day''. Temporal Goal in Church Marriage Rituals

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Robinson, R.; Hermans, C.A.M.; Scheepers, P.L.H.; Schilderman, J.B.A.M.

    2007-01-01

    In this contribution the authors explore notions about the origin and destiny of bridal couples’ relationships from participants’ views of church marriage rituals. A church wedding can be a pivotal moment in a bridal couple’s life, and on these occasions people tend to contemplate the past and the

  8. The neighborhoods they live in: the effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leventhal, T; Brooks-Gunn, J

    2000-03-01

    This article provides a comprehensive review of research on the effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent well-being. The first section reviews key methodological issues. The following section considers links between neighborhood characteristics and child outcomes and suggests the importance of high socioeconomic status (SES) for achievement and low SES and residential instability for behavioral/emotional outcomes. The third section identifies 3 pathways (institutional resources, relationships, and norms/collective efficacy) through which neighborhoods might influence development, and which represent an extension of models identified by C. Jencks and S. Mayer (1990) and R. J. Sampson (1992). The models provide a theoretical base for studying neighborhood mechanisms and specify different levels (individual, family, school, peer, community) at which processes may operate. Implications for an emerging developmental framework for research on neighborhoods are discussed.

  9. Pilgrimage to Wellness: An Exploratory Report of Rural African American Clergy Perceptions of Church Health Promotion Capacity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carter-Edwards, Lori; Hooten, Elizabeth Gerken; Bruce, Marino A.; Toms, Forrest; Lloyd, Cheryl LeMay; Ellison, Calvin

    2013-01-01

    Churches serve a vital role in African American communities and may be effective vehicles for health promotion in rural areas where disease burden is disproportionately greater and healthcare access is more limited than other communities. Endorsement by church leadership is often necessary for the approval of programs and activities within churches; however, little is known about how church leaders perceive their respective churches as health promotion organizations. The purpose of this exploratory pilot was to report perceptions of church capacity to promote health among African American clergy leaders of predominantly African American rural churches. The analysis sample included 27 pastors of churches in Eastern NC who completed a survey on church health promotion capacity and perceived impact on their own health. Capacities assessed included perceived need and impact of health promotion activities, church preparedness to promote health, health promotion actions to take, and the existence and importance of health ministry attributes. The results from this pilot study indicated a perceived need to increase the capacity of their churches to promote health. Conducting health programs, displaying health information, collaborations within the church (i.e., kitchen committee working with the health ministry), partnerships outside of the church, and funding were most commonly reported needed capacities. Findings from this exploratory work lay the foundation for the development of future, larger observational studies that can specify some of the key factors associated with organizational change and ultimately health promotion in these rural church settings. PMID:22694157

  10. The unusual practices within some Neo-Pentecostal churches in South Africa: Reflections and recommendations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mookgo S. Kgatle

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This article reflects and makes recommendations on the recent unusual practices within some Neo-Pentecostal churches in South Africa. Neo-Pentecostal churches in South Africa refer to churches that have crossed denominational boundaries. These churches idolise the miraculous, healing, deliverance and enactment of bizarre church performances often performed by charismatic and highly influential spiritual leaders. There have been unusual practices within some Neo-Pentecostal churches that include, among others, the eating of grass, eating of snakes, drinking of petrol, spraying of Doom on the congregants and other experiences. There are many possible theological, psychological and socio-economic explanations for these unusual practices. Given the facts that many South Africans experience various socio-economic challenges, it is argued here that the socio-economic factor is the main explanation for the support of these unusual practices. The unusual practices within some Neo-Pentecostal churches in South Africa are critically unpacked by looking at various churches where the incidents happened. The possible theological, psychological and socio-economic explanations for such practices are outlined in detail. Recommendations are made based on the scientific findings on the unusual practices.

  11. Calvin on church and government

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W.A. Dreyer

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available This article examines Calvin’s understanding of civil govern- ment as well as the relationship between church and govern- ment against the background of radical political change during the sixteenth century. It becomes clear that Calvin had an organic understanding of church, government and people. These three entities are interwoven and interact on the basis of the covenant and civil contract. Calvin’s approach, however, is not limited to the covenant, but has a surprising richness and diversity. He integrated theological, juristic and philosophical concepts in his understanding of the state. It is further shown that Calvin’s high regard for civil government, entrenched the corpus christianum, even though he clearly distinguished between ecclesiastical and civil governance. It is also shown that Calvin had a fundamental influence on many of the political concepts which are generally accepted within modern democra- cies.

  12. House Church: Investigating Chinese Urban Christians’ Choice of Religious Practicing Site in Wuhan, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junqiang Han

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we discuss the reasons why urban Christians choose certain sites for religious activities and explain the rapid development of house churches in urban areas in China from the perspective of individual Christians, through survey data obtained by the Chinese Urban Research Center for Ethnic and Religious Affairs Management in the city of Wuhan. We found that Christians who attend religious activities in urban house churches are generally younger in age, higher in education level, and more likely to be working in independent, private, or foreign-invested enterprises. Further investigation reveals that “Three-Self churches” are few in number and poorly planned geographically, resulting in very limited service abilities, thus being far from satisfactory for all believers. Moreover, the activities of such churches are unvaried and lack attractiveness. On the other hand, in house churches, Christians are able to build tight-knit social networks and house churches are more competitively aware in the “religious market”, leading some urban Christians to choose house churches, thereby inciting the fast development of house churches in Chinese urban areas.

  13. Feminists and their perspectives on the church fathers' beliefs regarding women: An inquiry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hannelie Wood

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The church fathers and their views on women were influenced substantially and significantly by philosophical voices, such as that of Aristotle and Plato, amongst others. A brief account on Aristotle�s and Plato�s ideas about women, from feminist perspectives, will be touched upon. The article furthermore explores feminist voices, regarding the church fathers� thinking about women, and how these views contributed to women�s subordination and domination. The research will focus on the many varied views on women held by Latin church fathers, such as Tertullian (c. 155�255, Cyprian (c. 200�258 AD, Jerome (c. 347�419, Ambrose (c. 339�397 and Augustine (354�430, and the Greek church fathers, such as Clement of Alexander (c. 150�215, Origen (c. 185�254 and Chrysostom (c. 347�407, from the perspective of feminists. It will be contended that an insensitive and too early denunciation of the early church fathers as misogynists often occurs in women�s history without taking into consideration the church fathers� philosophical and social contexts and, hence, the opinions that formed their views. One such theory that helped to shape the church fathers� views about women is the classic medical theory, and this therefore merits a brief discussion. Another important point one has to take into account is the church fathers� perceptions of the carnal (sexual and the spiritual world that shaped their views about women.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: History teaches us what people before us did, what their intentions were and where they failed or went wrong. If historical viewpoints about women reflect women�s subordination and oppression, they force women to discover their roots and their past. The church fathers, however, inherited a long tradition of debates, beliefs, and arguments regarding women�s moral, intellectual, and natural capacities. Therefore, generalised, simplified, and unsympathetic views

  14. Who Gentrifies Low-Income Neighborhoods?*

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKinnish, Terra; Walsh, Randall; White, T. Kirk

    2009-01-01

    This paper uses confidential Census data, specifically the 1990 and 2000 Census Long Form data, to study demographic processes in neighborhoods that gentrified during the 1990’s. In contrast to previous studies, the analysis is conducted at the more refined census-tract level, with a narrower definition of gentrification and more closely matched comparison neighborhoods. Furthermore, our access to individual-level data with census tract identifiers allows us to separately identify recent in-migrants and long-term residents. Our results indicate that, on average, the demographic flows associated with the gentrification of urban neighborhoods during the 1990’s are not consistent with displacement and harm to minority households. In fact, taken as a whole, our results suggest that gentrification of predominantly black neighborhoods creates neighborhoods that are attractive to middle-class black households. PMID:20161532

  15. Church-State Relations in Cameroon's Postcolony: The Case of the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The socio-political role of mainline Christian churches in the African postcolony tends to be more complex than a number of pessimistic and optimistic scholars originally assumed. There is growing evidence that the relations between church leaders and the authoritarian and corrupt elites, who seek to exercise hegemony in ...

  16. Mathematical-geographical analysis of the orientation of St John’s church of the Studenica monastery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tadić Milutin

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Considering the fact that ecclesiastical rules do not precisely say that a church must be directed “to the East” or “to sunrise”, it should always be checked if there is a connection between the orientation of a church and geometry of the Sun. In this paper, such examination is performed on the example of the church of St. John (the 13th century, one of four churches of the Studenica monastery, in the following way: 1 using gnomon method, the azimuth of the main longitudinal axis of the church is measured; 2 the altitude above the horizon of the point in which the extended axis of the church touches the true horizon is determined by cartometry; 3 the most probable dates when the Sun rises at that point are determined: May 7th according to Gregorian calendar, or April 30th according to Julian calendar, in the 13th century. The applied method is described in details and it can be applied for the analysis of the orientation of any other medieval church. This method can determine the time when the church was founded, as well as the fact if the church is original, or possibly erected on the foundations of some older sacral object.

  17. The neighborhood energy balance equation: does neighborhood food retail environment + physical activity environment = obesity? The CARDIA study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janne Boone-Heinonen

    Full Text Available Recent obesity prevention initiatives focus on healthy neighborhood design, but most research examines neighborhood food retail and physical activity (PA environments in isolation. We estimated joint, interactive, and cumulative impacts of neighborhood food retail and PA environment characteristics on body mass index (BMI throughout early adulthood.We used cohort data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA Study [n=4,092; Year 7 (24-42 years, 1992-1993 followed over 5 exams through Year 25 (2010-2011; 12,921 person-exam observations], with linked time-varying geographic information system-derived neighborhood environment measures. Using regression with fixed effects for individuals, we modeled time-lagged BMI as a function of food and PA resource density (counts per population and neighborhood development intensity (a composite density score. We controlled for neighborhood poverty, individual-level sociodemographics, and BMI in the prior exam; and included significant interactions between neighborhood measures and by sex. Using model coefficients, we simulated BMI reductions in response to single and combined neighborhood improvements. Simulated increase in supermarket density (from 25(th to 75(th percentile predicted inter-exam reduction in BMI of 0.09 kg/m(2 [estimate (95% CI: -0.09 (-0.16, -0.02]. Increasing commercial PA facility density predicted BMI reductions up to 0.22 kg/m(2 in men, with variation across other neighborhood features [estimate (95% CI range: -0.14 (-0.29, 0.01 to -0.22 (-0.37, -0.08]. Simultaneous increases in supermarket and commercial PA facility density predicted inter-exam BMI reductions up to 0.31 kg/m(2 in men [estimate (95% CI range: -0.23 (-0.39, -0.06 to -0.31 (-0.47, -0.15] but not women. Reduced fast food restaurant and convenience store density and increased public PA facility density and neighborhood development intensity did not predict reductions in BMI.Findings suggest that

  18. Effective strategic leadership: Balancing roles during church transitions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noel J. Pearse

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available As part of their responsibilities of leading the organisation, strategic leaders are responsible for leading change. This article investigated the application of the strategic leadership of change within the church context. A Straussian approach to the grounded theory method was used to generate a substantive grounded theory of organisational change and leadership, particularly focusing on the manifestation and management of organisation inertia in churches within South Africa that were transitioning from a programme based to a cell based church design. This article reported on one aspect of this study and focused on the patterns of leadership roles. It further distinguished between effective and ineffective leadership patterns that either enhanced or compromised the credibility of the leader and by implication, affected the success of the change intervention. The results of the study were discussed from the perspective of social capital theory, thereby contributing to understanding the role of strategic leaders in building social capital within the context of organisation change.

  19. Spiritual and Affective Responses to a Physical Church and Corresponding Virtual Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murdoch, Matt; Davies, Jim

    2017-11-01

    Architectural and psychological theories posit that built environments have the potential to elicit complex psychological responses. However, few researchers have seriously explored this potential. Given the increasing importance and fidelity of virtual worlds, such research should explore whether virtual models of built environments are also capable of eliciting complex psychological responses. The goal of this study was to test these hypotheses, using a church, a corresponding virtual model, and an inclusive measure of state spirituality ("spiritual feelings"). Participants (n = 33) explored a physical church and corresponding virtual model, completing a measure of spiritual feelings after exploring the outside and inside of each version of the church. Using spiritual feelings after exploring the outside of the church as a baseline measure, change in state spirituality was assessed by taking the difference between spiritual feelings after exploring the inside and outside of the church (inside-outside) for both models. Although this change was greater in response to the physical church, there was no significant difference between the two models in eliciting such change in spiritual feelings. Despite the limitations of this exploratory study, these findings indicate that both built environments and corresponding virtual models are capable of evoking complex psychological responses.

  20. Getting young adults back to church: A marketing approach | van der ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Getting young adults back to church: A marketing approach. ... A decline in the number of young adults that attend church services is also evident. The purpose of the research ... Full Text: EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT

  1. Rural Neighborhood Walkability: Implications for Assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kegler, Michelle C; Alcantara, Iris; Haardörfer, Regine; Gemma, Alexandra; Ballard, Denise; Gazmararian, Julie

    2015-06-16

    Physical activity levels, including walking, are lower in the southern U.S., particularly in rural areas. This study investigated the concept of rural neighborhood walkability to aid in developing tools for assessing walkability and to identify intervention targets in rural communities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with physically active adults (n = 29) in rural Georgia. Mean age of participants was 55.9 years; 66% were male, 76% were white, and 24% were African American. Participants drew maps of their neighborhoods and discussed the relevance of typical domains of walkability to their decisions to exercise. Comparative analyses were conducted to identify major themes. The majority felt the concept of neighborhood was applicable and viewed their neighborhood as small geographically (less than 0.5 square miles). Sidewalks were not viewed as essential for neighborhood-based physical activity and typical destinations for walking were largely absent. Destinations within walking distance included neighbors' homes and bodies of water. Views were mixed on whether shade, safety, dogs, and aesthetics affected decisions to exercise in their neighborhoods. Measures of neighborhood walkability in rural areas should acknowledge the small size of self-defined neighborhoods, that walking in rural areas is likely for leisure time exercise, and that some domains may not be relevant.

  2. What Would They Do? Latino Church Leaders and Domestic Violence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behnke, Andrew O.; Ames, Natalie; Hancock, Tina U.

    2012-01-01

    Understanding what Latino church leaders believe about domestic violence, and what they do when they confront it, is a key step in developing programs to help them engage in domestic violence prevention and intervention activities in their congregations. This article presents the findings from an exploratory study of 28 Latino church leaders. The…

  3. The political economy of churches in Denmark over 700 years

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Paldam, Ella; Paldam, Martin

    This paper reports new macro time-series for the number and size of churches in Denmark from year 1300 to 2000. Church densities are defined as the series per capita. The densities are interpreted as a proxy for religiosity. It is falling throughout all 700 years, but two events gave an extra fall...

  4. Nearest neighbors by neighborhood counting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Hui

    2006-06-01

    Finding nearest neighbors is a general idea that underlies many artificial intelligence tasks, including machine learning, data mining, natural language understanding, and information retrieval. This idea is explicitly used in the k-nearest neighbors algorithm (kNN), a popular classification method. In this paper, this idea is adopted in the development of a general methodology, neighborhood counting, for devising similarity functions. We turn our focus from neighbors to neighborhoods, a region in the data space covering the data point in question. To measure the similarity between two data points, we consider all neighborhoods that cover both data points. We propose to use the number of such neighborhoods as a measure of similarity. Neighborhood can be defined for different types of data in different ways. Here, we consider one definition of neighborhood for multivariate data and derive a formula for such similarity, called neighborhood counting measure or NCM. NCM was tested experimentally in the framework of kNN. Experiments show that NCM is generally comparable to VDM and its variants, the state-of-the-art distance functions for multivariate data, and, at the same time, is consistently better for relatively large k values. Additionally, NCM consistently outperforms HEOM (a mixture of Euclidean and Hamming distances), the "standard" and most widely used distance function for multivariate data. NCM has a computational complexity in the same order as the standard Euclidean distance function and NCM is task independent and works for numerical and categorical data in a conceptually uniform way. The neighborhood counting methodology is proven sound for multivariate data experimentally. We hope it will work for other types of data.

  5. Neighborhood Context and Immigrant Young Children's Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leventhal, Tama; Shuey, Elizabeth A.

    2014-01-01

    This study explored how neighborhood social processes and resources, relevant to immigrant families and immigrant neighborhoods, contribute to young children's behavioral functioning and achievement across diverse racial/ethnic groups. Data were drawn from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, a neighborhood-based,…

  6. NeighborHood

    OpenAIRE

    Corominola Ocaña, Víctor

    2015-01-01

    NeighborHood és una aplicació basada en el núvol, adaptable a qualsevol dispositiu (mòbil, tablet, desktop). L'objectiu d'aquesta aplicació és poder permetre als usuaris introduir a les persones del seu entorn més immediat i que aquestes persones siguin visibles per a la resta d'usuaris. NeighborHood es una aplicación basada en la nube, adaptable a cualquier dispositivo (móvil, tablet, desktop). El objetivo de esta aplicación es poder permitir a los usuarios introducir a las personas de su...

  7. Galileo's Religion Versus the Church's Science? Rethinking the History of Science and Religion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, D. B.

    Galileo's conflict with the Catholic Church is well recognized as a key episode in the history of physics and in the history of science and religion. This paper applies a new, historiographical approach to that specific episode. It advocates eliminating the science and religion. The Church concluded that the plainest facts of human experience agreed perfectly with an omniscient God's revealed word to proclaim the earth at rest. Supported by the Bible, Galileo, God-like, linked the elegance of mathematics to truths about nature. The Church, in effect, resisted Galileo's claim to be able to think like God, instead listening to God himself - and paying close attention to what man himself observed. We can thus see that the phrase ``Galileo's religion versus the Church's science'' is as meaningful (or meaningless) as the usual designation ``Galileo's science versus the Church's religion.''

  8. Remarks on the church in the consumer society: similarities and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Pastors should make it clear that the gospel message is not a product for sale; however the gospel message should be directed at the needs of people. This article outlines the influence of the consumer society on the church. The article also outlines the similarities and dissimilarities between the church and the consumer ...

  9. The place and role of youth in the liturgical life of the Church

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isbasoiu Iulian

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The Church takes good care of each single person, from the beginning of their lives, giving them all the support so that they achieve the final goal of human creation: their salvation. From birth, man is involved in the liturgical life of the Church, which initiates them as members, transforming them progressively into active members, who participate on their own free will in the divine worship and in the social and cultural events held by it. Acknowledging the role that the young have in the activity of the Church we will discuss in our study an overall view of their involvement in liturgical life. We will emphasize the role of the Church in completing the religious information received within the family, as well as methods to help the Church get the young involved in the liturgical, social and cultural activities held by it. In addition, we will highlight the decisive role the priest has in motivating the young by using the power of the word (preach and catechesis and above all by personal example. Applying the most suitable methods in order to get the young people closer to the Church and involving them in the life of the Christian community offers the Church the certitude of fulfilling its role within the contemporary society.

  10. 1 Corinthians 14:33b�36 in light of women and church leadership in Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Solomon O. Ademiluka

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available 1 Corinthians 14:33b�36 contains the injunction by Paul that women should not speak in the church. In Nigeria, many of the mainline denominations exclude women from church leadership, basing the doctrine on this passage. This research examines the text with a view to assessing its relevance for women�s participation in church leadership with a focus on contemporary Nigeria. An examination of the history of the Jews reveals that women had a very small role in religious leadership. However, Jesus in his woman-friendly ministry marked a change in the male-dominated social structure. Paul built upon this, having many women as co-preachers; which would contradict a literal interpretation of 1 Corinthians 14:33b�36. However, the text is best understood from the perspective of the Greek term ekklesia. In its popular context, it refers to the assembly of a Greek city-state in which women were not permitted to speak. In similar Christian assemblies, they were permitted on the basis of the Christian brotherhood. Apparently, in the Corinthian church, women were abusing this privilege by disrupting church services, which warranted Paul�s order. This being the case, the crucial issue is the disorderliness being caused by the women, and not their participation. Therefore, in this text it was not the intention of Paul to establish a doctrine disallowing women from participating in church leadership. Hence, for the Nigerian context, the text does not provide a basis for excluding women from church leadership.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This research involves the disciplines of New Testament theology and church history. It examines 1 Corinthians 14:33b�36 with a view to assessing its relevance for women participation in church leadership and anticipates a situation in which all the mainline churches in Nigeria would involve women in church leadership.

  11. Work and Home Neighborhood Design and Physical Activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carlson, Jordan A; Frank, Lawrence D; Ulmer, Jared; Conway, Terry L; Saelens, Brian E; Cain, Kelli L; Sallis, James F

    2018-01-01

    To investigate relations of perceived worksite neighborhood environments to total physical activity and active transportation, over and above home neighborhood built environments. Observational epidemiologic study. Baltimore, Maryland-Washington, DC, and Seattle-King County, Washington metropolitan areas. One thousand eighty-five adults (mean age = 45.0 [10.2]; 46% women) recruited from 32 neighborhoods stratified by high/low neighborhood income and walkability. The Neighborhood Environment Walkability Survey assessed perceptions of worksite and home neighborhood environments. Accelerometers assessed total moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The International Physical Activity Questionnaire assessed total active transportation and active transportation to and around work. Mixed-effects regression tested relations of home and worksite neighborhood environments to each physical activity outcome, adjusted for demographics. Home and worksite mixed land use and street connectivity had the most consistent positive associations with physical activity outcomes. Worksite traffic and pedestrian safety were also associated with multiple physical activity outcomes. The worksite neighborhood explained additional variance in physical activity outcomes than explained by the home neighborhood. Worksite and home neighborhood environments interacted in explaining active transportation to work, with the greatest impacts occurring when both neighborhoods were activity supportive. Both worksite and home neighborhood environments were independently related to total MVPA and active transportation. Community design policies should target improving the physical activity supportiveness of worksite neighborhood environments and integrating commercial and residential development.

  12. Neighborhood Concentrated Disadvantage and Dating Violence among Urban Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Neighborhood Social Processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garthe, Rachel C; Gorman-Smith, Deborah; Gregory, Joshua; E Schoeny, Michael

    2018-03-14

    The link between relationship violence and aspects of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage (e.g., percent of unemployed adults, percent of families below poverty level), has been established. However, the literature examining neighborhood social processes, including informal social control and social cohesion, in relation to adolescent dating violence has shown mixed results with a limited theoretical foundation and methodology. Using a social disorganization theoretical framework, this study examined the mediating role of these neighborhood social processes in the relation between concentrated disadvantage and adolescent dating violence within an urban context. Participants included 605 adult residents in 30 census tracts and 203 adolescents from neighborhoods on the West and South sides of Chicago. Neighborhood-level concentrated disadvantage was measured via Census data, adult residents reported on neighborhood social processes, and youth reported on dating violence. Informal social control was negatively associated with dating violence, and social cohesion was positively associated with dating violence. A multilevel mediation model showed that concentrated disadvantage was related to higher levels of dating violence via lower levels of informal social control. These results extend social disorganization theory to dating violence within an urban context, while also highlighting the important role of neighborhood processes on relationship violence. Implications for research and intervention programming are discussed. © Society for Community Research and Action 2018.

  13. Development and Testing of the Church Environment Audit Tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaczynski, Andrew T; Jake-Schoffman, Danielle E; Peters, Nathan A; Dunn, Caroline G; Wilcox, Sara; Forthofer, Melinda

    2018-05-01

    In this paper, we describe development and reliability testing of a novel tool to evaluate the physical environment of faith-based settings pertaining to opportunities for physical activity (PA) and healthy eating (HE). Tool development was a multistage process including a review of similar tools, stakeholder review, expert feedback, and pilot testing. Final tool sections included indoor opportunities for PA, outdoor opportunities for PA, food preparation equipment, kitchen type, food for purchase, beverages for purchase, and media. Two independent audits were completed at 54 churches. Interrater reliability (IRR) was determined with Kappa and percent agreement. Of 218 items, 102 were assessed for IRR and 116 could not be assessed because they were not present at enough churches. Percent agreement for all 102 items was over 80%. For 42 items, the sample was too homogeneous to assess Kappa. Forty-six of the remaining items had Kappas greater than 0.60 (25 items 0.80-1.00; 21 items 0.60-0.79), indicating substantial to almost perfect agreement. The tool proved reliable and efficient for assessing church environments and identifying potential intervention points. Future work can focus on applications within faith-based partnerships to understand how church environments influence diverse health outcomes.

  14. The Catholic Church, Moral Education and Citizenship in Latin America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klaiber, Jeffrey

    2009-01-01

    The Catholic Church, with deep roots in the history of Latin America, exercises considerable influence on all levels of society. Especially after the Second Vatican Council and the bishops' conference at Medellin (1968) the Church took up the banner of human rights and the cause of the poor. During the dictatorships and in the midst of the…

  15. Kingdom, church and civil society: A theological paradigm for civil ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This article deals with the role that churches can and should play in civil society to develop societal morally. The central-theoretical argument is that the biblical notion of the kingdom of God can, when it is systematically and theologically developed, offer an acceptable foundation for the civil action of churches. In light of this ...

  16. Impossible Subjects: LGBTIQ Experiences in Australian Pentecostal-Charismatic Churches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark A. C. Jennings

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper is the product of in-depth interviews with 20 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, and Queer (LGBTIQ people who identify, or formerly identified, as members of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christian (PCC churches. Interviewees typically found themselves confronted with a number of choices (not necessarily mutually exclusive: remain closeted, come out but commit to remaining celibate, undergo “SOCE” (Sexual Orientation Conversion Efforts therapy, or leave. Most left their churches, often after agonising attempts to reconcile their faith and their sexuality. Several of the practices adopted by Australian PCC churches exclude LGBTIQ people from full participation in their own congregations, rendering them “impossible subjects.” Australian Pentecostalism’s surprisingly egalitarian history, wherein the spiritually authorised ministry of women was both recognised and celebrated, suggests another, more inclusive way forward in regard to this vexed issue.

  17. The Training of Semiliterate Rural Pastors in the Northwest Region Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fellows, Timothy Steven

    2014-01-01

    A common plea in missions is the need to train pastors and church leaders for the rapidly multiplying churches in the Majority World, resulting in numerous formal and nonformal theological education training programs. In spite of these efforts, many rural churches remain without pastors. Using appreciative inquiry and participatory…

  18. The Filling Station as a Fresh Expression of church for consideration ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... whether it meets the values of authentic missional churches. In examining whether The Filling Station ought to be considered for import into appropriate local congregational contexts, it enquires whether it satisfactorily addresses prevailing social trends affecting churches, including consumerism and the need for identity.

  19. Gendered representations of fatherhood in contemporary South African church imagery from three Afrikaans corporate churches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leandra H. Koenig-Visagie

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The South African secular media do not frequently portray men in parental roles; on the other hand, it seems that media and visual culture created by the Christian sector is more likely to engage with issues of fatherhood. Accordingly, it is relevant to explore representations of fatherhood in the Christian context, as these constitute some of the few examples of men�s parental roles in the South African visual culture landscape. Through a Barthean visual semiotic analysis, this article describes and problematises the representation (and non-representation of certain aspects of fatherhood in the recent visual culture of three Afrikaans corporate churches in the Pretoria-Centurion area. It further establishes that strong connections between breadwinning, male headship and fatherhood exist in images created by these churches. Fathers are mainly shown as patriarchs, heads of households and as active outdoor adventurers. We argue that although men are depicted as involved parents, there are certain limitations and exclusions to this involvement.

  20. Comprehensive Neighborhood Portraits and Child Asthma Disparities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kranjac, Ashley W; Kimbro, Rachel T; Denney, Justin T; Osiecki, Kristin M; Moffett, Brady S; Lopez, Keila N

    2017-07-01

    Objectives Previous research has established links between child, family, and neighborhood disadvantages and child asthma. We add to this literature by first characterizing neighborhoods in Houston, TX by demographic, economic, and air quality characteristics to establish differences in pediatric asthma diagnoses across neighborhoods. Second, we identify the relative risk of social, economic, and environmental risk factors for child asthma diagnoses. Methods We geocoded and linked electronic pediatric medical records to neighborhood-level social and economic indicators. Using latent profile modeling techniques, we identified Advantaged, Middle-class, and Disadvantaged neighborhoods. We then used a modified version of the Blinder-Oaxaca regression decomposition method to examine differences in asthma diagnoses across children in these different neighborhoods. Results Both compositional (the characteristics of the children and the ambient air quality in the neighborhood) and associational (the relationship between child and air quality characteristics and asthma) differences within the distinctive neighborhood contexts influence asthma outcomes. For example, unequal exposure to PM 2.5 and O 3 among children in Disadvantaged and Middle-class neighborhoods contribute to asthma diagnosis disparities within these contexts. For children in Disadvantaged and Advantaged neighborhoods, associational differences between racial/ethnic and socioeconomic characteristics and asthma diagnoses explain a significant proportion of the gap. Conclusions for Practice Our results provide evidence that differential exposure to pollution and protective factors associated with non-Hispanic White children and children from affluent families contribute to asthma disparities between neighborhoods. Future researchers should consider social and racial inequalities as more proximate drivers, not merely as associated, with asthma disparities in children.

  1. The role of church youth in the transformation agenda of South African cities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eugene Baron

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The churches in City of Tshwane have incredible youth capital. There is so much energy and passion that fill the concrete walls of the mushrooming churches. This article emerges from a research that was conducted to explore religious innovation and competition amidst demographic and social change among churches in the City of Tshwane. The data of the study suggest that the impetus behind most of the innovation and development in the churches is borne from the hearts and minds of the young people. The striking involvement of the youth in the congregations, their participation and also the reflection in the data in terms of youth agency highlight the concern on their involvement in urban, social change, with specific reference to the City of Tshwane. The article assesses the participation of the church youth in the transformation of the city.

  2. Neighborhood Influences on Perceived Social Support Among Parents: Findings from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tendulkar, Shalini A.; Koenen, Karestan C.; Dunn, Erin C.; Buka, Stephen; Subramanian, S. V.

    2012-01-01

    Background Social support is frequently linked to positive parenting behavior. Similarly, studies increasingly show a link between neighborhood residential environment and positive parenting behavior. However, less is known about how the residential environment influences parental social support. To address this gap, we examine the relationship between neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and collective efficacy and the level and change in parental caregiver perceptions of non-familial social support. Methodology/Principal Findings The data for this study came from three data sources, the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) Study's Longitudinal Cohort Survey of caregivers and their offspring, a Community Survey of adult residents in these same neighborhoods and the 1990 Census. Social support is measured at Wave 1 and Wave 3 and neighborhood characteristics are measured at Wave 1. Multilevel linear regression models are fit. The results show that neighborhood collective efficacy is a significant (ß = .04; SE = .02; p = .03), predictor of the positive change in perceived social support over a 7 year period, however, not of the level of social support, adjusting for key compositional variables and neighborhood concentrated disadvantage. In contrast concentrated neighborhood disadvantage is not a significant predictor of either the level or change in social support. Conclusion Our finding suggests that neighborhood collective efficacy may be important for inducing the perception of support from friends in parental caregivers over time. PMID:22493683

  3. Neighborhood influences on perceived social support among parents: findings from the project on human development in Chicago neighborhoods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tendulkar, Shalini A; Koenen, Karestan C; Dunn, Erin C; Buka, Stephen; Subramanian, S V

    2012-01-01

    Social support is frequently linked to positive parenting behavior. Similarly, studies increasingly show a link between neighborhood residential environment and positive parenting behavior. However, less is known about how the residential environment influences parental social support. To address this gap, we examine the relationship between neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and collective efficacy and the level and change in parental caregiver perceptions of non-familial social support. The data for this study came from three data sources, the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) Study's Longitudinal Cohort Survey of caregivers and their offspring, a Community Survey of adult residents in these same neighborhoods and the 1990 Census. Social support is measured at Wave 1 and Wave 3 and neighborhood characteristics are measured at Wave 1. Multilevel linear regression models are fit. The results show that neighborhood collective efficacy is a significant (ß = .04; SE = .02; p = .03), predictor of the positive change in perceived social support over a 7 year period, however, not of the level of social support, adjusting for key compositional variables and neighborhood concentrated disadvantage. In contrast concentrated neighborhood disadvantage is not a significant predictor of either the level or change in social support. Our finding suggests that neighborhood collective efficacy may be important for inducing the perception of support from friends in parental caregivers over time.

  4. Schools, Neighborhood Risk Factors, and Crime

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willits, Dale; Broidy, Lisa; Denman, Kristine

    2013-01-01

    Prior research has identified a link between schools (particularly high schools) and neighborhood crime rates. However, it remains unclear whether the relationship between schools and crime is a reflection of other criminogenic dynamics at the neighborhood level or whether schools influence neighborhood crime patterns independently of other…

  5. The Presbyterian Churches in New South Wales, 1823-1865 : with particular reference to their Scottish relations

    OpenAIRE

    Bridges, Barry John

    1987-01-01

    This study covers the period from arrival of the first minister to union of most congregations in a Church unconnected with the Scottish parent Churches. My thesis is that reliance on the Scottish Churches was a necessary condition for establishment of the Presbyterian Church in the Colony but also the principal cause of failure to attempt to become a major religious force. Equality with the Church of England was conceded gradually and, initially, reluctantly and from the first State aid and ...

  6. An extravaganza of old church music

    OpenAIRE

    Mercieca, Simon

    2005-01-01

    To celebrate the completion of its first course in Diploma in Music (Sacred Music), the Mediterranean Institute has invited the Choir of the University of Palermo to Malta to give three public performances in local Churches.

  7. The early medieval tesserae from the St Servatius Church excavations in Maastricht - The Netherlands (1981-1989)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Panhuysen, T.

    2016-01-01

    In the eighties of the last century a massive excavation was carried out in the Church of St Servatius in Maastricht in the context of an overall restoration of the church building which dates from the 11th to 15th century. The Servatius Church was originally a grave church that was founded in the

  8. Optimal setpoint operation to reduce peak drying of a church organ

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schijndel, van A.W.M.

    2008-01-01

    The paper presents the characteristics of the Walloon Church in Delft (Netherlands) and a description of constraints for the indoor climate, giving criteria for the indoor air temperature and relative humidity with the focus on the preservation of the monumental church organ. The set point operation

  9. Implementation of evidence-based HIV interventions for young adult African American women in church settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Jennifer M

    2014-01-01

    To assess the barriers and facilitators to using African American churches as sites for implementation of evidence-based HIV interventions among young African American women. Mixed methods cross-sectional design. African American churches in Philadelphia, PA. 142 African American pastors, church leaders, and young adult women ages 18 to 25. Mixed methods convergent parallel design. The majority of young adult women reported engaging in high-risk HIV-related behaviors. Although church leaders reported willingness to implement HIV risk-reduction interventions, they were unsure of how to initiate this process. Key facilitators to the implementation of evidence-based interventions included the perception of the leadership and church members that HIV interventions were needed and that the church was a promising venue for them. A primary barrier to implementation in this setting is the perception that discussions of sexuality should be private. Implementation of evidence-based HIV interventions for young adult African American women in church settings is feasible and needed. Building a level of comfort in discussing matters of sexuality and adapting existing evidence-based interventions to meet the needs of young women in church settings is a viable approach for successful implementation. © 2014 AWHONN, the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.

  10. The founder of the church of Saint George at Pološko

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pavlović Dragana

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper seeks to establish who was the founder of the church of Saint George at Pološko and revise the conclusions of previous researchers regarding this issue. According to the opinion commonly adopted in the scholarly literature, Jovan Dragušin, a cousin of King Dušan, had merely undertaken the construction of church at Pološko, whereas his mother was responsible for the completion of construction and painting of frescoes in the church. Through an analysis of written and visual sources the conclusion is reached that the sole person responsible for the construction and painting of the church at Pološko was the nun Maria, the mother of Jovan Dragušin. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177036: Srpska srednjovekovna umetnost i njen evropski kontekst

  11. The Roman Catholic Church, the Holocaust, and the demonization of the Jews

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kertzer, David I.

    2015-01-01

    Following eleven years’ work, in 1998 a high-level Vatican commission instituted by Pope John Paul II offered what has become the official position of the Roman Catholic Church denying any responsibility for fomenting the kind of demonization of the Jews that made the Holocaust possible. In a 2001 book, The popes against the Jews, I demonstrated that in fact the church played a major role in leading Catholics throughout Europe to view Jews as an existential threat. Yet defenders of the church position continue to deny the historical evidence and to launch ferocious ad hominem attacks against scholars who have researched the subject. The anti-Semitism promulgated by the church can be seen as part of the long battle it waged against modernity, with which the Jews were identified. PMID:27011787

  12. Internet Bad Neighborhoods Aggregation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Moreira Moura, Giovane; Sadre, R.; Sperotto, Anna; Pras, Aiko; Paschoal Gaspary, L.; De Turk, Filip

    Internet Bad Neighborhoods have proven to be an innovative approach for fighting spam. They have also helped to understand how spammers are distributed on the Internet. In our previous works, the size of each bad neighborhood was fixed to a /24 subnetwork. In this paper, however, we investigate if

  13. African American church-based HIV testing and linkage to care: assets, challenges and needs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Jennifer M; Thompson, Keitra; Rogers, Christopher

    2016-01-01

    The US National HIV AIDS strategy promotes the use of faith communities to lessen the burden of HIV in African American communities. One specific strategy presented is the use of these non-traditional venues for HIV testing and co-location of services. African American churches can be at the forefront of this endeavour through the provision of HIV testing and linkage to care. However, there are few interventions to promote the churches' involvement in both HIV testing and linkage to care. We conducted 4 focus groups (n = 39 participants), 4 interviews and 116 surveys in a mixed-methods study to examine the feasibility of a church-based HIV testing and linkage to care intervention in Philadelphia, PA, USA. Our objectives were to examine: (1) available assets, (2) challenges and barriers and (3) needs associated with church-based HIV testing and linkage to care. Analyses revealed several factors of importance, including the role of the church as an access point for testing in low-income neighbourhoods, challenges in openly discussing the relationship between sexuality and HIV, and buy-in among church leadership. These findings can support intervention development and necessitate situating African American church-based HIV testing and linkage to care interventions within a multi-level framework.

  14. Negative life events vary by neighborhood and mediate the relation between neighborhood context and psychological well-being.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katherine King

    Full Text Available Researchers have speculated that negative life events are more common in troubled neighborhoods, amplifying adverse effects on health. Using a clustered representative sample of Chicago residents (2001-03; n = 3,105 from the Chicago Community Adult Health Survey, we provide the first documentation that negative life events are highly geographically clustered compared to health outcomes. Associations between neighborhood context and negative life events were also found to vary by event type. We then demonstrate the power of a contextualized approach by testing path models in which life events mediate the relation between neighborhood characteristics and health outcomes, including self-rated health, anxiety, and depression. The indirect paths between neighborhood conditions and health through negative life event exposure are highly significant and large compared to the direct paths from neighborhood conditions to health. Our results indicate that neighborhood conditions can have acute as well as chronic effects on health, and that negative life events are a powerful mechanism by which context may influence health.

  15. Negative life events vary by neighborhood and mediate the relation between neighborhood context and psychological well-being.

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Katherine; Ogle, Christin

    2014-01-01

    Researchers have speculated that negative life events are more common in troubled neighborhoods, amplifying adverse effects on health. Using a clustered representative sample of Chicago residents (2001-03; n = 3,105) from the Chicago Community Adult Health Survey, we provide the first documentation that negative life events are highly geographically clustered compared to health outcomes. Associations between neighborhood context and negative life events were also found to vary by event type. We then demonstrate the power of a contextualized approach by testing path models in which life events mediate the relation between neighborhood characteristics and health outcomes, including self-rated health, anxiety, and depression. The indirect paths between neighborhood conditions and health through negative life event exposure are highly significant and large compared to the direct paths from neighborhood conditions to health. Our results indicate that neighborhood conditions can have acute as well as chronic effects on health, and that negative life events are a powerful mechanism by which context may influence health.

  16. Exarh of the Bulgarian Church metropolitan Stephen and the Moscow Patriarchy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kostriukov Andrei

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The article covers the last period of church-administrative activity of the Sofia’s metropolitan Stephаn (Shokov. The author describes the testimonies of contemporaries about the character and personal qualities of this ambiguous hierarch. In 1945–1948 metropolitan Stephan was the exarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and participated in the Meeting of heads and representatives of Autocephalous Orthodox Churches in 1948. The author considers the circumstances of the dismissal of metropolitan Stephаn and his exile as especially important and interesting ones. The meeting of 1948 became the critical event in the exarch’s destiny. Being the supporter of ecumenism, metropolitan Stephen tried unsuccessfully to convince Patriarch Alexis of his rightness in order not to allow the condemnation of ecumenical contacts by the Moscow meeting. However Moscow looked on ecumenism differently in those days. In Moscow the Soviet management aspired to establishment of the centre of World Orthodoxy and tried to cite the Moscow Patriarchy against Constantinople that was under the influence of the USA and the Great Britain. As the Constantinople Patriarchy approved the ecumenical movement, the Moscow Patriarchy has been forced to take of an opposite position. Therefore, the participation of the Russian Church and Churches of the socialist countries in the ecumenical movement was impossible. Metropolitan Stephan, supporting the superiority of the Moscow Patriarchy in the World Orthodoxy, supported the active participation of all Local Churches in the ecumenical movement. The communistic management applied the maximum force to the exarch in order he has not made undesirable statements at the meeting. The fate of metropolitan Stephan has been decided after this meeting. In 1948 he was fired and exiled. The Moscow Patriarchy did not exclude the possibility of moving of metropolitan Stephаn to Russia and his location in any monastery. However metropolitan

  17. Neighborhood perceptions and allostatic load

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    van Deurzen, Ioana; Rod, Naja Hulvej; Christensen, Ulla

    2016-01-01

    An influential argument explaining why living in certain neighborhoods can become harmful to one's health maintains that individuals can perceive certain characteristics of the neighborhood as threatening and the prolonged exposure to a threatening environment could induce chronic stress. Following...... this line of argumentation, in the present study we test whether subjective perceptions of neighborhood characteristics relate to an objective measure of stress-related physiological functioning, namely allostatic load (AL). We use a large dataset of 5280 respondents living in different regions of Denmark...... and we account for two alternative mechanisms, i.e., the objective characteristics of the living environment and the socio-economic status of individuals. Our results support the chronic stress mechanisms linking neighborhood quality to health. Heightened perceptions of disorder and pollution were found...

  18. Neighborhood influences on perceived social support among parents: findings from the project on human development in Chicago neighborhoods.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shalini A Tendulkar

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Social support is frequently linked to positive parenting behavior. Similarly, studies increasingly show a link between neighborhood residential environment and positive parenting behavior. However, less is known about how the residential environment influences parental social support. To address this gap, we examine the relationship between neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and collective efficacy and the level and change in parental caregiver perceptions of non-familial social support. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The data for this study came from three data sources, the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN Study's Longitudinal Cohort Survey of caregivers and their offspring, a Community Survey of adult residents in these same neighborhoods and the 1990 Census. Social support is measured at Wave 1 and Wave 3 and neighborhood characteristics are measured at Wave 1. Multilevel linear regression models are fit. The results show that neighborhood collective efficacy is a significant (ß = .04; SE = .02; p = .03, predictor of the positive change in perceived social support over a 7 year period, however, not of the level of social support, adjusting for key compositional variables and neighborhood concentrated disadvantage. In contrast concentrated neighborhood disadvantage is not a significant predictor of either the level or change in social support. CONCLUSION: Our finding suggests that neighborhood collective efficacy may be important for inducing the perception of support from friends in parental caregivers over time.

  19. Computing Beyond the Church-Turing Limit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Robert

    2009-05-01

    Dershowitz and Gurevich claim to have proven the Church-Turing theorem starting from a set of 4 reasonable postulates. (Bulletin of Symbolic Logic, vol. 14, num. 3, Sept. 2008, pg. 299) But their postulate II assumes fixed vocabulary. Humans, however, change their vocabulary words (and concepts) over time. My Asa H artificial intelligence also changes its vocabulary. (Trans. of the Kansas Acad. of Sci., vol. 109, no. 3/4, pg 159, 2006, www.bioone.org/archive/0022- 8443/109/3/pdf/i0022-8443-109-3-159.pdf) Their postulate I excludes nondeterministic transitions between states. I don't know how often humans flip a coin but my Asa H does employ random transitions under certain circumstances. Perhaps humans and Asa H go beyond the Church-Turing limit. (Trans. Kansas Acad. of Sci., 108, 3/4, pg. 169, 2005)

  20. Compliance to Occupational and Public Health Requirements and Associated Factors in Barbershops and Hair Dressing Salons, A Case of kinondoni Municipality, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    OpenAIRE

    Nshunju, Raphael Kyalakishaija

    2012-01-01

    Hairdressing and barbering industry is one of occupations which employ significant number of young men and women. This population can be exposed to number of occupational problems such as poor posture, joint pain, prolonged standing, long working hours, missed meals, as well as being subjected to physical injuries. These problems can be reduced if barbershops and hair dressing salons are highly complying with occupational and public health regulatory and operational requirements (OHS and PH) ...

  1. Silence or condemnation: The Orthodox Church on homosexuality in Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miloš Jovanović

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the representation of the gay population in the discourse of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The declarations of Church bodies and officials, as well as unofficial public statements of prominent believers regarding gay persons are analysed. There is an ambivalent attitude towards gay people that is usually expressed in the ‘hate the sin, love the sinner’ formula. There is also a different kind of ambivalence: the Serbian Orthodox Church as well as its faithful either stick to the ‘policy of silence’ regarding LGBT(Q issues, or they resort to a very strong moralistic judgment and condemnation. This was particularly noticeable around the time of the gay parade taking place in Belgrade in 2010, as well as during the public discussion before the passing of the anti-discrimination law in the national assembly in 2009. The inclusion of philosophical and medical concepts in theological discourse can also be ascertained. As a result, besides the expected ‘sin’, the categories of ‘unnatural/contrary to nature’ and ‘(mental illness’ are often mentioned in the Church discourse, which is usually saturated with accentuated anti-Westernism.

  2. Subjective study of preferred listening conditions in Italian Catholic churches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martellotta, Francesco

    2008-10-01

    The paper describes the results of research aimed at investigating the preferred subjective listening conditions inside churches. The effect of different musical motifs (spanning Gregorian chants to symphonic music) was investigated and regression analysis was performed in order to point out the relationship between subjective ratings and acoustical parameters. In order to present realistic listening conditions to the subjects a small subset of nine churches was selected among a larger set of acoustic data collected in several Italian churches during a widespread on-site survey. The subset represented different architectural styles and shapes, and was characterized by average listening conditions. For each church a single source-receiver combination with fixed relative positions was chosen. Measured binaural impulse responses were cross-talk cancelled and then convolved with five anechoic motifs. Paired comparisons were finally performed, asking a trained panel of subjects their preference. Factor analysis pointed out a substantially common underlying pattern characterizing subjective responses. The results show that preferred listening conditions vary as a function of the musical motif, depending on early decay time for choral music and on a combination of initial time delay and lateral energy for instrumental music.

  3. Neighborhoods, US, 2017, Zillow, SEGS

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This web service depicts nearly 17,000 neighborhood boundaries in over 650 U.S. cities. Zillow created the neighborhood boundaries and is sharing them with the...

  4. NIGERIAN PENTECOSTAL CHURCHES AND THEIR PROSPERITY ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    UWUJA ALEX

    prosperity messages are a safe guard against poverty in Nigeria. .... As the leader of the Pentecostal movement, Seymour (in 1906) received an invitation ... CAC led to the formation of prayer groups and Churches to cushion the effect of the.

  5. The church's missionary efforts among domestic workers with special reference to Johannesburg West / by Malatsi Samuel Mofokeng

    OpenAIRE

    Mofokeng, Malatsi Samuel

    2007-01-01

    This research deals with the role of the church in its efforts to bring the gospel to domestic workers with reference to five church denominations in Johannesburg-West namely, the Methodist, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Anglican and the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa. Church leaders of the above mentioned church denominations used the integrated ministry by introducing programmes, projects and skills training along side the preaching of the gospel to empower domestic workers spiritua...

  6. Facilitators and Barriers to Implementing Church-Based Adolescent Sexual Health Programs in Baltimore City.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powell, Terrinieka W; Weeks, Fiona H; Illangasekare, Samantha; Rice, Eric; Wilson, James; Hickman, Debra; Blum, Robert W

    2017-02-01

    Black churches are an important community resource and a potentially powerful actor in adolescent health promotion. However, limited research exists describing the factors that may influence the successful implementation of evidence-based adolescent sexual health programs in churches. In the present study, a multi-informant approach was used to identify facilitators and barriers to implementing adolescent sexual health programs in black churches. Nine Black churches located in Baltimore, MD, were recruited to participate in this study. The senior pastor and youth minster from each congregation participated in an in-depth interview (N = 18). A total of 45 youth (ages 13-19 years) and 38 parents participated in 15 focus groups. Qualitative data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a qualitative content analytic approach. Participants agreed that comprehensive adolescent sexual health education should be available for youth in black churches. They also believed that abstaining from sex should be discussed in all adolescent sexual health programs. Three facilitators were discussed: widespread endorsement of church-based adolescent sexual health education, positive influence of youth ministers on youth, and life lessons as teaching tools. Four barriers are described: perceived resistance from congregants, discomfort among youth, lack of financial resources, and competing messages at home about sexual health. Our findings suggest that churches are a preferred place for adolescent sexual health education among some parents and youth. Study findings also reinforce the feasibility and desirably of church-based adolescent sexual health programs. Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Trust Building Recruitment Strategies for Researchers Conducting Studies in African American (AA) Churches: Lessons Learned.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonner, Gloria; Williams, Sharon; Wilkie, Diana; Hart, Alysha; Burnett, Glenda; Peacock, Geraldine

    2017-12-01

    An initial and vital important step in recruiting participants for church-based hospice and palliative care research is the establishment of trust and credibility within the church community. Mistrust of medical research is an extremely important barrier hindering recruitment in African American (AA) communities. A church-based EOL dementia education project is currently being conducted at four large urban AA churches. Church leaders voiced mistrust concerns of previous researchers who conducted investigations in their faith-based institutions. We explored strategies to ameliorate the mistrust concerns. Specific aim: To identify trust-rebuilding elements for researchers following others who violated trust of AA church leaders. Face-to-face, in-depth interviews were conducted from a convenient sample of four established AA church leaders. Interviews were held in the informants' churches to promote candor and comfort in revealing sensitive information about trust /mistrust. Content analysis framework was used to analyze the data. Elements identified from the analysis were then used to create themes. Multidimensional overarching themes emerged from the analysis included: Experience with researchers (positive and extremely negative), violation of trust and trust building strategies. Findings suggest that researchers who wish to conduct successful studies in the AA religious institutions must implement trust rebuilding strategies that include mutual respect, collaboration and partnership building. If general moral practices continue to be violated, threat to future hospice and palliative care research within the institutions may prevail. Thus, potential benefits are thwarted for the church members, AA community, and advancement of EOL care scholarship.

  8. The State-Church Relationship in Post-Communist Romania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ANCA GORGAN

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Starting from the Romanian edition of Lavinia Stan and Lucian Turcescu’swork Religion and Politics in Post-Communist Romania, we argue in favour of thenecessity to study the relationship between the State and the Romanian OrthodoxChurch using an approach which takes into account the details and the possibleexistent perspectives, bringing a plus of objectivity, which is so needed in a fieldperceived as a sensible one. The arguments put forward will be justified by thehistorical tradition of the State-Church relationship in the Byzantine Empire, but alsoin Romania, as well as by the predominantly Orthodox structure of our country.

  9. The real crisis of the church

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2015-05-21

    May 21, 2015 ... various religious communities, in courses of theology and religious studies and in the field of ... is used a great deal in North Atlantic Reformed circles these ... (e.g. China and Korea) and in Africa the church is growing.

  10. The role of the theology of retribution in the growth of Pentecostal-Charismatic churches in Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonathan Kangwa

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available This article considers the contribution of the theology of retribution to the growth of Pentecostal-charismatic churches in Africa. It argues that the beliefs and practices of African Pentecostal-charismatic churches uphold the theology of retribution. The success of prophecy and healing in these churches is based on their extensive engagement with the theology of retribution. To show this, the article begins with a brief review of the principle of retribution, describing it as resulting from the conception of a perfect and just universe in which every human deed brings with it consequences. Good deeds are followed by good consequences, evil deeds have bad consequences. Based on this understanding of retribution, the article discusses beliefs and practices of Pentecostal-charismatic churches which support the principle of retribution and whose involvement in healing and prophecy is attractive to Africans. The article concludes that the current discourse on Pentecostal-charismatic churches in Africa focuses strongly on the aspects of healing and prophecy while neglecting the contribution made by the theology of retribution to the popularity of these churches.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Located within African theologies and African church history, this article maintains that the current discourse on Pentecostal and charismatic churches in Africa, as it concentrates on healing and prophecy, overlooks the role played by the theology of retribution in the growth of these churches.

  11. Neighborhood Disadvantage and Physical Function: The Contributions of Neighborhood-Level Perceptions of Safety From Crime and Walking for Recreation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loh, Venurs H Y; Rachele, Jerome N; Brown, Wendy J; Ghani, Fatima; Turrell, Gavin

    2018-04-20

    Residents of more socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to report poorer physical function, although the reasons for this remain unknown. It is possible that neighborhood-level perceptions of safety from crime contribute to this relationship through its association with walking for recreation. Data were obtained from the fourth wave (collected in 2013) of the HABITAT (How Areas in Brisbane Influence HealTh and AcTivity) multilevel longitudinal study of middle- to older-aged adults (46-74 y) residing in 200 neighborhoods in Brisbane, Australia. The data were analyzed separately for men (n = 2190) and women (n = 2977) using multilevel models. Residents of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods had poorer physical function, perceived their neighborhoods to be less safe from crime, and do less walking for recreation. These factors accounted for differences in physical function between disadvantaged and advantaged neighborhoods (24% for men and 25% for women). This study highlights the importance of contextual characteristics, through their associations with behaviors, that can have in explaining the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and physical function. Interventions aimed at improving neighborhood safety integrated with supportive environments for physical activity may have positive impact on physical function among all socioeconomic groups.

  12. Conduct Disorder and Neighborhood Effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jennings, Wesley G; Perez, Nicholas M; Reingle Gonzalez, Jennifer M

    2018-05-07

    There has been a considerable amount of scholarly attention to the relationship between neighborhood effects and conduct disorder, particularly in recent years. Having said this, it has been nearly two decades since a comprehensive synthesis of this literature has been conducted. Relying on a detailed and comprehensive search strategy and inclusion criteria, this article offers a systematic and interdisciplinary review of 47 empirical studies that have examined neighborhood effects and conduct disorder. Described results suggest that there are generally robust linkages between adverse neighborhood factors and conduct disorder and externalizing behavior problems, as 67 of the 93 (72.04%) effect sizes derived from these studies yielded statistically significant neighborhood effects. The review also identifies salient mediating and moderating influences. It discusses study limitations and directions for future research as well.

  13. A Church with the Poor – Lessons From Scripture and From ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The church has an essential role to play in communities riddled with poverty, disease, and despair. Communities in informal-settlement areas suffer a great deal. Churches in these communities are often small and have few means for alleviating poverty. In the Bible, the community of God is a community of love. Although ...

  14. Neighborhood Ethnic Density as an Explanation for the Academic Achievement of Ethnic Minority Youth Placed in Neighborhood Disadvantage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madyun, Na'im; Lee, Moosung

    2010-01-01

    The underachievement of ethnic minority youth from disadvantaged neighborhoods is a pervasive educational issue this nation is facing. Based on an ecological perspective, we examined the contextual effects of neighborhood ethnic density and neighborhood disadvantage on the academic achievement of Hmong immigrant youths. Utilizing hierarchical…

  15. Geometrical tile design for complex neighborhoods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Czeizler, Eugen; Kari, Lila

    2009-01-01

    Recent research has showed that tile systems are one of the most suitable theoretical frameworks for the spatial study and modeling of self-assembly processes, such as the formation of DNA and protein oligomeric structures. A Wang tile is a unit square, with glues on its edges, attaching to other tiles and forming larger and larger structures. Although quite intuitive, the idea of glues placed on the edges of a tile is not always natural for simulating the interactions occurring in some real systems. For example, when considering protein self-assembly, the shape of a protein is the main determinant of its functions and its interactions with other proteins. Our goal is to use geometric tiles, i.e., square tiles with geometrical protrusions on their edges, for simulating tiled paths (zippers) with complex neighborhoods, by ribbons of geometric tiles with simple, local neighborhoods. This paper is a step toward solving the general case of an arbitrary neighborhood, by proposing geometric tile designs that solve the case of a "tall" von Neumann neighborhood, the case of the f-shaped neighborhood, and the case of a 3 x 5 "filled" rectangular neighborhood. The techniques can be combined and generalized to solve the problem in the case of any neighborhood, centered at the tile of reference, and included in a 3 x (2k + 1) rectangle.

  16. THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM AND THE CHURCH

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    in the CMa 125 the ministry of the gospel as human contribution is added. We conclude with the .... the main manual for instruction of the Christian faith, also on the church. It is remarkable that leading .... De Jong, r. 2013. Trouw. [Online.] ...

  17. City’s lost jewel. History of Cracow’a All Saints church till the end of XVI century

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katarzyna Walczak

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available One of the oldest churches in Krakow, dedicated to All Saints, was situated between Grodzka and Franciszkańska Street. It was build in the XIII century, could had been replacement church for first Cracow’s parish, which was transferred from Saint Trinity church. The name of All Saints church was mentioned for the first time in Vita S. Stanislai. The second time in 1278 his rector Arnold was noted. Most interesting fact is that in the Tables of Pence from 1325–1327 you can find two rectors, who had separate salary and were called rectors of wooden and brick churches. In 1490 church got a collegiate title. Than double rectory was liquidated and positions of provost and dean were established. Church was a place where Brotherhood of the Poor created by Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki used to work. Our knowledge of churches looks comes from iconography which was made when the building was already a ruin. According to those sources church had two naves, was oriented and had simply completed presbytery. The building had adhered tower, sacristy, treasure and chapel, called capella antiqua. Description of the interior of the church comes from 1599, when Jerzy Radziwiłł, Bishop of Cracow had visited it. According to the decision of the City Beautification Committee, the church was demolished in 1835, and church’s equipment was sold on auction. The tower survived till 1840, when it shared the fate of the rest of the building.

  18. Karl Barth's role in church and politics from 1930 to 1935

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    p1243322

    have severe consequences for the Protestant Church in the years to come, were the following: .... In an attempt to deal with Barth's insights from 1930 to1935, I will examine his ...... 17 “It is neither the same perception, conviction or deliberate learning that brings people to the church and ..... LESSONS TO BE LEARNED.

  19. Karl Barth's definition of church in politics and culture: Growth points ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The article describes briefly Karl Barth's views on church, its role in politics and how it relates to culture. This is done by identifying the way in which the church participates in the social realm through its relationship with the State. The historic religious question asks whether there is a natural mutual-determining relationship ...

  20. The black church as the womb of black liberation theology?: Why the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2015-04-30

    Apr 30, 2015 ... Southern Africa (URCSA) is not a genuine black church? This article ..... peculiar constituency of black slaves and freed men[sic] what no one else was .... church in the USA, which started during the early 20th century when ...

  1. Neighborhood and Network Disadvantage among Urban Renters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew Desmond

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Drawing on novel survey data, this study maps the distribution of neighborhood and network disadvantage in a population of Milwaukee renters and evaluates the relationship between each disadvantage and multiple social and health outcomes. We find that many families live in neighborhoods with above average disadvantage but are embedded in networks with below average disadvantage, and vice versa. Neighborhood (but not network disadvantage is associated with lower levels of neighborly trust but also with higher levels of community support (e.g., providing neighbors with food. Network (but not neighborhood disadvantage is associated with lower levels of civic engagement. Asthma and diabetes are associated exclusively with neighborhood disadvantage, but depression is associated exclusively with network disadvantage. These findings imply that some social problems may be better addressed by neighborhood interventions and others by network interventions.

  2. THE CONCEPT OF IDENTITY IN THE SOCIO-POLITICAL DISCOURSE OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. M. Morozov

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The article analyzes the strategy of the Russian Orthodox Church for the revival of national, state and church identity in Russia. The peculiarities of the church interpretation of the concept of identity and the risks of loss of national identity are revealed from the standpoint of the Church. The author concludes that in the socio-political discourse of the Orthodox Church the concept of identity is presented as a cultural and social marker and is comprehended in the paradigm of conformity with established standards and behavioral responses. Spiritual identity is seen in Orthodoxy through an appeal to the religious tradition and is correlated with the moral imperative formed in the past and with the social and legal code. The Church considers the Orthodox self-identification of citizens and its participation in sociocultural transformations of Russia to be important factors of state identity. In declarations on the topic of Christian identity, the leaders of the Church rely on the idea of Russian religious philosophy about the genetic connection of Orthodoxy with national consciousness. The tendency of Orthodox participation in the public examination of secular cultural events, in teaching schoolchildren (“General Professional Competences’ in the course of ‘The Basics of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics” and in the scientific activity of higher educational institutions (the inclusion of “theology” in the list of scientific disciplines of the Higher Certifying Commission is developing. Public support for the interaction of the Church with state institutions of culture and education is regarded by the author as a factor of acquiring institutional features of identity by Orthodoxy. The active participation of the Church in the public discussion on the relationship between Russia and European countries is motivated by the desire to develop international cooperation, which is hampered by the value contradictions that the

  3. Functional Interpretation of Neighborhood Public Spaces in Terms of Identity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamid Majedi

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this article is to evaluate the effect of neighborhood public space transformation due to rapid urbanization in Tehran since 1960s, on the formation of neighborhood identity. In order to find the role of public spaces in enhancing neighborhood identities, two middle class neighborhoods with different spatial organizations are compared with each other: Nazi Abad a planned neighborhood and Mehran a typical unplanned neighborhood which developed through rapid urbanization.   Next, the effect of neighborhood public spaces on neighborhood inhabitants is evaluated from two perspectives: Perceptual dimension and social dimension. The findings indicate that planned spatial organization and various neighborhood public spaces result in stronger neighborhood identity. It enhances both perceptual dimension of neighborhood identity(place attachment and its social dimension (sense of community. In contrast unplanned spatial organization which is the typical feature of Tehran neighborhoods leads to weak neighborhood identity.

  4. Ancient Worship Wars: An Investigation of Conflict in Church Music History

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael J. Wood

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to prove that conflict in church music is nothing new. Even in the time of the early church fathers, dissenting views on what were acceptable and unacceptable practices in church music were present. The music of the 2nd century through the 14th century is examined. The method used to find specific conflicts in church music history involved reading early Christian literature on music. When possible, both sides of the conflicts included in the project are presented. However, oftentimes only one side of an argument can be found since there is not an abundant supply of early Christian writings on music. When this is the case, a brief attempt at reconstructing the opposing side is made. The most important resources for this research were James McKinnon’s Music in Early Christian Literature and Oliver Strunk’s Source Readings in Music History: Revised Edition. These were integral to this project as they provided primary sources translated into English.

  5. The impact of neighborhood walkability on walking: does it differ across adult life stage and does neighborhood buffer size matter?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villanueva, Karen; Knuiman, Matthew; Nathan, Andrea; Giles-Corti, Billie; Christian, Hayley; Foster, Sarah; Bull, Fiona

    2014-01-01

    We explored the impact of neighborhood walkability on young adults, early-middle adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults' walking across different neighborhood buffers. Participants completed the Western Australian Health and Wellbeing Surveillance System Survey (2003-2009) and were allocated a neighborhood walkability score at 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1600m around their home. We found little difference in strength of associations across neighborhood size buffers for all life stages. We conclude that neighborhood walkability supports more walking regardless of adult life stage and is relevant for small (e.g., 200m) and larger (e.g., 1600m) neighborhood buffers. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.

  6. "Holy Rus": The Geopolitical Imagination in the Contemporary Russian Orthodox Church

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Suslov, M. D.

    2014-01-01

    The author analyzes the geographical and geopolitical ideas inherent in the concept of "Holy Rus" as used by Patriarch Kirill and other hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church.......The author analyzes the geographical and geopolitical ideas inherent in the concept of "Holy Rus" as used by Patriarch Kirill and other hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church....

  7. Seismic performance assessment of three masonry churches through FE simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milani, Gabriele; Shehu, Rafael; Valente, Marco

    2017-07-01

    The paper presents some seismic analyses on three masonry churches located in Emilia-Romagna (Italy), recently stricken by a devastating earthquake sequence from 20th to 29th May 2012. These churches have a similar geometrical configuration, consisting of three naves, a central colonnade and a simple apse. Limit analyses are conducted on the most important macro-elements of the structure and a full investigation of the churches is carried out by means of the commercial FE Code SAP2000, in both linear and non-linear ranges. Two accelerograms are considered: one is defined in accordance with Italian code response spectrum and the other is based on a natural record of the 29th May earthquake. For both scenarios, the seismic behaviour of the churches is analysed in detail and some vulnerability considerations are drawn. A remarkable consistency is found between limit analyses of macro-elements and response spectrum analyses, whilst some discrepancies can be noted for non-linear dynamic analyses. The results put in evidence the insufficient strength of the apses for shear actions, the columns of the naves for bending moments, the façade for overturning and the triumphal arch for the formation of an in-plane four hinges mechanism.

  8. Influence of Architectural Features and Styles on Various Acoustical Measures in Churches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carvalho, Antonio Pedro Oliveira De.

    This work reports on acoustical field measurements made in a major survey of 41 Catholic churches in Portugal that were built in the last 14 centuries. A series of monaural and binaural acoustical measurements was taken at multiple source/receiver positions in each church using the impulse response with noise burst method. The acoustical measures were Reverberation Time (RT), Early Decay Time (EDT), Clarity (C80), Definition (D), Center Time (TS), Loudness (L), Bass Ratios based on the Reverberation Time and Loudness rm (BR_-RT and rm BR_-L), Rapid Speech Transmission Index (RASTI), and the binaural Coherence (COH). The scope of this research is to investigate how the acoustical performance of Catholic churches relates to their architectural features and to determine simple formulas to predict acoustical measures by the use of elementary architectural parameters. Prediction equations were defined among the acoustical measures to estimate values at individual locations within each room as well as the mean values in each church. Best fits with rm R^2~0.9 were not uncommon among many of the measures. Within and interchurch differences in the data for the acoustical measures were also analyzed. The variations of RT and EDT were identified as much smaller than the variations of the other measures. The churches tested were grouped in eight architectural styles, and the effect of their evolution through time on these acoustical measures was investigated. Statistically significant differences were found regarding some architectural styles that can be traced to historical changes in Church history, especially to the Reformation period. Prediction equations were defined to estimate mean acoustical measures by the use of fifteen simple architectural parameters. The use of the Sabine and Eyring reverberation time equations was tested. The effect of coupled spaces was analyzed, and a new algorithm for the application of the Sabine equation was developed, achieving an average of

  9. Neighborhood Disadvantage, Neighborhood Safety and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in African Americans: Biosocial Associations in the Jackson Heart Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Cheryl R.; Ommerborn, Mark J.; Hickson, DeMarc A.; Grooms, Kya N.; Sims, Mario; Taylor, Herman A.; Albert, Michelle A.

    2013-01-01

    Objective We examined associations between neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage, perceived neighborhood safety and cardiometabolic risk factors, adjusting for health behaviors and socioeconomic status (SES) among African Americans. Methods Study participants were non-diabetic African Americans (n = 3,909) in the baseline examination (2000–2004) of the Jackson Heart Study. We measured eight risk factors: the metabolic syndrome, its five components, insulin resistance and cardiovascular inflammation. We assessed neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage with US Census 2000 data. We assessed perceived neighborhood safety, health behaviors and SES via survey. We used generalized estimating equations to estimate associations with a random intercept model for neighborhood effects. Results After adjustment for health behaviors and SES, neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with the metabolic syndrome in women (PR 1.13, 95% CI 1.01, 1.27). Lack of perceived safety was associated with elevated glucose (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.03, 1.80) and waist circumference (PR 1.06, 95% CI 1.02, 1.11) among women, and with elevated glucose (PR 1.30, 95% CI 1.02, 1.66) and insulin resistance (PR 1.25, 95% CI 1.08, 1.46) among men. Conclusions Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and perceived safety should be considered as targets for intervention to reduce cardiometabolic risks among African Americans. PMID:23691005

  10. The Coptic Church in South Africa: The meeting of mission and migration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David A. Ogren

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Previously identified as an entrenched Egyptian community, Copts have propelled themselves into the greater Africa through two main phenomena: migration and mission. Copts have recast displacement to transcend powerlessness and loss by highlighting the sovereign opportunity to consolidate identity in new contexts and widen the fold of the Coptic community, expressed through ecumenism, holistic ministry, cultural sensitivity and the presentation of the Coptic Church as essentially ‘African’. In migration, the Coptic Church creates identity through physical presence (church buildings, recasting the narrative (African originality, employing a rubric of sovereignty (agency rather than passivity and engaging others ecumenically (gaining Orthodox legitimacy. Beyond reaching out to migrants, much energy has been devoted to mission by establishing institutions, including a missionary training department at the Institute of Coptic Studies and a Department of African Studies in Cairo. In mission, the Coptic Church extends its influence beyond migrants to include non-Copts and non-Christians through ecumenism, social programs and the presentation of Copts as essentially African.

  11. An Architecture for the Electronic Church: Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grubiak, Margaret M

    2016-04-01

    More than a university, Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was also the headquarters for evangelist Oral Roberts's electronic church. The electronic church in America, dominated by Christian evangelicals, used technology to spread the Gospel over radio airways and television signals to a dispersed audience. Yet evangelicals like Roberts also constructed ambitious campuses in real space and time. The architecture of Oral Roberts University visualized a modern and "populuxe" image for the electronic church in the 1960s and 1970s. The university's Prayer Tower purposely alluded to the Seattle Space Needle, aligning religion and the Space Age, and the campus's white, gold, and black color palette on late modern buildings created an image of aspirational luxury, conveying Roberts's health and wealth gospel. Oral Roberts University served as a sound stage for Roberts's radio and television shows, a pilgrimage point for his audience, and a university dedicated to training evangelicals in the electronic church.

  12. The history of the Russian Orthodox Church in Denmark (1741-2016 seen in a Danish-Russian historical perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christensen Carsten Sander

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the history and the problems of the Russian Orthodox Church in Denmark – and here seen in a Danish-Russian historical perspective, especially, in the last 300 years. The relations between the Danes and the Orthodox Church began, however, around 900 years before, in the Eastern European state of Kievan Rus. The article shows that the history of the church is closely linked to the political development in Russia. In this article, the history of the church and the changing Russian congregations will be illuminated in a historical perspective so that both the church and church buildings will throw a new light on the role of the Russian Church in both Danish and Russian history. In addition, it will be analysed to what extent trade policy, strategy and power policy and family relations have influenced the role and position of the Russian Church in Danish history.

  13. Discovering and exploring ubuntu-language in the dialogue between the Dutch Reformed Church and the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lieze Meiring

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Discussions with members of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC and the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA in Ohrigstad illustrate the possibilities of ubuntu-language in overcoming racism and prejudice. After proposing a number of meanings and values related to ubuntu, this research explores the role of ubuntu-language � and at times the lack thereof � in the concrete relationship between these two faith communities as an expression of recent South African history. Ubuntu-language seems to offer unique outcomes in this relationship in strengthening identity, unleashing vitality, celebrating diversity, awakening solidarity, revealing humanity, bolstering individualism and enhancing Christianity.

  14. An Evaluation of Spatial Organization of the Church Architecture of Kerala during the Sixteenth to Seventeenth Centuries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panjikaran, S.; Vedamuthu, R.

    2013-05-01

    The churches of Kerala of the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries exhibits an architectural character which is different from that of the indigenous Church Architecture of Kerala. Preliminary studies show that the spatial organization of these churches also varied from that of the indigenous churches of Kerala. Did these variations in spatial organization arise of any change in functional requirements of churches? How did the indigenous Architectural character adapt to these changes or did it give way to a new style? The objective of this study is to understand the spatial organization of the indigenous Church Architecture of Kerala and to evaluate the changes in spatial organization during the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries. This study is primarily based on field survey and documentation, evaluation is done by relying on the Rapoport's theory. It is concluded that the church architecture of this period is a fusion of the Western and Eastern ecclesiastical traditions in terms of spatial organization and planning.

  15. The Influence of Pastors' Ideologies of Homosexuality on HIV Prevention in the Black Church.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quinn, Katherine; Dickson-Gomez, Julia; Young, Staci

    2016-10-01

    Young, Black men who have sex with men (YBMSM) are disproportionately affected by HIV, and Black Churches may be a source of stigma which can exacerbate HIV risk and contribute to negative health and psychosocial outcomes. Findings from this study are based on 21 semi-structured interviews with pastors and ethnographic observation in six Black Churches. Interview transcripts and field notes were analyzed in MAXQDA using thematic content analysis. Although pastors espoused messages of love and acceptance, they overwhelmingly believed homosexuality was a sin and had difficulty accepting YBMSM into their churches. The tension around homosexuality limited pastors' involvement in HIV prevention efforts, although there still may be opportunities for some churches.

  16. The influence of pastors’ ideologies of homosexuality on HIV prevention in the Black Church

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quinn, Katherine; Dickson-Gomez, Julia; Young, Staci

    2016-01-01

    Young, Black men who have sex with men (YBMSM) are disproportionately affected by HIV and Black churches may be a source of stigma which can exacerbate HIV risk and contribute to negative health and psychosocial outcomes. Findings from this study are based on 21 semi-structured interviews with pastors and ethnographic observation in six Black Churches. Interview transcripts and field notes were analyzed in MAXQDA using thematic content analysis. Although pastors espoused messages of love and acceptance, they overwhelmingly believed homosexuality was a sin and had difficulty accepting YBMSM into their churches. The tension around homosexuality limited pastors’ involvement in HIV prevention efforts, although there still may be opportunities for some churches. PMID:27099095

  17. Liturgical language of the Eastern Slavonic Orthodox Churches. The Position of The Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church’s Faithful Concerning Liturgical Language

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    Tomasz Stempa

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The analysis of collected materials from the life of the Slavic Orthodox Churches indicates, that in some cases Church Slavonic language is no longer a current or justifiable liturgical language. Bilingualism was introduced or Church Slavonic language was replaced by national languages. A closer investigation into the liturgical language situation in Orthodox Churches reveals that the topicality and the validity of using Church Slavonic language as a liturgical language depends on a few factors. As in the case of the non-canonical Orthodox Churches in Macedonia and Ukraine, the Church Slavonic language has been replaced by national languages for nationalistic reasons. In the case of Bulgaria and Serbia, the main factor that has influenced this change is treating Orthodox Church as a national church. In Eastern Slavonic Orthodox Churches (Belarus, Poland and Russia, changing the liturgical language has occurred at a slow pace. The history of churches in XIX and XXI century, the temper and character of Eastern Slavs have had an influence on this. In this case, the biggest opponent of the Church Slavonic language is democracy in a broad sense. Orthodox Christians in Poland still want to pray in the Church Slavonic language. It is worth mentioning, that in churches, where the national language is used, Church Slavonic language has not been completely removed from liturgical life. Bilingualism of liturgical languages is common and in some cases, when the place is considered as backbone for the Orthodox Church, reversion to Church Slavonic language has been noted (Serbia, Bulgaria.

  18. SOCIAL ACTIVITY OF RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN 1990-2000S: CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS AND EXPERIENCE OF REALIZATION

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    Мария Александровна Симонова

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This article deals with the essential characteristics of the social activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1990-2000s. There are characterized priorities, shape, effective practice of social work and examined the conceptual foundations of the social activities of the Russian Orthodox Church. The analysis enables to establish the conceptual framework and the specifics of the social activities implementation of the Russian Orthodox Church. Particular attention is paid to the study of the status of the Russian Orthodox Church in the state and society. The specificity of the Social Concept of the church was active development, determined by social practices. In this regard, special attention is paid to the activities of the spiritual and educational centers, which are formed into a single system connected to various forms of ecclesiastical education and social service. In the analyzed period the Church clarified its position towards the state and civil society institutions and identified the principles and promising areas of cooperation. The Russian Orthodox Church has become one of the key social institutions that implement the function of the spiritual care of the moral state of society.

  19. The church and the secular: The effect of the post-secular on Christianity

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    Jaco Beyers

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Paradigms determine relationships. During the Enlightenment period Emile Durkheim proposed a relationship between the sacred and the profane. Religion, which is concerned with the sacred, was defined in terms of being different from the profane. The profane came to denote the secular. The organic character of religion caused some scholars to predict the end of the church at the hand of modernisation and rationalisation. Some scholars instead envisaged a new form and function of the church. Some scholars anticipated the growth of Christianity. Reality shows that Christianity has not died out but seems to be growing. The new era we are currently in (identified as the postmodern has been described as the post-secular age where a process of re-sacralisation takes place. How will the post-secular influence the church? What will the relationship between the church and the secular be like under a new paradigm? This article suggests that within a postmodern paradigm, the post-secular will emphasise the place of the individual in the church. Fragmentation of society will also be the result of the post-secular. Religiosity in future will have to contend with fundamentalism and civil religion.

  20. The Spanish Church and the American Social Help (1954-1968

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    José Luis Mínguez Goyanes

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The historical research about the contemporaneous Spanish Church has most of all pay attention to the política dimension in the Church-State relationships, disregarding dates about welfare work and social help. Cardenal Quiroga Palacios, President from the episcopal Committee for Charity, was the maximun responsible in the distribution of the American Social Help. Together with a Bibliography, the Article offers documentation from the «Archivo Histórico Diocesano de Santiago».

  1. Dimensions of religiousness and cancer screening behaviors among church-going Latinas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Jennifer D; Pérez, John E; Pischke, Claudia R; Tom, Laura S; Juarez, Alan; Ospino, Hosffman; Gonzalez-Suarez, Elizabeth

    2014-02-01

    Churches are a promising setting through which to reach Latinas with cancer control efforts. A better understanding of the dimensions of religiousness that impact health behaviors could inform efforts to tailor cancer control programs for this setting. The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between dimensions of religiousness with adherence to cancer screening recommendations among church-going Latinas. Female Spanish-speaking members, aged 18 and older from a Baptist church in Boston, Massachusetts (N = 78), were interviewed about cancer screening behaviors and dimensions of religiousness. We examined adherence to individual cancer screening tests (mammography, Pap test, and colonoscopy), as well as adherence to all screening tests for which participants were age-eligible. Dimensions of religiousness assessed included church participation, religious support, active and passive spiritual health locus of control, and positive and negative religious coping. Results showed that roughly half (46 %) of the sample had not received all of the cancer screening tests for which they were age-eligible. In multivariate analyses, positive religious coping was significantly associated with adherence to all age-appropriate screening (OR = 5.30, p religious coping could increase the impact of cancer control interventions for Latinas.

  2. Confessing the Catholicity of the Church

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sarot, M.

    2013-01-01

    Starting from a recent discussion in the Netherlands about the application of the Pontifical Council for Social Communication for the internet extension ‘.catholic,’ the author inquires into the meaning of confessing the catholicity of the church. He shows that ‘catholic’ is a title phrase, a

  3. Effective strategic leadership: Balancing roles during church ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2011-08-15

    Aug 15, 2011 ... Received: 10 Nov. 2010. Accepted: ... as strategic leadership) or 'inner growth engines' of an organisation that account for its success. (Hoskisson ... a cell church design, the central characteristic being affected was the sense ...

  4. Forging a Collaborative Relationship between the Black Church and the Counseling Profession

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adksion-Bradley, Carla; Johnson, Darrell; Sanders, JoAnn Lipford; Duncan, Lonnie; Holcomb-McCoy, Cheryl

    2005-01-01

    In the field of counseling, there has been a growing awareness of the important role the Black church plays in African American communities. Although counseling professionals have begun recognizing the influence the Black church has in the lives of African Americans, there seems to be little information on how counselors can collaborate with…

  5. Neighborhood Poverty and Adolescent Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    McBride Murry, Velma; Berkel, Cady; Gaylord-Harden, Noni K.; Copeland-Linder, Nikeea; Nation, Maury

    2011-01-01

    This article provides a comprehensive review of studies conducted over the past decade on the effects of neighborhood and poverty on adolescent normative and nonnormative development. Our review includes a summary of studies examining the associations between neighborhood poverty and adolescent identity development followed by a review of studies…

  6. Women, sexuality, ecology, and the church.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruether, R R

    1993-01-01

    This abridged article originally was given as a lecture at Seattle University. The view presented is that women's status within the Catholic Church is subordinate to men's status, and that the Church is misguided in its notion of protection of and support for life. Affirmation of life is not promoted by isolated acts of giving birth, but exists in a social and ecological system in a community over time. The fit between children being born and the network to sustain their lives is misaligned. The minority of the world's population has control over the majority of the world's resources, while the majority live in misery, poverty, and starvation. The affirmation of the value of human life must be both qualitative and quantitative. The woman must be empowered, and not continually defined and controlled by male decision makers. Being prolife means to change the conditions of women and the conditions that deny most humans adequate food, clear air and water, housing, and land to sustain life. The American Catholic Bishops confuse teachings on abortion and teachings on nuclear arms buildup. American Catholic Bishops have had great difficulty formulating a pastoral letter on women, which is unfair to the growing number of women who are alienated by the treatment of the church. The denigration of women is deeply imbedded within Catholicism and Christianity, in general, in spirituality and practice. The issue of abortion has more to do with paternalism and women's sexuality and reproduction than valuing or nonvaluing fetal life. Women are denied leadership within the church because of women's sinful nature and the need for paternalism as a punishment for self-determination. St. Augustine stated that two men were not created in God's image and lack personhood. Thomas Aquinas agreed with Aristotle that women are defective due to a gestational process which deprives women of full mental, moral, or physical humanity. Only a man can fulfill the role of priest. The taboo of woman

  7. Strategies of Building a Stronger Sense of Community for Sustainable Neighborhoods: Comparing Neighborhood Accessibility with Community Empowerment Programs

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    Te-I Albert Tsai

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available New Urbanist development in the U.S. aims at enhancing a sense of community and seeks to return to the design of early transitional neighborhoods which have pedestrian-oriented environments with retail shops and services within walking distances of housing. Meanwhile, 6000 of Taiwan’s community associations have been running community empowerment programs supported by the Council for Cultural Affairs that have helped many neighborhoods to rebuild so-called community cohesion. This research attempts to evaluate whether neighborhoods with facilities near housing and shorter travel distances within a neighborhood would promote stronger social interactions and form a better community attachment than neighborhoods that have various opportunities for residents to participate in either formal or informal social gatherings. After interviewing and surveying residents from 19 neighborhoods in Taipei’s Beitou District, and correlating the psychological sense of community with inner neighborhood’s daily travel distances and numbers of participatory activities held by community organizations under empowerment programs together with frequencies of regular individual visits and casual meetings, statistical evidence yielded that placing public facilities near residential locations is more effective than providing various programs for elevating a sense of community.

  8. The role of the church in the struggle against poverty: A Hervormde Kerk in Suidelike Afrika perspective

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    S. P. Mpanza

    1996-12-01

    Full Text Available The essence of being a church is love. The church as an organization based on love has the responsibility of loving God, his people and the world which God himself loved first. This paper is about the responsibility of a 'poor church', the Hervormde Kerk in Suidelike Afrika, which despite its poverty still has the vocation of becoming meaningful to its members. Two appeals are made here: firstly, that both the rich and the poor churches should, despite their circumstances, play their roles in combating poverty among their members. Secondly, churches should shift from charity work to development.

  9. Neighborhood crime and transit station access mode choice - phase III of neighborhood crime and travel behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-08-01

    This report provides the findings from the third phase of a three-part study about the influences of neighborhood crimes on travel : mode choice. While previous phases found evidence that high levels of neighborhood crime discourage people from choos...

  10. Defensible Spaces in Philadelphia: Exploring Neighborhood Boundaries Through Spatial Analysis

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    Rory Kramer

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Few spatial scales are as important to individual outcomes as the neighborhood. However, it is nearly impossible to define neighborhoods in a generalizable way. This article proposes that by shifting the focus to measuring neighborhood boundaries rather than neighborhoods, scholars can avoid the problem of the indefinable neighborhood and better approach questions of what predicts racial segregation across areas. By quantifying an externality space theory of neighborhood boundaries, this article introduces a novel form of spatial analysis to test where potential physical markers of neighborhood boundaries (major roads, rivers, railroads, and the like are associated with persistent racial boundaries between 1990 and 2010. Using Philadelphia as a case study, the paper identifies neighborhoods with persistent racial boundaries. It theorizes that local histories of white reactions to black in-migration explain which boundaries persistently resisted racial turnover, unlike the majority of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods, and that those racial boundaries shape the location, progress, and reaction to new residential development in those neighborhoods.

  11. Poverty and Christian Welfare Scheme: Evidence from the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion Osun State, Nigeria

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    S. Awoniyi

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Existing studies on welfare schemes in Nigerian Churches have focussed on the political and economic perspectives, neglecting the ethical dimension which has a stronger basis in the Bible. This study, therefore, examined the welfare scheme of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion, Osun State, Nigeria as evidence with a view to assessing their method of generating welfare resources, as well as their implementation and monitoring strategy against the provision of the Bible on welfare ethics. Data were obtained through interviews, observation and questionnaire. In-depth interviews were conducted with 90 randomly selected key informants including 12 clergy, 24 poor members of the church, 18 welfare scheme officers and 36 beneficiaries. Four welfare schemes were observed between 1991 -2012 in a total of 30 Anglican Churches in major towns in Osun State. A total of 600 copies of the questionnaire were purposively administered to beneficiaries, church members and welfare scheme officers. Out of these, 550 were retrieved and analysed using percentages. The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion generated resources for welfare schemes through compulsory  levies, donations, annual harvest proceeds, offering collection ,tithes/offering and foreign assistance .Four categories of welfare schemes were adopted: Health care delivery, vocational rehabilitation, micro-credit loans, and women’s empowerment. One implementation strategy was adopted, namely, social advocacy. The church utilized sensitisation mechanism, widow retreat workshops, free health campaign, radio/television programmes and supportive counselling. Welfare scheme for the Church of Nigeria offered socio-economic benefits to members of the Church, but they were weakened by limited human coverage, insufficient funds and poor monitoring. These call for moral reorientation on the part of stakeholders in order to inculcate the ethics of justice and fairness as enshrined in the Bible.

  12. A Qualitative Phenomenological Analysis Exploring Digital Immigrants' Use of Church-Based Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brinkman-Kealey, Renee

    2012-01-01

    Individuals and societies have traditionally sought answers to important questions in life through religion. In the 21st century, physical churches with clergy are no longer the sole source of spiritual answers or knowledge. Since the late 1960s, church attendance has been declining. Church leaders have begun to implement new methods such as using…

  13. Neighborhood Economic Enterprises: An Analysis, Survey, and Guide to Resources in Starting Up Neighborhood Enterprises.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kotler, Neil G.

    This pamphlet provides information on the history of and current trends toward neighborhood economic enterprises and provides guidance for setting up such enterprises. A bibliography of books, articles, and newsletters that have information on how to start and sustain neighborhood businesses and cooperatives is provided. Also included is a list of…

  14. Neighborhood Disparities in the Restaurant Food Environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martinez-Donate, Ana P; Espino, Jennifer Valdivia; Meinen, Amy; Escaron, Anne L; Roubal, Anne; Nieto, Javier; Malecki, Kristen

    2016-11-01

    Restaurant meals account for a significant portion of the American diet. Investigating disparities in the restaurant food environment can inform targeted interventions to increase opportunities for healthy eating among those who need them most. To examine neighborhood disparities in restaurant density and the nutrition environment within restaurants among a statewide sample of Wisconsin households. Households (N = 259) were selected from the 2009-2010 Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW), a population-based survey of Wisconsin adults. Restaurants in the household neighborhood were enumerated and audited using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Restaurants (NEMS-R). Neighborhoods were defined as a 2- and 5-mile street-distance buffer around households in urban and non-urban areas, respectively. Adjusted linear regression models identified independent associations between sociodemographic household characteristics and neighborhood restaurant density and nutrition environment scores. On average, each neighborhood contained approximately 26 restaurants. On average, restaurants obtained 36.1% of the total nutrition environment points. After adjusting for household characteristics, higher restaurant density was associated with both younger and older household average age (P restaurant food environment in Wisconsin neighborhoods varies by age, race, and urbanicity, but offers ample room for improvement across socioeconomic groups and urbanicity levels. Future research must identify policy and environmental interventions to promote healthy eating in all restaurants, especially in young and/or rural neighborhoods in Wisconsin.

  15. Historical and artistic aspects of St Nicholas's Church in Czulice

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    Lucyna Rotter

    1999-12-01

    Full Text Available Czulice is a village in the Małopolskie voivodeship; the village which belongs to the Kocmyrzów/Luborzyca municipality. The parish church is the place which offers the faithful an opportunity­ to deepen their religious life; it also becomes a reflection of their care and involvement. Understandably, priests, landowners and parishioners strove to adorn the temple in the most distinguished manner. The church in Czulice is a treasure trove of priceless heritage dating back from medieval to contemporary times.

  16. ptimal setpoint operation to reduce peak drying of a church organ

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    A. W.M. van Schijndel

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the characteristics of the Walloon Church in Delft (Netherlands and a description of constraints for the indoor climate, giving criteria for the indoor air temperature and relative humidity with the focus on the preservation of the monumental church organ. The set point operation of the Heating Venting and Air Conditioning (HVAC system is evaluated by simulation. The next main model components are presented and combined in a single integrated model: 1 a whole building response model for simulating the indoor temperature and relative humidity, 2 a Partial Differential Equation (PDE based model for simulating detailed dynamic moisture transport in the monumental wood (church organ and 3 a SimuLink controller model. The building model is validated with measurements. The main advantage of the integrated model is that it directly simulates the impact of HVAC control set point strategies on the indoor climate and the church organ. Two types of control strategies are discussed. The first type is a limited indoor air temperature-changing rate. The second type is a limited indoor air relative humidity changing rate. Recommendations from international literature suggest that 1 a changing rate of 2 K/h will preserve the interior of churches and 2 a limited drying rate is important for the conservation of monumental wood. This preliminary study shows that a limitation of indoor air temperature changing rate of 2 K/h can reduce the peak drying rates by a factor 20 and a limitation of the relative humidity changing rate of 2%/h can reduce the peak drying rates by a factor 50. The second strategy has the disadvantage that the heating time is not constant.

  17. Technical Limitations in Merging Secular and Sacred Functions in Monumental Churches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piatkowska, Ksenia

    2017-10-01

    The abandonment of churches and their adaptation for secular purposes is a current subject in Europe and worldwide. Most cases involve objects that were desacralized and then rebuilt as a whole object for alternative functions. Thus far, the merging of secular and sacred functions in one monumental Catholic church has not raised any issues. The paper describes the case of St. Catherine’s Church in Gdansk, Poland, where sacred function exists parallel to the new secular function being implemented. The study is based on the authentic, professional experience of the author. It describes the technical limitations arising from the need to ensure destinies for the optimal conditions of both sacred and secular function, while avoiding undesirable interference between them. The author further identifies architectural solutions most relevant to current requirements for protection of sacred zones in the church, for preservation of the monument, and for optimal function of a modern science museum. Significant design issues include: the inviolability of the sacred zone, preservation of the historical value of the monument, proper operation of new secular zones in compliance with contemporary standards of safety, performance of the assumed mission and profitability. The research indicates specific areas where the highest probability of collision exists between the sacred and profane and where technical problems are likely to occur.

  18. Space, race, and poverty: Spatial inequalities in walkable neighborhood amenities?

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    John Whalen

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND Multiple and varied benefits have been suggested for increased neighborhood walkability. However, spatial inequalities in neighborhood walkability likely exist and may be attributable, in part, to residential segregation. OBJECTIVE Utilizing a spatial demographic perspective, we evaluated potential spatial inequalities in walkable neighborhood amenities across census tracts in Boston, MA (US. METHODS The independent variables included minority racial/ethnic population percentages and percent of families in poverty. Walkable neighborhood amenities were assessed with a composite measure. Spatial autocorrelation in key study variables were first calculated with the Global Moran's I statistic. Then, Spearman correlations between neighborhood socio-demographic characteristics and walkable neighborhood amenities were calculated as well as Spearman correlations accounting for spatial autocorrelation. We fit ordinary least squares (OLS regression and spatial autoregressive models when appropriate as a final step. RESULTS Significant positive spatial autocorrelation was found in neighborhood socio-demographic characteristics (e.g. census tract percent Black, but not walkable neighborhood amenities or in the OLS regression residuals. Spearman correlations between neighborhood socio-demographic characteristics and walkable neighborhood amenities were not statistically significant, nor were neighborhood socio-demographic characteristics significantly associated with walkable neighborhood amenities in OLS regression models. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that there is residential segregation in Boston and that spatial inequalities do not necessarily show up using a composite measure. COMMENTS Future research in other geographic areas (including international contexts and using different definitions of neighborhoods (including small-area definitions should evaluate if spatial inequalities are found using composite measures, but also should

  19. A review of neighborhood effects and early child development: How, where, and for whom, do neighborhoods matter?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minh, Anita; Muhajarine, Nazeem; Janus, Magdalena; Brownell, Marni; Guhn, Martin

    2017-07-01

    This paper describes a scoping review of 42 studies of neighborhood effects on developmental health for children ages 0-6, published between 2009 and 2014. It focuses on three themes: (1) theoretical mechanisms that drive early childhood development, i.e. how neighborhoods matter for early childhood development; (2) dependence of such mechanisms on place-based characteristics i.e. where neighborhood effects occur; (3) dependence of such mechanisms on child characteristics, i.e. for whom is development most affected. Given that ecological systems theories postulate diverse mechanisms via which neighborhood characteristics affect early child development, we specifically examine evidence on mediation and/or moderation effects. We conclude by discussing future challenges, and proposing recommendations for analyses that utilize ecological longitudinal population-based databases. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  20. Violence in post-apartheid South Africa and the role of church and theology

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    C.F.C. Coetzee

    2004-08-01

    Full Text Available South Africa is known as one of the most violent countries in the world. Since the seventeenth century, violence has been part of our history. Violence also played a significant role during the years of apartheid and the revolutionary struggle against apartheid. It was widely expected that violence would decrease in a post-apartheid democratic South Africa, but on the contrary, violence has increased in most cases. Even the TRC did not succeed in its goal to achieve reconciliation. In this paper it is argued that theology and the church have a great and significant role to play. Churches and church leaders who supported revolutionary violence against the apartheid system on Biblical “grounds”, should confess their unbiblical hermeneutical approach and reject the option of violence. The church also has a calling in the education of young people, the pastoral care of criminals and victims, in proclaiming the true Gospel to the government and in creating an ethos of human rights.

  1. The ‘enemy within’ the post-Vatican II Roman Catholic Church

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    Graham A. Duncan

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965 is regarded as one of the most significant processes in the ecumenical church history of the 20th century. At that time, a younger generation of Roman Catholic theologians began to make their mark in the church and within the ecumenical theological scene. Their work provided an ecumenical bridge between the Reforming and the Roman Catholic ecclesiastical traditions, notwithstanding the subsequent negative response of the Roman church hierarchy. Despite important advances, recent pontificates significantly altered the theological landscape and undermined much of the enthusiasm and commitment to unity. Roman Catholic theological dissent provided common ground for theological reflection. Those regarded as the ‘enemy within’ have become respected colleagues in the search for truth in global ecclesiastical perspective. This article will use the distinction between the history and the narratives of Vatican II.

  2. The evangelical church of Zaire and the female ordained ministry 1

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    M. M. Mulemfo

    1997-12-01

    Full Text Available African culture(s had assigned inferior roles to women in society. The first Christian missionaries did very little to liberate women from this cultural enslavement. The missionaries's understanding of the leadership roles of women was not very different from that of African culture and its societal organisation. Many churches in Africa had kept to this cultural conservatism and also adopted the missionary theology. However, there are some Christians who accept women into the pastoral ministry, while others consider this move as blasphemous and unbiblical. The role of the church in this conflictual issue is to elaborate a new biblical hermeneutic which would help the church to create a conducive environment where men and women would understand their humanity on an equal basis and participate in God's salvific mission for the world.

  3. Communities: Development of church-based counselling teams

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    Stella D. Potgieter

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Pastoral care is a biblical mandate to the Church to be involved in the lives of God’s people. A key metaphor used by Jesus to describe his pastoral role was that of a shepherd. Thus, to be God’s shepherds and instruments of healing and transformation in God’s world is an imperative to all people, clergy and laity alike. The brokenness in South African society is strikingly apparent, exacerbated by the effects of exceptionally high criminal behaviour as statistics show. The demand for pastoral care and assistance with various personal problems is on the increase, with many non-church goers turning to churches for help. Also apparent in South Africa is the acute shortage of trained individuals to offer care and counselling. The task of offering care is not the sole responsibility of clergy, as all are called to be shepherds and caregivers. The importance and urgency in training church-based counselling teams cannot be overstated. More so in that we are becoming increasingly aware that not only are individuals in need of care, but whole communities are struggling with trauma and life’s challenges, and often do not know whom to turn to. In pursuance of the realisation that pastoral care is the function and duty of all Christians, this article will delineate in particular an explanation of lay counselling, reasons for its importance including biblical foundations, where and how ordinary South Africans can get involved, and will propose certain models and approaches for getting started. These models will not be discussed in depth, but present an opportunity for the next. Teams for these models consist of professional counsellors, but ought not to be restricted to a select few, as all are called to this special ministry and can be trained for the task, which will include on-going supervision and mentoring. The overall purpose of this article is to highlight the urgency of training lay counsellors and some recommendations will be made how to

  4. Semi-renovationism in the Russia Orthodox Church in the middle of 1920-s.: toward the question about the church policy’s estimate of bishop Irenaeus (Shulgin of Elabuga and bishop Alexiy (Kuznetsov of Sarapulsk

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    Zimina Nina

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The article concerns the activity of the St. Petersburg Department of the Moscow Society for Religious education, targeted to give the western Christians the knowledge about the affairs’ state of the Eastern Church. The author identifies the literature published and translated by Russian theologians and members of clergy for western Christians from 1871 to 1880. She describes the work’s methods of the Department. The response of western theologians was the publication of works about the Eastern Church. Members of the St. Petersburg Department managed to fulfill designated tasks despite the short period of activity. They illuminated as much as possible the state of the contemporary Church, a church history and theology and assisted western and east Christians in the dialog’s development.

  5. Ethnicity at the individual and neighborhood level as an explanation for moving out of the neighborhood

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schaake, K.; Burgers, J.; Mulder, C.H.

    2010-01-01

    We address the influence of both the ethnic composition of the neighborhood and the ethnicity of individual residents on moving out of neighborhoods in the Netherlands. Using the Housing Research Netherlands survey and multinomial logistic regression analyses of moving out versus not moving or

  6. Rapid Development, Build-Out Ratio and Subsequent Neighborhood Turnover

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    George O. Rogers

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Neighborhood development is primarily comprised of structural elements that include design elements, nearby amenities and ecological attributes. This paper assumes that the process of development itself also influences the character of the neighborhood—specifically, that the rate of development and build-out ratio influences neighborhood turnover. While the structural components clearly set a framework for development, the process of development expresses the character of the neighborhood in subtle messages conveyed through the market. Neighborhoods in the rapidly growing university town of College Station, Texas are analyzed in terms of neighborhood design, nearby amenities and landscape ecology components. Residential property records are used to characterize each neighborhood in terms of the rate of development and current build-out ratio. The multivariate analysis indicates that the development rate increases subsequent neighborhood turnover rates while the build-out ratio decreases it.

  7. "Give Us the Words": Protestant Faith Leaders and Sexuality Education in Their Churches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hach, Alexa; Roberts-Dobie, Susan

    2016-01-01

    A small sample of faith leaders from the USA's three largest Mainline Protestant denominations (American Baptist, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and Methodist) were interviewed as part of a case study regarding sexuality education in their churches. The interview schedule, based on a previous Alan Guttmacher Institute designed…

  8. Action and Church : Pastoral Work as the Focal Point of a Liberating Ecclesiology

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Först, Johannes; Dillen, Annemie; Wolfteich, Claire

    2016-01-01

    Pastoral work is the church in action. That is perhaps the most concise definition of pastoral work. Despite its briefness, however, it offers an ingenious point of departure for reflecting on key issues concerning the church and its task in the world. Based on this short definition, the current

  9. Neighborhood decline and the economic crisis : an introduction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Kempen, Ronald; Bolt, Gideon; van Ham, Maarten

    2016-01-01

    Urban neighborhoods are still important in the lives of its residents. Therefore, it is important to find out how the recent global financial and economic crisis affects these neighborhoods. Which types of neighborhoods and which residents suffer more than others? This introduction provides an

  10. THE FORTIFIED CHURCHES FROM TRANSYLVANIA - HOW WELL ARE THEY KNOWN BY THE ROMANIAN CITIZENS?

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    Serb Silvana Valentina

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The Fortified Churches from Transylvania represent an important category of historical and religious sights of the anthropic touristic potential - historic cultural potential of this region. However, they are not exploited from a touristic point of view at their fair value, one reason being the weak promoting activity, especially the lack of information among citizens about the existence of these churches. In this paper, I intend to highlight on the information level awareness among the Romanian citizens regarding the existence of these churches, to identify which are the most well known and visited churches and to establish the profile of those who visit the churches. In the end, the results of this research impose a set of measures to improve the level of information among the Romanian citizens concerning the existence of this historic and religious heritage. The paper is relevant for the doctoral research project called Marketing Places - religious and historical sights of touristic interest from Transylvania under the guidance of Professor Doctor Marius Pop, Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, during 1st of October 2009 - 1st of October 2012.

  11. Handling of pastoral misconduct and discipline: Evidence from the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe church

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norman Chivasa

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Misconduct has permeated almost every community across the globe and Christian churches have not been spared either. The two basic questions that the current study addresses were what are some of the reported behaviours of male pastors that constitute misconduct in the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM in Zimbabwe church?; and is there any policy framework in the AFM in Zimbabwe designed to repair distressed relationships between offending pastors and the church? Results showed that in the AFM in Zimbabwe, pastoral misconduct is seen as a negative force that militates against sustaining harmony in the church. As such, whenever a male pastor commits an act of misconduct, disciplinary action is taken against him. It was also found that constructive dialogue to address misconduct is still a blind spot in the church under review. And because there is no policy framework to amend distressed relationships after administering discipline, social interactions between offending pastors and the church remain antagonistic. In view of the identified problem, this study proposed that the AFM in Zimbabwe might need to embrace a peace building framework because it has the propensity to repair broken relationships and to build friendships, social networks and trust between people. This framework can be instrumental in repairing distressed relations between offending pastors and the church at large. The strength of peace building lies in the values of brotherly love, forgiveness, reconciliation and relationship building, which are compatible with Christianity.

  12. The state-church relations in Estonia during the years 1944 - 1953

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nepochatova Marina

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The article features an analysis of the nature and dynamic of church-state relations in Estonia during the first years following its integration into the USSR. In 1944 the religious situation in the republic was characterized by a number of distinctive attributes. The local population, which had lived prior to the accession of the Baltics to the USSR in 1944 in an atmosphere of relative religious freedom, presented the Soviet authorities with a new phenomenon that would have to be reckoned with. The Plenipotentiaries for Estonia appointed by the Council on ROC Affairs at the USSR Council of Ministers were able to convince their superiors of the need to tread carefully in light of the local specifics. The article deals with an analysis of the distinctive features of the Estonian Orthodox Church. As a secondary denomination in the region, it felt the powerful influence of Lutheran customs and rites. The ethnic heterogeneity of the fold and pronounced language barrier determined the choice of candidacy for the ruling eparchy. The Estonian diocese was rather well endowed with cathedrals, meaning that the main problem of church life in the USSR since the easing of persecution in 1944-1947 - the opening of new parishes - was not an issue in Estonia. On the whole, the church-state relations that dominated the republic in 1944-1947 were quite stable, just as they were around the country; moreover, they were typified by a cautious policy on the part of the Soviet authorities. In 1948-1949 the situation began to deteriorate across the country and Estonia was no exception. The difference was in the methods used: in Estonia, the decision was made to fight the Church and its clergy primarily through collectivization, which was actively pursued in the Baltics beginning in the early 1950s. Collectivization left rural parishes and their clergy in dire straits, and religious life in the countryside began to wane. Yet, the arrival from the central regions

  13. Neighborhood Energy/Economic Development project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1991-12-31

    Energy costs impact low income communities more than anyone else. Low income residents pay a larger percentage of their incomes for energy costs. In addition, they generally have far less discretionary energy use to eliminate in response to increasing energy prices. Furthermore, with less discretionary income, home energy efficiency improvements are often too expensive. Small neighborhood businesses are in the same situation. Improved efficiency in the use of energy can improve this situation by reducing energy costs for residents and local businesses. More importantly, energy management programs can increase the demand for local goods and services and lead to the creation of new job training and employment opportunities. In this way, neighborhood based energy efficiency programs can support community economic development. The present project, undertaken with the support of the Urban Consortium Energy Task Force, was intended to serve as a demonstration of energy/economic programming at the neighborhood level. The San Francisco Neighborhood Energy/Economic Development (NEED) project was designed to be a visible demonstration of bringing the economic development benefits of energy management home to low-income community members who need it most. To begin, a Community Advisory Committee was established to guide the design of the programs to best meet needs of the community. Subsequently three neighborhood energy/economic development programs were developed: The small business energy assistance program; The youth training and weatherization program; and, The energy review of proposed housing development projects.

  14. Neighborhood Effects on Health: Concentrated Advantage and Disadvantage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finch, Brian K.; Do, D. Phuong; Heron, Melonie; Bird, Chloe; Seeman, Teresa; Lurie, Nicole

    2010-01-01

    We investigate an alternative conceptualization of neighborhood context and its association with health. Using an index that measures a continuum of concentrated advantage and disadvantage, we examine whether the relationship between neighborhood conditions and health varies by socio-economic status. Using NHANES III data geo-coded to census tracts, we find that while largely uneducated neighborhoods are universally deleterious, individuals with more education benefit from living in highly educated neighborhoods to a greater degree than individuals with lower levels of education. PMID:20627796

  15. Neighborhood Integration and Connectivity Predict Cognitive Performance and Decline

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amber Watts PhD

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Neighborhood characteristics may be important for promoting walking, but little research has focused on older adults, especially those with cognitive impairment. We evaluated the role of neighborhood characteristics on cognitive function and decline over a 2-year period adjusting for measures of walking. Method: In a study of 64 older adults with and without mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD, we evaluated neighborhood integration and connectivity using geographical information systems data and space syntax analysis. In multiple regression analyses, we used these characteristics to predict 2-year declines in factor analytically derived cognitive scores (attention, verbal memory, mental status adjusting for age, sex, education, and self-reported walking. Results : Neighborhood integration and connectivity predicted cognitive performance at baseline, and changes in cognitive performance over 2 years. The relationships between neighborhood characteristics and cognitive performance were not fully explained by self-reported walking. Discussion : Clearer definitions of specific neighborhood characteristics associated with walkability are needed to better understand the mechanisms by which neighborhoods may impact cognitive outcomes. These results have implications for measuring neighborhood characteristics, design and maintenance of living spaces, and interventions to increase walking among older adults. We offer suggestions for future research measuring neighborhood characteristics and cognitive function.

  16. Girls' self-efficacy in the context of neighborhood gender stratification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soller, Brian; Jackson, Aubrey L

    2018-05-01

    Scholars have linked neighborhood characteristics to self-efficacy, but few have considered how gender factors into this association. We integrate literature on neighborhoods, gender stratification, and self-efficacy to examine the association between women's relative resources among neighborhood residents and adolescents' self-efficacy. We hypothesize that girls report more self-efficacy when they reside in neighborhoods where women have more socioeconomic resources relative to men. We test this hypothesis using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods and the 1990 Census. Results from multilevel regression models with gender-interacted effects indicate the neighborhood level of women's relative resources was not associated with boys' self-efficacy. However, girls reported higher self-efficacy when women's relative resources in their neighborhoods were greater. This association persisted after including potential individual- and neighborhood-level confounding variables. Our study underscores the importance of attending to gendered processes when understanding how neighborhoods impact youth. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  17. Creating social spaces to tackle AIDS-related stigma: reviewing the role of church groups in Sub-Saharan Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, C; Skovdal, M; Gibbs, A

    2011-08-01

    An expanding body of literature explores the role of African church groups in facilitating or hindering the support of people living with AIDS and challenging or contributing to HIV/AIDS-related stigma. Treating church groups as social spaces in which HIV/AIDS-related stigma may potentially be challenged, we systematically review this literature, identifying five themes that highlight the complex and contradictory role of the church as a potential agent of health-enhancing social change. In many ways the church perpetuates HIV/AIDS-related stigma through (i) moralistic attitudes and (ii) its reinforcement of conservative gender ideologies. However some churches have managed move towards action that makes a more positive contribution to HIV/AIDS management through (iii) promoting various forms of social control for HIV prevention, (iv) contributing to the care and support of the AIDS-affected and (v) providing social spaces for challenging stigmatising ideas and practices. We conclude that church groups, including church leadership, can play a key role in facilitating or hindering the creation of supportive social spaces to challenge stigma. Much work remains to be done in developing deeper understandings of the multi-layered factors that enable some churches, but not others, to respond effectively to HIV/AIDS.

  18. Examining public open spaces by neighborhood-level walkability and deprivation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Badland, Hannah M; Keam, Rosanna; Witten, Karen; Kearns, Robin

    2010-11-01

    Public open spaces (POS) are recognized as important to promote physical activity engagement. However, it is unclear how POS attributes, such as activities available, environmental quality, amenities present, and safety, are associated with neighborhood-level walkability and deprivation. Twelve neighborhoods were selected within 1 constituent city of Auckland, New Zealand based on higher (n = 6) or lower (n = 6) walkability characteristics. Neighborhoods were dichotomized as more (n = 7) or less (n = 5) socioeconomically deprived. POS (n = 69) were identified within these neighborhoods and audited using the New Zealand-Public Open Space Tool. Unpaired 1-way analysis of variance tests were applied to compare differences in attributes and overall score of POS by neighborhood walkability and deprivation. POS located in more walkable neighborhoods have significantly higher overall scores when compared with less walkable neighborhoods. Deprivation comparisons identified POS located in less deprived communities have better quality environments, but fewer activities and safety features present when compared with more deprived neighborhoods. A positive relationship existed between presence of POS attributes and neighborhood walkability, but the relationship between POS and neighborhood-level deprivation was less clear. Variation in neighborhood POS quality alone is unlikely to explain poorer health outcomes for residents in more deprived areas.

  19. Culture, pouvoir et eglise (Culture, Power, and Church)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vallin, Pierre

    1973-01-01

    Examines the historical evolution of the terms "culture" and "civilization" in Europe beginning with the medieval concept of the "studium," and focuses on the influence of the church in shaping these concepts. (RL)

  20. The Catholic Church & Social Justice Issues: An Expose of Vatican Power in America.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mumford, Stephen D.

    1983-01-01

    Three popular modern movements--ERA, family planning, and legal abortion--all undermine church authority and power by having as their ends the promotion of acts that completely counter the tenets with which the church leadership has indoctrinated its congregants. Actions the Vatican has taken to counter these threats are discussed. (RM)

  1. Affected by Ritual : Predictors of Agreement with Church Marriage Rites in The Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Robinson, Remco; Hermans, Chris; Scheepers, Peer; Schilderman, Hans

    2007-01-01

    Why do couples opt for a church wedding ritual living in a modern secularized society. Based on the ritual form hypothesis of Lawson and McCauley, the authors identify the specific church wedding rites as special agent rituals and the rites that form the ritual framework of every eucharist or prayer

  2. A Longitudinal Analysis of the Influence of the Neighborhood Environment on Recreational Walking within the Neighborhood: Results from RESIDE

    OpenAIRE

    Christian, Hayley; Knuiman, Matthew; Divitini, Mark; Foster, Sarah; Hooper, Paula; Boruff, Bryan; Bull, Fiona; Giles-Corti, Billie

    2017-01-01

    Background: There is limited longitudinal evidence confirming the role of neighborhood environment attributes in encouraging people to walk more or if active people simply choose to live in activity-friendly neighborhoods. Natural experiments of policy changes to create more walkable communities provide stronger evidence for a causal effect of neighborhood environments on residents’ walking. Objectives: We aimed to investigate longitudinal associations between objective and perceived neighbor...

  3. Territorial Dioceses and Ethnic Episcopies in the Structure of the Church Organization of the First Bulgarian Kingdom (Canonical Aspects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Archpriest Alexander Zadornov

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The coexistence of ethnic and territorial principles in the structure of ecclesiastical organizations is a well known fact in church history. Both principles are equally legitimate from the point of view of canonical law. The “ethnic principle” was based on legal norms of the so-called 34th Apostolic Rule, and contrary to the opinion of scholars of the 19th century, it was still in use after the era of the Ecumenical Councils. This fact must be considered by students of the history of Church organizations in the First Bulgarian Kingdom, too. The observations regarding the structure of church organizations in Simeonic Bulgaria make it possible to assume the coexistence of ethnic and territorial principles of church organizations in his kingdom. As is known, Slavonic church schools were established in the southwestern part of the First Bulgarian Kingdom after 886. They were aimed at training the Slavonic clergy for the Slavonic church organization. In 893, the Bulgarian King Simeon was elevated to the throne, and a Slavonic eparchy headed by St. Clement of Ohrid was established in the southwestern territories of the First Bulgarian Kingdom. As a result, heterogeneous church organizations were established in the region, and church structures of ethnic and territorial types appeared. They differ from each other by the language of their church services. Old Church Slavonic must have been used as a liturgical language in the ethnic Slavonic eparchy. Since direct historical evidence for such heterogeneous church structure in the First Bulgarian Kingdom is absent, new interpretations of sources made on the basis of canonical law can be of importance for Slavonic studies.

  4. New Insights about St Michael’s Church in Ston

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivana Tomas

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available St Michael’s church in Ston is an important monument of medieval architectural heritage within a wider area of Dubrovnik and the only positively attested monument of the so-called southern Dalmatian single-nave dome type in the area of historical Zahumlje. The church stands on the top of the Gradac hill or St Michael’s Mount (107 m.a.s.l., at the location of an earlier fortification. Based on an analysis of St Michael’s architecture, as well as its stone furnishing, the author has argued that the church is pre-Romaneseque in origin. It has also been suggested that the belfry (the structure to the west was built together with the church, since the concept of the ground plan (the width-length ratio, the slightly protruding apse, its small dimensions, as well as its vertical stratigraphy (the belfry and the dome indicate that it was constructed as a ruler’s chapel. It is most probable that the church was dedicated to Archangel Michael from the very beginning, as the cult of the heavenly host-leader as the patron saint of rulers and their military campaigns was widespread among the upper classes in the early Middle Ages. The time of construction should most probably be connected with the first historically attested and significant ruler of Ston – Duke Mihajlo Višević (before 910 – after 928, who raised Ston to an administrative and ecclesiastical centre of this Sclavinia. An analysis of the younger layer of sculpture in St Michael’s (the monumental window frames and a fragment with human face, as well as its murals, has suggested that the ruler’s chapel was furnished more richly around the mid-11th century. Considering the historical sources on Ston in this period, it has been suggested that its renovation took place at the initiative of Stefan Vojislav (before 1018 – 1043/1050, founder of the Vojislavljević dynasty. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that Vojislav, having defeated Byzantium and its allies (among them the

  5. Comprehensive personal witness: a model to enlarge missional involvement of the local church

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hancke, Frans

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available In the The Split-Level Fellowship, Wesley Baker analysed the role of individual members in the Church. He gave a name to a tragic phenomenon with which Church leaders are familiar. Although true of society in general it is especially true of the church. Baker called the difference between the committed few and the uninvolved many, Factor Beta. This reality triggers the question: Why are the majority of Christians in the world not missionally involved through personal witness and which factors consequently influence personal witness and missional involvement? This article explains how the range of personal witness and missional involvement found in local churches are rooted in certain fundamental factors and conditions which are mutually influencing each other and ultimately contribute towards forming a certain paradigm. This paradigm acts as the basis from which certain behavioural patterns (witness will manifest. The factors influencing witness are either described as accelerators or decelerators and their relativity and mutual relationships are considered. Factors acting as decelerators can severely hamper or even annul witness, while accelerators on the other hand, can have an immensely positive effect to enlarge the transformational influence of witness. In conclusion a transformational model is developed through which paradigms can be influenced and eventually changed. This model fulfils a diagnostic and remedial function and will support local churches to enlarge the individual and corporate missional involvement of believers.

  6. Better Buildings Neighborhood Program Progress Stories

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    2012-04-19

    n neighborhoods across the country, stories are emerging constantly of individuals, businesses, and organizations that are benefiting from energy efficiency. Included are the stories of real people making their homes, businesses, and communities better with the help of the Better Buildings Neighborhood Program.

  7. Neighborhood social capital and individual health.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mohnen, S.M.; Groenewegen, P.P.; Völker, B.; Flap, H.

    2011-01-01

    Neighborhood social capital is increasingly considered to be an important determinant of an individual's health. Using data from the Netherlands we investigate the influence of neighborhood social capital on an individual's self-reported health, while accounting for other conditions of health on

  8. Obesogenic and youth oriented restaurant marketing in public housing neighborhoods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Rebecca E; Heinrich, Katie M; Reese-Smith, Jacqueline Y; Regan, Gail R; Adamus-Leach, Heather J

    2014-03-01

    To compare restaurant marketing by restaurant and neighborhood type. All restaurants (61=fast food, FF; 72=table service, TS) within an 800-meter radius of 13 public housing developments (HD) and 4 comparison neighborhoods were audited using the Restaurant Assessment Tool©2010. HD neighborhoods were lower income and higher minority than comparison neighborhoods with similar density and street connectivity. Restaurants in HD neighborhoods had fewer healthy entrées than comparison neighborhoods. FF restaurants had cheaper beverages and more children's meals, supersize drinks, free prize with purchase, super-size items, special characters, and more items geared to driving than TS restaurants. Residents of lower socioeconomic neighborhoods may be differentially exposed to unhealthy food options.

  9. Church music in the light of national legislation in the principality of Serbia and the Kingdom of Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peno Vesna

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Officially, the Serbian Orthodox Church enjoyed a legally guaranteed status throughout the 19th century and Orthodox faith was considered to be prevalent both in the Principality of Serbia and in the Kingdom of Serbia. Nevertheless, after gaining its autonomy within the Constantinople Patriarchate in 1831 (under whose forced jurisdiction it had been since 1766, Knez Milos’s attitude and a number of state provisions led to the unsparing diminishing of the Church authority together with frequent subversions of the Church Canon law. Introduction of the constitutional and legislative framework for the activities of the Serbian church, the enforcement of institutionalized mechanisms of control, and above all, direct interference of the State authorities in the elections of Church hierarchs and their activities, marked relations of the Church and the State in the 19th century. “Might makes right” rule was always on the State side. Investigations so far have least examined those provisions of the Government concerning general and theological education, in which church music also found its place. Presentation and analysis of the facts about the beginnings of organized music education go in favor of the existing findings on concurrencies and discrepancies in two cultural policies - that of the State and the one of the Church. Attitudes of the Sovereign and the Government towards the educational process, so vital during the decades of the State formation, are also indicative for affirmation of chanting practice and music art in general, as are (non- conflicting interests between the prelates and distinguished public figures on one, and those in charge at the ministries on the other side. This paper presents all relevant government legislations regulating religious and music education at regular and theological schools. Attempts of the Church dignitaries and learned Serbian musicians to raise the level of music culture with the help of the State

  10. Jurisprudence, Peyote and the Native American Church.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawson, Paul E.; Scholes, Jennifer

    1986-01-01

    Examines federal and state governments' attempts to suppress peyote use in Indian rituals as historically Christian-inspired. Focuses on questions of morality versus criminal law. Explains history and development of Native American Church of North America. Examines nine contemporary peyote trials. Concludes larger questions of tribal sovereignty…

  11. Community and Christianity in the Black Church.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morris, Joseph R.; Robinson, Dianne T.

    1996-01-01

    Explores the experience of Christianity for many African Americans and how such experience provides a foundation for social activism. Discusses Black church burnings with respect to the more traditional Christian African American view of religion. Explores implications for incorporating the religious traditions of Christian African Americans into…

  12. Effects of semantic neighborhood density in abstract and concrete words.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reilly, Megan; Desai, Rutvik H

    2017-12-01

    Concrete and abstract words are thought to differ along several psycholinguistic variables, such as frequency and emotional content. Here, we consider another variable, semantic neighborhood density, which has received much less attention, likely because semantic neighborhoods of abstract words are difficult to measure. Using a corpus-based method that creates representations of words that emphasize featural information, the current investigation explores the relationship between neighborhood density and concreteness in a large set of English nouns. Two important observations emerge. First, semantic neighborhood density is higher for concrete than for abstract words, even when other variables are accounted for, especially for smaller neighborhood sizes. Second, the effects of semantic neighborhood density on behavior are different for concrete and abstract words. Lexical decision reaction times are fastest for words with sparse neighborhoods; however, this effect is stronger for concrete words than for abstract words. These results suggest that semantic neighborhood density plays a role in the cognitive and psycholinguistic differences between concrete and abstract words, and should be taken into account in studies involving lexical semantics. Furthermore, the pattern of results with the current feature-based neighborhood measure is very different from that with associatively defined neighborhoods, suggesting that these two methods should be treated as separate measures rather than two interchangeable measures of semantic neighborhoods. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Neighborhood social capital and individual health

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mohnen, S.M.; Groenewegen, P.P.; Völker, B.G.M.; Flap, H.D.

    2010-01-01

    Neighborhood social capital is increasingly considered to be an important determinant of an individual’s health. Using data from the Netherlands we investigate the influence of neighborhood social capital on an individual’s self-reported health, while accounting for other conditions of health on

  14. Church and state in South Africa and human rights

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Piet J. Strauss

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available After the Second World War, there was a universal rise and greater acknowledgement of human rights, which entered churches and ecumenical organisations’ way of thinking. Human rights influenced the church’s understanding of justice and human dignity both internally and externally. The concept of human dignity came from the biblical believe that man is created in the image of God. In South Africa human rights were also increasingly recognised and respected. A charter of human rights was included as chapter 2 of the 1996 Constitution and churches regard human dignity as a central tenet of their approach to members and non-members. Differences between church and state on the issue have arisen as the result of differences on the freedom of religion. Church and state in South Africa can complement each other in the promotion of human dignity. Opsomming: Kerk en staat in Suid-Afrika en menseregte. Na die Tweede Wêreldoorlog is menseregte wêreldwyd erken en aanvaar. Dit was ook die geval in kerke en ekumeniese organisasies. Menseregte het kerke se siening van geregtigheid en menswaardigheid in hulle interne sowel as eksterne optrede beïnvloed. Die begrip menswaardigheid het ontstaan uit die bybelse oortuiging dat die mens na die beeld van God geskape is. In Suid-Afrika is menseregte ook toenemend erken en aanvaar. ’n Verklaring van menseregte is as hoofstuk 2 in die 1996-grondwet ingesluit en kerke beskou menswaardigheid as toonaangewend in hulle benadering van mense binne en buite die kerk. Verskille tussen die kerk en die staat in Suid-Afrika oor menseregte het ontstaan as gevolg van verskille oor die inhoud van die vryheid van godsdiens. Teen hierdie agtergrond kan kerk en staat mekaar egter aanvul in die bevordering van menseregte.

  15. Network neighborhood analysis with the multi-node topological overlap measure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Ai; Horvath, Steve

    2007-01-15

    The goal of neighborhood analysis is to find a set of genes (the neighborhood) that is similar to an initial 'seed' set of genes. Neighborhood analysis methods for network data are important in systems biology. If individual network connections are susceptible to noise, it can be advantageous to define neighborhoods on the basis of a robust interconnectedness measure, e.g. the topological overlap measure. Since the use of multiple nodes in the seed set may lead to more informative neighborhoods, it can be advantageous to define multi-node similarity measures. The pairwise topological overlap measure is generalized to multiple network nodes and subsequently used in a recursive neighborhood construction method. A local permutation scheme is used to determine the neighborhood size. Using four network applications and a simulated example, we provide empirical evidence that the resulting neighborhoods are biologically meaningful, e.g. we use neighborhood analysis to identify brain cancer related genes. An executable Windows program and tutorial for multi-node topological overlap measure (MTOM) based analysis can be downloaded from the webpage (http://www.genetics.ucla.edu/labs/horvath/MTOM/).

  16. Thinking beyond Secularism: The Catholic Church and Political Practice in Rural South India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aparna Sundar

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available This article re-opens the debate on secularism in India by looking at a religion and a region that has historically been marginal to this discourse, focusing on the way in which the Catholic Church has historically mediated the relationship between individuals and the state, among the fishing communities of South India. The Catholic Church’s dominant position among the fishing communities, its minority status within India, as well as theological and other shifts that have taken place within the global Church, lead it to articulate a secular, even radical politics as its primary mode of religious engagement. Radical clergy, many from fishing backgrounds, act as both organic and traditional intellectuals in the Gramscian sense, linking the traditional religious concerns of the Church to the secular interests of their parishioners. Likewise, villagers participate in Church-generated associations spaces to secure wider political goals. The paper concludes that certain forms of religious organisation in the public sphere might indeed be compatible with democracy, citizenship, and even secularism.

  17. The early Korean Protestant Churches' impact on Korea's ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2014-06-20

    Jun 20, 2014 ... general and the Korean Presbyterian Church in particular on the early phases of .... The missionary first asks for religious liberty, and then proclaims ..... which was historically founded in 1907, in Pyongyang, North Korea.

  18. Using GPS Data to Study Neighborhood Walkability and Physical Activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rundle, Andrew G; Sheehan, Daniel M; Quinn, James W; Bartley, Katherine; Eisenhower, Donna; Bader, Michael M D; Lovasi, Gina S; Neckerman, Kathryn M

    2016-03-01

    Urban form characteristics intended to support pedestrian activity, collectively referred to as neighborhood walkability, are thought to increase total physical activity. However, little is known about how neighborhood walkability influences utilization of neighborhood space by residents and their overall physical activity. Sociodemographic information and data on mobility and physical activity over 1-week periods measured by GPS loggers and accelerometers were collected from 803 residents of New York City between November 2010 and November 2011. Potentially accessible neighborhood areas were defined as land area within a 1-kilometer distance of the subject's home (radial buffer) and within a 1-kilometer journey on the street network from the home (network buffer). To define actual areas utilized by subjects, a minimum convex polygon was plotted around GPS waypoints falling within 1 kilometer of the home. A neighborhood walkability scale was calculated for each neighborhood area. Data were analyzed in 2014. Total residential neighborhood space utilized by subjects was significantly associated with street intersection density and was significantly negatively associated with residential density and subway stop density within 1 kilometer of the home. Walkability scale scores were significantly higher within utilized as compared with non-utilized neighborhood areas. Neighborhood walkability in the utilized neighborhood area was positively associated with total weekly physical activity (32% [95% CI=17%, 49%] more minutes of moderate-equivalent physical activity across the interquartile range of walkability). Neighborhood walkability is associated with neighborhood spaces utilized by residents and total weekly physical activity. Copyright © 2016 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Concept And Its Implementation During The Reconstruction Of The Church Of Blessed Virgin Mary In Chojna

    Science.gov (United States)

    Płotkowiak, Maciej

    2015-12-01

    St. Mary's parish church in Chojna was erected at the turn of XIV and XVc. in a shape of three aisles, hall church without transept, completed from the west with a single tower and from the east with polygonal presbytery with an ambulatory attached. The convergence of characteristic structural and decorative features with employed ones in medieval churches being attributed to Hinrich Brunsberg's fabric resulted in such a way, that also authorship of St. Mary in Chojna was assigned to this legendary architect and master builder of late Middle Ages period. The church was destroyed by fire during WWII in February 1945 and since then had remained as an open ruin. In 1997 reconstruction procedure of the church was begun under the leadership of the author and it still continues. This text consists of the sum of experiences connected with confronting design ideas and solutions with their executions on the site during construction works.

  20. The Political Position of Southeast Russian Church Council (1919 During the Civil War

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Biriukova Iuliia

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The article studies the attitude of the Southeast Russian Church Council toward rather an inhomogeneous politically White Movement. This council took place in Stavropol in 1919. Various socio-political forces, represented at the council, tried to take advantage of that assembly in order to use its authority for political causes, but the council successfully ignored such attempts. According to the council the main purpose of the Church was to work constructively in a religious and moral sphere. Since the White Army became an ally of the Church in its struggle with militant atheism, the leader of the White Movement General Anton Denikin was the only political fi gure who received a special support from the council

  1. CHURCH, Category, and Speciation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rinderknecht Jakob Karl

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The Roman Catholic definition of “church”, especially as applied to groups of Protestant Christians, creates a number of well-known difficulties. The similarly complex category, “species,” provides a model for applying this term so as to neither lose the centrality of certain examples nor draw a hard boundary to rule out border cases. In this way, it can help us to more adequately apply the complex ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council. This article draws parallels between the understanding of speciation and categorization and the definition of Church since the council. In doing so, it applies the work of cognitive linguists, including George Lakoff, Zoltan Kovecses, Giles Fauconnier and Mark Turner on categorization. We tend to think of categories as containers into which we sort objects according to essential criteria. However, categories are actually built inductively by making associations between objects. This means that natural categories, including species, are more porous than we assume, but nevertheless bear real meaning about the natural world. Taxonomists dispute the border between “zebras” and “wild asses,” but this distinction arises out of genetic and evolutionary reality; it is not merely arbitrary. Genetic descriptions of species has also led recently to the conviction that there are four species of giraffe, not one. This engagement will ground a vantage point from which the Council‘s complex ecclesiology can be more easily described so as to authentically integrate its noncompetitive vision vis-a-vis other Christians with its sense of the unique place held by Catholic Church.

  2. Neighborhood quality and labor market outcomes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Damm, Anna Piil

    2014-01-01

    of refugee men. Their labor market outcomes are also not affected by the overall employment rate and the overall average skill level in the neighborhood. However, an increase in the average skill level of non-Western immigrant men living in the neighborhood raises their employment probability, while...

  3. Exploring the role of the church as a ‘reformation agency’ in enhancing a socially transformative agenda in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Micheal M. van Wyk

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available International political, social, economic and religious developments influence how local communities operate. The South African church society is influenced by such developments taking place globally and which clearly influence how local churches function. This article explores the role of the contemporary church as a ‘reformation agency’ in enhancing a socially transformative agenda in South Africa. A qualitative research approach – an interpretative phenomenology design – was employed to negotiate a shared understanding through conversation and intersubjective meaning-making with church ministers, with the primary focus being their subjective experience of the changing role of the church in enhancing a transformative agenda in a South African context. A purposive sampling (n = 6 consisted of local church leaders who participated in the face-to-face and telephonic semi-structured interviews to achieve the purpose of the study. The findings clearly show that deliberate and intentional actions by churches allow them to become a voice for the marginalised, to create spaces for searching for excellence and to increase the quality of servant leadership, all as vehicles for transforming church society. Furthermore, servant leadership is a social phenomenon, a philosophy-in-practice aimed at leading by example to achieve a common goal. To accomplish this, church ministers are required to spearhead the challenge as a prerequisite to creating ‘lived experienced’ opportunities for members as an inward-outward spiritual journey. Finally, church leaders believed that transformation is a secular dimension, but that it can also be aligned towards God’s redemption plan and enhancing a socially just transformation agenda. Ultimately, this study proposed several recommendations to allow the local church to be relevant in practicing and promoting stronger unity and reconciliation amongst all churches nationally and globally.

  4. A missional study of Ghanaian Pentecostal churches' leadership ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2015-06-11

    Jun 11, 2015 ... Leadership is an organisational challenge, and the nature of the church ..... word; a priestly people, offering the sacrifice of a life lived ..... Dessler, G., 2012, Supervision and leadership in a changing world, Pearson Education,.

  5. NEIGHBORHOOD NORMS AND SUBSTANCE USE AMONG TEENS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musick, Kelly; Seltzer, Judith A.; Schwartz, Christine R.

    2008-01-01

    This paper uses new data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A. FANS) to examine how neighborhood norms shape teenagers’ substance use. Specifically, it takes advantage of clustered data at the neighborhood level to relate adult neighbors’ attitudes and behavior with respect to smoking, drinking, and drugs, which we treat as norms, to teenagers’ own smoking, drinking, and drug use. We use hierarchical linear models to account for parents’ attitudes and behavior and other characteristics of individuals and families. We also investigate how the association between neighborhood norms and teen behavior depends on: (1) the strength of norms, as measured by consensus in neighbors’ attitudes and conformity in their behavior; (2) the willingness and ability of neighbors to enforce norms, for instance, by monitoring teens’ activities; and (3) the degree to which teens are exposed to their neighbors. We find little association between neighborhood norms and teen substance use, regardless of how we condition the relationship. We discuss possible theoretical and methodological explanations for this finding. PMID:18496598

  6. "In my house": laying the foundation for youth HIV prevention in the Black church.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lightfoot, Alexandra F; Woods, Briana A; Jackson, Melvin; Riggins, Linda; Krieger, Kathleen; Brodie, Kimberly; Gray, Phyllis; Howard, Daniel L

    2012-01-01

    This article describes the process our community-academic partnership used to lay the groundwork for successful implementation of an adolescent-focused, evidence-based HIV/AIDS prevention curriculum in two Black churches. We highlight the challenges encountered and lessons learned in building a relationship with two churches, garnering the pastor's support, and implementing the curriculum within church youth groups. We engaged a Community Advisory Board (CAB) made up of youth, parents, and diverse faith leaders to ensure community relevance and guide project development, implementation, and evaluation. Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach helped us to (1) engage diverse, intergenerational community members, (2) initiate a "culturally humble" process to build relationships with faith leaders, (3) remain responsive to stakeholder concerns, and (4) open the door to HIV prevention in the Black church. Finding effective and responsive ways to implement HIV/AIDS prevention in faith settings is facilitated by engaging diverse partners throughout the research process.

  7. Neighborhood differences in social capital in Ghent (Belgium): a multilevel approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neutens, Tijs; Vyncke, Veerle; De Winter, Dieter; Willems, Sara

    2013-11-13

    Little research has focused on the spatial distribution of social capital, despite social capital's rising popularity in health research and policy. This study examines the neighborhood differences in social capital and the determinants that explain these differences. Five components of neighborhood social capital are identified by means of factor and reliability analyses using data collected in the cross-sectional SWING study from 762 inhabitants in 42 neighbourhoods in the city of Ghent (Belgium). Neighborhood differences in social capital are explored using hierarchical linear models with cross-level interactions. Significant neighborhood differences are found for social cohesion, informal social control and social support, but not for social leverage and generalized trust. Our findings suggest that neighborhood social capital depends on both characteristics of individuals living in the neighborhood (attachment to neighborhood) and characteristics of the neighborhood itself (deprivation and residential turnover). Our analysis further shows that neighborhood deprivation reinforces the negative effect of declining neighborhood attachment on social cohesion and informal social control. This study foregrounds the importance of contextual effects in encouraging neighborhood social capital. Given the importance of neighborhood-level characteristics, it can be anticipated social capital promoting initiatives are likely to be more effective when tailored to specific areas. Second, our analyses show that not all forms of social capital are influenced by contextual factors to the same extent, implying that changes in neighborhood characteristics are conducive to, say, trust while leaving social support unaffected. Finally, our analysis has demonstrated that complex interrelationships between individual- and neighborhood-level variables exist, which are often overlooked in current work.

  8. Healthy neighborhoods: walkability and air pollution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marshall, Julian D; Brauer, Michael; Frank, Lawrence D

    2009-11-01

    The built environment may influence health in part through the promotion of physical activity and exposure to pollution. To date, no studies have explored interactions between neighborhood walkability and air pollution exposure. We estimated concentrations of nitric oxide (NO), a marker for direct vehicle emissions), and ozone (O(3)) and a neighborhood walkability score, for 49,702 (89% of total) postal codes in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. NO concentrations were estimated from a land-use regression model, O(3) was estimated from ambient monitoring data; walkability was calculated based on geographic attributes such as land-use mix, street connectivity, and residential density. All three attributes exhibit an urban-rural gradient, with high walkability and NO concentrations, and low O(3) concentrations, near the city center. Lower-income areas tend to have higher NO concentrations and walkability and lower O(3) concentrations. Higher-income areas tend to have lower pollution (NO and O(3)). "Sweet-spot" neighborhoods (low pollution, high walkability) are generally located near but not at the city center and are almost exclusively higher income. Increased concentration of activities in urban settings yields both health costs and benefits. Our research identifies neighborhoods that do especially well (and especially poorly) for walkability and air pollution exposure. Work is needed to ensure that the poor do not bear an undue burden of urban air pollution and that neighborhoods designed for walking, bicycling, or mass transit do not adversely affect resident's exposure to air pollution. Analyses presented here could be replicated in other cities and tracked over time to better understand interactions among neighborhood walkability, air pollution exposure, and income level.

  9. Cultural mechanisms and the persistence of neighborhood violence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirk, David S; Papachristos, Andrew V

    2011-01-01

    Sociologists have given considerable attention to identifying the neighborhood-level social-interactional mechanisms that influence outcomes such as crime, educational attainment, and health. Yet, cultural mechanisms are often overlooked in quantitative studies of neighborhood effects. This paper adds a cultural dimension to neighborhood effects research by exploring the consequences of legal cynicism. Legal cynicism refers to a cultural frame in which people perceive the law as illegitimate, unresponsive, and ill equipped to ensure public safety. The authors find that legal cynicism explains why homicide persisted in certain Chicago neighborhoods during the 1990s despite declines in poverty and declines in violence city-wide.

  10. SOCIAL ACTIVITY OF RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN 1990-2000S: CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS AND EXPERIENCE OF REALIZATION

    OpenAIRE

    Мария Александровна Симонова

    2014-01-01

    This article deals with the essential characteristics of the social activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1990-2000s. There are characterized priorities, shape, effective practice of social work and examined the conceptual foundations of the social activities of the Russian Orthodox Church. The analysis enables to establish the conceptual framework and the specifics of the social activities implementation of the Russian Orthodox Church. Particular attention is paid to the study of ...

  11. ROLE OF COMMON VESTRY OF ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH IN MAROSEIKA STREET IN SPIRITUAL LIFE OF MOSCOW IN XXTH CENTURY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Анна Филипповна Грушина

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The article concentrates on the history of the formation and development of the Common Vestry of Moscow Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki. There are revealed the outstanding characteristics of the living, its spiritual origins and bonds. In the centre of the research is the ministration of two hegumens of the church, namely: archpriest Alexius Mechov and his son priest Sergius Mechov. The father started the penancing-liturgical family and the son continued the father's work, retained and enriched his pastoral heritage. The Common Vestry of the Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki, which had been guided by father Sergius, turned out to be one of the most wonderful phenomena of the Russian Church history of the previous century. In the years of the persecutions against the Church it survived. The peculiarity of this living was that it was disintegrated after the shutdown of the church and the taking away of the pastors. This peculiarity is unique not only for Moscow, but also for all Russian Orthodox Church.

  12. Self-Reported Physical Activity within and outside the Neighborhood: Criterion-Related Validity of the Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire in German Older Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bödeker, Malte; Bucksch, Jens; Wallmann-Sperlich, Birgit

    2018-01-01

    The Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire allows to assess physical activity within and outside the neighborhood. Study objectives were to examine the criterion-related validity and health/functioning associations of Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire-derived physical activity in German older adults. A total of 107 adults aged…

  13. The Dynamism of the Sacraments of Healing in the Service of Church Community Building

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marek Kluz

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Inspired by the prophetic vision of Blessed John Paul, the pastors of the Church in Poland made huge efforts to ensure that the Church is becoming a real home for her children. The statement became the keynote of the Polish Pastoral Program at the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century. Building the Church community is of key importance for creating a common sense of fraternity, unity and peace in the world. The sacraments play a fundamental role in enhancing the process. Among all the sacraments, the so called Sacraments of Healing, namely the sacrament of penance and reconciliation and the sacrament of anointing of the sick, are of crucial importance, since they constitute an indispensable element of ecclesial identity. The article aims at showing the clearly ecclesial character of the sacrament of penance and the sacrament of the anointing. It also points out that faithful Christian fulfilment of all obligations arising from the sacraments of penance and anointing becomes the leaven of the Gospel, making the community of unity, love and peace present in the Church. Man reconciled with God in the Sacrament of Penance and strengthened in the Sacrament of the Anointing contributes to the growth of the whole Church and her holiness. Therefore, every important aspect of the life of the Church, and all that gives it the true dimension and meaning, can be found in the Sacraments of Healing.

  14. NEW WAYS TO DEVELOP AND PPROMOT TOURISM THROUGH RESTORATION OF WOODEN CHURCHES FROM BUZAU REGION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena-Teodora, NECULA

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available With highlighting of the wooden churches from the sub-Carpathian region is possible to make projects of development and promovation of tourism in Buzau. Publishing a book of the wooden churches witch presents the overview on architecture helps with the prom ovation of tourism by bringing new light on the full set, geographical specking it brings new territory to view. Advantage by placing wooden churches in the vicinity of hermitage caves from Buzau will attract even more interest of the large public for seed region. Realizing a few projects of conservation-restoration of wooden churches which are declared historical monuments, will bring a local developing from a cultural-tourist view. A particular case is the wooden church "Saints Emperors" from the vicinity city Nehoiu which has ruttier access, helps with the cost for restoration and number of viewers. Through realizing interventions of conservation-restoration and placing it in a favorable aesthetic view, the monument can be used in a cultural-tourist circuit of international important and this way it can help with the growth of value of monuments and developing cultural-tourist with the final scope heightening the economy.

  15. The Church of St. Stephan on Šćepan polje near Soko-grad

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Popović Marko

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available The Church of St. Stephan, in this paper, belonged to a medieval residential complex above the confluence of the River Piva and the River Tara, in the extreme northeast of the present-day Republic of Montenegro. The central part of the complex consisted of Soko-grad, a castle with the court of the prominent, aristocratic, Kosača family, which, at the end of the 14th century, right until the Turkish conquests in the sixties and seventies of the 15th century, ruled the regions later known as Hercegovina. At the foot of the castle, on Šćepan polje, is the suburb with the Church of St. Stephan the endowment of the grand duke, Sandalj Hranić (+1345. At the foot of the northern slope, beneath the castle, in the area of Zagrađa, is another church erected by the grand duke's successor, Herzeg Stefan Vukćić Kosača (+1465. After the Turkish conquest, the complex of the Soko castle with its suburb was destroyed and the churches became deserted and were never renewed. The ruins of St. Stephan were discovered, investigated and then conserved from 1971-973, however, the results of this research have not been published until now. In reviewing the results obtained in the course of the archaeological excavations, it is possible, in a considerable measure, to comprehend the position and former appearance of the Church of St. Stephan and establish roughly, the time when it came into being. This was the largest church erected in the regions governed by the powerful, Kosača noble family, during the 15th century. The total length of the church exceeded 25 metres and its width was approximately ten metres. In the preserved body of the construction, of which the remaining walls rise to a height of four metres one may see three basic stages of building. A narthex was later erected beside the church, and subsequently a small parakklesion was added, on the northern side. The original church had a single nave, a cruciform base and a gently, horseshoe-shaped apsis

  16. PUPILS’ AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS AND REPRESENTATIONS OF THE WOODEN CHURCHES IN MARAMUREŞ, ROMANIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SORIN-ALIN KOSINSZKI

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of the research was to study the perceptions and representations of some pupils and students, living in Maramureş, of the wooden churches from Maramureş and their employment as tourist attractions. The specific objectives of this research were the following: conceiving, analysing and applying a research instrument for the perceptions and representations on the wooden churches from Maramureş and their employment as tourist attractions, the analysis and interpretation of the obtained results. The following research hypothesis was tested: pupils and students do not have very precise representations of the wooden churches in Maramureş and their employment as tourist attractions. After the questionnaire was applied and the results were analyzed, the working hypothesis was confirmed.

  17. Exploring the Influence of Social Determinants, Social Capital, and Health Expertise on Health and the Rural Church.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plunkett, Robyn; Leipert, Beverly; Olson, Joanne

    2016-09-01

    In rural communities, religious places can significantly shape health for individuals, families, and communities. Rural churches are prominent community centers in rural communities and are deeply woven into rural culture. Thus, health influences arising from the rural church likely have health implications for the greater community. This article explores health influences emerging from rural churches using social determinants of health, social capital, and health expertise. Although nurses are important health resources for all populations, their value in rural areas may be exceedingly significant. The contribution of nurses to church-based health capital in rural communities may be quite significant and underestimated, although it remains poorly understood. © The Author(s) 2015.

  18. The global financial crisis and neighborhood decline

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zwiers, Merle; Bolt, Gideon; Van Ham, Maarten; Van Kempen, Ronald

    2016-01-01

    Neighborhood decline is a complex and multidimensional process. National and regional variations in economic and political structures (including varieties in national welfare state arrangements), combined with differences in neighborhood history, development, and population composition, make it

  19. John's gospel and the Johannine church: A mirror of events wifhin a text or/and a window on events within a church

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. A. Lombard

    1987-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the problem of an alleged Johannine church/ school. The hermeneutical paradigms and results of two mainline exegetical methods are assessed, namely the historico-critical method and literary criticism (a textimmanent procedure. Their respective approaches of using the text of John's Gospel (JG as a window and as a mirror are correlated. An analysis of the narrator's commentary (footnotes, asides furnished important conclusions. They are that a referential correlation exists between the worlds within and outside the text. The direction of reference runs from the textexternal to the textexternal worlds, furthermore, the pragmatics of JG as a religio-historical text justifies the assumption that the readers/church within and outside the text are to be identified as ambivalent entities consisting of both Jewish and Hellenistic elements.

  20. Church Hierarchy and the Elections of 5 June 1949 in Colombia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrés Felipe Manosalva Correa

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available During the elections of 5 June 1949 in Colombia, the bishops and archbishops  of the Catholic Church voiced their opinion regarding the exercise of vote. According to general opinion, the Church was homogeneously conservative and intractable with respect to communism and liberalism; however, the article shows that there were different positions within that hierarchy. Some were intractable, others less so, and there was even a special case of moderation: that of the then Bishop of Manizales, Luis Concha Córdoba.

  1. Four-dimensional conversion for spiritual leadership development: A missiological approach for African churches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kalemba Mwambazambi

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The process of a four-dimensional conversion and/or transformation strives in helping the leadership of an organisation, especially such as the church, with practical ways that may lead to the development of an effective leadership by observing the four important aspects of human spirituality as elaborated on in the article. The spiritual, intellectual, moral and socio-political dimensions of the transformation can be catered for so that the complete inner being of humans, as well as their social and political attitudes and behaviours, can equally be transformed to maximum spiritual, personal and socio-political profitability. Mutombo-Mukendi demonstrates that the need for a spiritual leadership that can contribute to an effective transformation of Africa is dire, both for the church and the larger community. The real challenge is how to develop such leadership. This article provides intentional and practical ways that may lead to the development of the needed leadership. Four-dimensional transformation of people can be planned and carried out both in the church arena and in the surrounding communities. Skills development and transfer can also take place when skilled people from the church work with unskilled people from the community.

  2. Neighborhood Influences on Late Life Cognition in the ACTIVE Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shannon M. Sisco

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Low neighborhood-level socioeconomic status has been associated with poorer health, reduced physical activity, increased psychological stress, and less neighborhood-based social support. These outcomes are correlates of late life cognition, but few studies have specifically investigated the neighborhood as a unique source of explanatory variance in cognitive aging. This study supplemented baseline cognitive data from the ACTIVE (Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly study with neighborhood-level data to investigate (1 whether neighborhood socioeconomic position (SEP predicts cognitive level, and if so, whether it differentially predicts performance in general and specific domains of cognition and (2 whether neighborhood SEP predicts differences in response to short-term cognitive intervention for memory, reasoning, or processing speed. Neighborhood SEP positively predicted vocabulary, but did not predict other general or specific measures of cognitive level, and did not predict individual differences in response to cognitive intervention.

  3. A critical historical analysis of the South African Catholic Church's HIV/AIDS response between 2000 and 2005.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joshua, Stephen Muoki

    2010-12-01

    The South African HIV and AIDS experience is unique in many ways considering the country's delayed and robust epidemic, the apartheid context, and successive HIV-denialist government regimes. While the struggle for democracy may have overshadowed the enormity of the unfolding HIV epidemic, there was also a delay in constructive religious responses to it early on. In 1990, HIV/AIDS was declared a Catholic institutional focus, and by 2000 the Church had established the largest system of care and treatment in the country besides that of the government. However, the Catholic Church suffered severe criticism on account of its anti-condom policy to HIV prevention. As a result, the institutional Church underwent both organisational and ideological changes in an attempt to adapt to the contextual challenges brought about by HIV and AIDS. Informed by archival collections and oral sources, this article endeavours to critically analyse the HIV/AIDS-related care and treatment activities of the Catholic Church in South Africa between 2000 and 2005. It argues that the complex interplay between HIV and AIDS, the controversy about condom use, and the availability of antiretroviral therapy, accompanied by church activists' multiple engagements with these issues, changed the Church's institutional HIV/AIDS response at that time, in effect transforming the Catholic Church in South Africa into a substantial health asset and agent. However, its stance against the use of condoms for HIV prevention, informed by a larger religious tradition on sexuality, proved to be a health liability.

  4. Uusi andmeid Mihkli kiriku vanemast ajaloost / New data on the early history of the church of Mihkli

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ain Mäesalu

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The church of Mihkli is located in Pärnumaa County, approximately 40 km north-west of Pärnu. It is unknown when the limestone building of the church was constructed. The current vaulted church was probably built in the fourth quarter of the 13th century.Preparatory works for building a new roof for the church of Mihkli were carried out in August 2011. The removal of a layer of debris, which had cumulated on top of the vaults of the church, uncovered a layer of soil containing human bones. The results of the archaeological excavations there have led to the assumption that the human bones were brought there in the 19th century together with soil taken from the immediate vicinity of the church, where there used to be a cemetery during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern periodSome of the 55 finds were originally grave goods. A bronze ring, three iron knives, an iron belt-buckle and four silver coins can be considered as such. The artefacts have been dated to the 15th and 16th centuries, whereas the coins were minted in 1515 (?, 1577, 1621 and 1664.The 26 shards of window-glass, some with traces of painting, which were found in the soil, are probably remnants of the church windows. The extraordinary finds were two bronze book clasps that are similar to book clasps used in Northern-Germany and the Netherlands in the 16th century.Three three-ponged sconces produced at the end of the 19th century were found in the holes in the walls located 80–90 cm below the top of the northern and southern walls of the church. The sconces were taken apart and hid in these holes in 1943 during the Second World War.It is now clear, as a result of the excavations that the original stone church had been without vaults, with a simple beam ceiling and plastered from the inside. A two metre long passage within the upper part of the northern wall of the church revealed that it had originally been a fortified church.This paper also discusses if priest Henry, the author

  5. Neighborhood Influences on Vehicle-Pedestrian Crash Severity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toran Pour, Alireza; Moridpour, Sara; Tay, Richard; Rajabifard, Abbas

    2017-12-01

    Socioeconomic factors are known to be contributing factors for vehicle-pedestrian crashes. Although several studies have examined the socioeconomic factors related to the location of the crashes, limited studies have considered the socioeconomic factors of the neighborhood where the road users live in vehicle-pedestrian crash modelling. This research aims to identify the socioeconomic factors related to both the neighborhoods where the road users live and where crashes occur that have an influence on vehicle-pedestrian crash severity. Data on vehicle-pedestrian crashes that occurred at mid-blocks in Melbourne, Australia, was analyzed. Neighborhood factors associated with road users' residents and location of crash were investigated using boosted regression tree (BRT). Furthermore, partial dependence plots were applied to illustrate the interactions between these factors. We found that socioeconomic factors accounted for 60% of the 20 top contributing factors to vehicle-pedestrian crashes. This research reveals that socioeconomic factors of the neighborhoods where the road users live and where the crashes occur are important in determining the severity of the crashes, with the former having a greater influence. Hence, road safety countermeasures, especially those focussing on the road users, should be targeted at these high-risk neighborhoods.

  6. Church of St. Peter and Paul in the village under Kopaonik

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raičević Slobodan

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available In the border of the municipality towards Kosovo, Kuršumlija preserved the St. Cemetery's church of Peter and Paul in village Lukovo near the famous rehabilitation center Lukovo's spa. Church is one nave with a semicircular apse at the east vaults with semicircular arch reinforced with cross sec­tion curve, which relies on a few strong pilasters placed inside long walls. According to folk tradition the church was built in the middle ages and served to diggers and foundries of lead ores of King Milutin. Upon termination of exploitation ore the church neglected and in the 19th century it suffered its first renewal 1871st and another 1895th year. Saved epigraphic inscription with carved year of renewal (1895th, icons and wall decor of the church provide information about reliably judging its recent history and artistic value. Soon after the bricklaying work 1895th Church has received from the altar wall of icons, and after that, and mural painting small artistic value. The crown of the vault is painted Pantocrator, about whose performances are painted scenes of the Transfiguration, Ascension of Christ, Vavedenje and Entry into Jerusalem. On the western wall are shown the Dormition of the Mother of God and in the first zone are shown standing figures of Sts. Constantine and Helena, St. Simon Mir refills and St. Prince Lazar - kefaloforos. On the triumphal arch are Old. Testament scenes of hospitality and sacrifice of Abraham and in the apse bust of God Savaot. In the zone of standing figures are shown Sts. Druid, St. Czar Uroš and St. King Stephen, St. Sunday, St. Petka, St. Procopius, and St. George. From the figures standing at the altar of bishops are shown St. John Chrysostom, St. Sava Serbian, St. Basil the Great and St. Athanasius. There was saved the altar compartments with icons. At the czar's gate are shown Blagovesti and in the order of main icons: Christ Almighty, Mother of God with Christ, St. John the Forerunner, icons of patron St

  7. Neighborhood Mapping Tool

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Housing and Urban Development — This tool assists the public and Choice Neighborhoods applicants to prepare data to submit with their grant application by allowing applicants to draw the exact...

  8. Specifics of nursing care for members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church

    OpenAIRE

    VOTRUBOVÁ, Veronika

    2016-01-01

    Seventh Day Adventist Church was established in the United States in the 19th century and belongs among the Protestant churches. Adventists are characterized by the fact that they expect the second coming of Jesus Christ and hold Saturday holy for celebration of God. The theoretical part deals with the definition of multicultural nursing, nursing and describes the nursing process. It is focused on nursing models Leininger and Giger with Davidhizar. Another part of the theoretical work deals w...

  9. From Alexander von Humboldt to Frederic Edwin Church: Voyages of Scientific Exploration and Artistic Creativity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frank Baron

    2005-04-01

    Full Text Available Article in English, Abstracts in Spanish, German and English.Stephen Jay Gould wrote recently that “when Church began to paint his great canvases, Alexander von Humboldt may well have been the world’s most famous and influential intellectual.” Humboldt’s influence in the case of the landscape artist Church is especially interesting. If we examine the precise relationship between the German explorer and his American admirer, we gain an insight into how Humboldt transformed Church’s life and signaled a new phase in the career of the artist. Church retraced Humboldt’s travels in Ecuador and in Mexico. If we compare the texts available to Church and the comparison of Church’s paintings and the texts and images of Humboldt’s works we can arrive at new perspectives on Humboldt’s extraordinary influence on American landscape painting in the nineteenth century.

  10. Neighborhood Risk, Parental Socialization Styles, and Adolescent Conduct Problems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enrique Gracia

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available This article aims to analyze the influence of parental socialization styles (authoritarian, authoritative, indulgent and neglectful, and perceived neighborhood risk on three indicators of conduct problems in adolescence (school misconduct, delinquency, and drug use. The sample consists of 1,017 adolescents, aged between 12 and 17. Results from four multivariate factorial designs yielded only main effects of parenting styles and neighborhood risk. Adolescents from authoritative and indulgent families showed lower conduct problems than those with authoritarian and neglectful parents. Also, higher levels of perceived neighborhood risk were significantly associated with more conduct problems. There were no significant interaction effects between parenting styles and perceived neighborhood risk, but results yielded a significant interaction effect between neighborhood risk and sex. Overall, results do not support the idea that parenting styles are more effective under certain neighborhood risk conditions, and suggest that neighbourhood risk influences adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment beyond the influence of parental socialization styles.

  11. Explaining seemingly paradoxical consumer experiences: conjoining weekly road rage and church attendance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gau, Li-Shiue; Woodside, Arch G; Martin, Drew

    2015-02-01

    The purposes of the current study are threefold: Provide evidence that an extreme paradoxical group exists-people frequently attending church and exhibiting road rage, profile this group, and frame possible explanations for the seemingly paradoxical behaviors. This study employs data from a national (USA) lifestyle survey conducted by Market Facts with 3,350 American respondents. The major questions asked about church participation and road-rage behavior ("giving a finger" and "flashing headlights"). Nomologically, relevant activities include 3 items for church goers and 3 items for road-rage givers. Additionally, 14 items profiled the lifestyles of the unique paradoxical behavior segment. Utilizing cross-tabulation tables, property space analyses identify the double extreme (XX) group (18 people) and other 6 groups with a significant chi-square test, confirming the extreme group exists. Analyses of variance test results show that comparing nomologically relevant activities among the seven groups is all statistically significant, indicating the nomological validity is met. Overall, the XX group tends to have more males, be younger, and have a higher proportion of people working in sales. The profile of lifestyle analyses shows the XX group members have both high ambitions and expectations, might be very frustrated individuals, and equip with the adventurous and masculine traits related to aggression. The XX behavior group's demographic and psychographic characteristics portray similar lifestyles that differ from other groups. Case-based analyses provide further contextual information of nuances to XX segment individuals. The limited energy theory, the Eagleman's theory of unconscious mind, and justification theory help to explain why people conjointly go to church and commit road rage. Addressing chronic paradoxical behaviors provides implications for social de-marketing to reduce aggressive anti-social behavior such as road rage. Frequent church attendance may

  12. Catholic Church-State Relations in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: A Review of 20 Years

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beatrice K.F. Leung

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The Catholic Church and the Hong Kong British Government formed warm relations when the Church became the contractor of the government to provide education and social and medical service. The British did not provide democracy to Hong Kong but allowed ample freedom including religious freedom which the Hong Kong Catholics would like to protect in the post-colonial period under the Communist Party rule. For religious freedom, right after Hong Kong became the Special Administrative Region (HKSAR, the Hong Kong Catholic Church under the prophetic and vocal leadership of Bishop Joseph Zen, became very active in political participation. Zen’s leadership was short-lived (1996-2009 and the soft-spoken Bishop John Tong replaced him with a different approach of consolidating the church without antagonising the government with social issues.

  13. Church-based social marketing to motivate older adults to take balance classes for fall prevention: cluster randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DiGuiseppi, Carolyn G; Thoreson, Sallie R; Clark, Lauren; Goss, Cynthia W; Marosits, Mark J; Currie, Dustin W; Lezotte, Dennis C

    2014-10-01

    Determine whether a church-based social marketing program increases older adults' participation in balance classes for fall prevention. In 2009-10, 51 churches (7101 total members aged ≥ 60) in Colorado, U.S.A. were randomized to receive no intervention or a social marketing program. The program highlighted benefits of class participation (staying independent, building relationships), reduced potential barriers (providing convenient, subsidized classes), and communicated marketing messages through church leaders, trained "messengers," printed materials and church-based communication channels. Between-group differences in balance class enrollment and marketing message recall among congregants were compared using Wilcoxon Two-Sample Test and regression models. Compared to 25 control churches, 26 churches receiving the social marketing program had a higher median proportion (9.8% vs. 0.3%; psocial marketing effectively disseminated messages about preventing falls through balance classes and, by emphasizing benefits and reducing barriers and costs of participation, successfully motivated older adults to enroll in the classes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Phonotactics, Neighborhood Activation, and Lexical Access for Spoken Words

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vitevitch, Michael S.; Luce, Paul A.; Pisoni, David B.; Auer, Edward T.

    2012-01-01

    Probabilistic phonotactics refers to the relative frequencies of segments and sequences of segments in spoken words. Neighborhood density refers to the number of words that are phonologically similar to a given word. Despite a positive correlation between phonotactic probability and neighborhood density, nonsense words with high probability segments and sequences are responded to more quickly than nonsense words with low probability segments and sequences, whereas real words occurring in dense similarity neighborhoods are responded to more slowly than real words occurring in sparse similarity neighborhoods. This contradiction may be resolved by hypothesizing that effects of probabilistic phonotactics have a sublexical focus and that effects of similarity neighborhood density have a lexical focus. The implications of this hypothesis for models of spoken word recognition are discussed. PMID:10433774

  15. Neighbors United for Health

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westhoff, Wayne W.; Corvin, Jaime; Virella, Irmarie

    2009-01-01

    Modeled upon the ecclesiastic community group concept of Latin America to unite and strengthen the bond between the Church and neighborhoods, a community-based organization created Vecinos Unidos por la Salud (Neighbors United for Health) to bring health messages into urban Latino neighborhoods. The model is based on five tenants, and incorporates…

  16. Neighborhood Poverty and Nonmarital Fertility: Spatial and Temporal Dimensions

    Science.gov (United States)

    South, Scott J.; Crowder, Kyle

    2010-01-01

    Data from 4,855 respondents to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics were used to examine spatial and temporal dimensions of the effect of neighborhood poverty on teenage premarital childbearing. Although high poverty in the immediate neighborhood increased the risk of becoming an unmarried parent, high poverty in surrounding neighborhoods reduced…

  17. Improved HVAC operation to preserve a church organ

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schijndel, van A.W.M.; Schellen, H.L.; Wit, de M.H.

    2009-01-01

    The common operation of heating systems installed in churches in the Netherlands has led to typical building physics problems directly related with heating. One of the main problems is the drying related shrinkage and damage to (monumental) wooden organs under cold winter conditions. The paper

  18. Banks and the Racial Patterning of Homicide: A Study of Chicago Neighborhoods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María B. Veléz

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available While bank investment is a driving force behind neighborhood viability, few studies have directly examined the effects of bank loan practices on neighborhood crime rates. This paper proposes that variation in residential bank loans helps explain the higher rates of homicide in minority neighborhoods in Chicago compared to white neighborhoods. It finds that black and Latino neighborhoods would experience fewer homicides if more financial capital were infused into these neighborhoods. These findings suggest that neighborhoods are shaped profoundly by the decisions of external economic actors.

  19. Leadership for the church: The shepherd model

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2014-05-30

    May 30, 2014 ... also monarchical leaders (2 Sm 5:2) and God himself (Is 40:11; Ps 23:1). The prophetic ... referred to are Abraham (Gn 12:16); Rachel (Gn 29:9); Jacob ... these functions are contrary to the shepherds of Ezekiel's era, ..... Volf, M., 1998, After our likeness: The church as the image of the trinity, Wm. B.

  20. Healing in Herero culture and Namibian African independent churches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Selaelo T. Kgatla

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The current phenomenon of Namibian African Independent Churches (NAICs draws attention from various people in civil society in Namibia. Although the ministries of NAICs are engaged with activities which are unusual for Christian churches, such as healing the people, fighting against evil spirits and power, performing certain rituals, prophesying and leading the worship services with African Traditional Religion (ATR as a frame of reference in 21st century, they do have a very big influence on various aspects of society in Namibia, which cannot be ignored. This is because those activities are familiar to the everyday lives of Africans and in touch with their culture. With regards to this, this article focuses on the causes of integration or harmony between the Herero culture and the NAICs.

  1. Lead theft--a study of the "uniqueness" of lead from church roofs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bond, John W; Hainsworth, Sarah V; Lau, Tien L

    2013-07-01

    In the United Kingdom, theft of lead is common, particularly from churches and other public buildings with lead roofs. To assess the potential to distinguish lead from different sources, 41 samples of lead from 24 church roofs in Northamptonshire, U.K, have been analyzed for relative abundance of trace elements and isotopes of lead using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, respectively. XRF revealed the overall presence of 12 trace elements with the four most abundant, calcium, phosphorus, silicon, and sulfur, showing a large weight percentage standard error of the mean of all samples suggesting variation in the weight percentage of these elements between different church roofs. Multiple samples from the same roofs, but different lead sheets, showed much lower weight percentage standard errors of the mean suggesting similar trace element concentrations. Lead isotope ratios were similar for all samples. Factors likely to affect the occurrence of these trace elements are discussed. © 2013 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

  2. Community Gardening, Neighborhood Meetings, and Social Capital

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alaimo, Katherine; Reischl, Thomas M.; Allen, Julie Ober

    2010-01-01

    This study examined associations between participation in community gardening/beautification projects and neighborhood meetings with perceptions of social capital at both the individual and neighborhood levels. Data were analyzed from a cross-sectional stratified random telephone survey conducted in Flint, Michigan (N=1916). Hierarchical linear…

  3. Racism and xenophobia: The role of the Church in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jerry Pillay

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Racism and xenophobia have become a worldwide issue and challenge. The recent flood of immigrants and refugees into Europe and America has put this matter on the world map. In South Africa racism and xenophobia have, in recent times, reached explosive proportions and have greatly intensified the need for the Church to get more deeply involved in the creation of racial harmony and peace as it works towards the fullness of life for all people. This chapter explored the challenges of racism and xenophobia in South Africa and concluded by discussing the role of the Church in combating these realities.

  4. Walks on SPR neighborhoods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caceres, Alan Joseph J; Castillo, Juan; Lee, Jinnie; St John, Katherine

    2013-01-01

    A nearest-neighbor-interchange (NNI)-walk is a sequence of unrooted phylogenetic trees, T1, T2, . . . , T(k) where each consecutive pair of trees differs by a single NNI move. We give tight bounds on the length of the shortest NNI-walks that visit all trees in a subtree-prune-and-regraft (SPR) neighborhood of a given tree. For any unrooted, binary tree, T, on n leaves, the shortest walk takes Θ(n²) additional steps more than the number of trees in the SPR neighborhood. This answers Bryant’s Second Combinatorial Challenge from the Phylogenetics Challenges List, the Isaac Newton Institute, 2011, and the Penny Ante Problem List, 2009.

  5. Can neighborhoods explain racial/ethnic differences in adolescent inactivity?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richmond, Tracy K; Field, Alison E; Rich, Michael

    2007-01-01

    To determine if neighborhoods and their attributes contribute to racial/ethnic disparities in adolescent inactivity. We undertook a cross-sectional analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 17,007), a nationally representative school-based study in the United States. Stratifying by gender, we used multivariate linear regression and multi-level modeling to determine whether neighborhood of residence may partially explain racial/ethnic disparities in adolescent physical inactivity, defined as hours viewing television or videos/DVDs and/or playing computer/video games each week. Participants lived in largely segregated communities. Black and Hispanic adolescent girls reported higher levels of inactivity than White adolescent girls (21 vs. 15 vs. 13 hours/week, respectively, p violent crime in the neighborhood was associated with inactivity, despite the individual's perception of his/her neighborhood as safe not being predictive. Although inactivity varies by race/ethnicity and gender, only in Hispanic adolescent girls does neighborhood fully explain the differential use. Our findings suggest that approaches other than changing neighborhood characteristics are needed to eliminate racial/ethnic disparities in adolescent inactivity.

  6. Leadership succession patterns in the apostolic church as a template for critique of contemporary charismatic leadership succession patterns

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cephas Tushima

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The pattern of leadership succession observed globally in most contemporary Pentecostal movements and churches can be characterised as dynastic succession. Yet historic modern Pentecostalism (in the Azusa tradition prided itself on being biblical. This article explores the biblical sources, examining first the leadership structure and then the leadership succession patterns in the apostolic church as well as the extra-biblical sources of the apostolic patristic era. Our findings from this New Testament (and patristic sources survey of leadership succession in the apostolic church and post-apostolic churches furnish a template for critical evaluation of the prevalent succession approaches of contemporary Pentecostal groups. Critical elements of apostolic and leadership structure and succession patterns are highlighted, and needed inferences are drawn for the re-shaping of leadership and its succession in contemporary Christian ministries and churches. Keywords: Azusa; Apostolic Leadership; Leadership Succession; Pentecostalism; Evangelicals; Leadership Patterns

  7. Jeremy Bentham, the Church of England, and the Fraudulent Activities of the National Schools Society.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Brian W.

    1978-01-01

    The article examines charges which Jeremy Bentham levelled at the National Schools Society and establishes reasons for his hostility toward the Church of England. The argument centered around Bentham's interest in the education of the poor and the Church's belief that the poor needed religion more than education. (KC)

  8. The urban explosion of black majority churches : their origin, growth, distinctives and contribution to British Christianity / by Babatunde Aderemi Adedibu

    OpenAIRE

    Adedibu, Babatunde Aderemi

    2010-01-01

    British church history in the last sixty years is best described as a “coat of many colours”. This image is appropriate because of the growth and proliferation of Black Majority Churches in urban areas of the British Isles. The advent of these churches has contributed to the prevailing pluralistic theological landscape. This thesis aims to evaluate the current status of Black Majority Churches with respect to their origin, growth, distinctives and contributions to British Ch...

  9. Demarcation of local neighborhoods to study relations between contextual factors and health

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chor Dora

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Several studies have highlighted the importance of collective social factors for population health. One of the major challenges is an adequate definition of the spatial units of analysis which present properties potentially related to the target outcomes. Political and administrative divisions of urban areas are the most commonly used definition, although they suffer limitations in their ability to fully express the neighborhoods as social and spatial units. Objective This study presents a proposal for defining the boundaries of local neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro city. Local neighborhoods are constructed by means of aggregation of contiguous census tracts which are homogeneous regarding socioeconomic indicators. Methodology Local neighborhoods were created using the SKATER method (TerraView software. Criteria used for socioeconomic homogeneity were based on four census tract indicators (income, education, persons per household, and percentage of population in the 0-4-year age bracket considering a minimum population of 5,000 people living in each local neighborhood. The process took into account the geographic boundaries between administrative neighborhoods (a political-administrative division larger than a local neighborhood, but smaller than a borough and natural geographic barriers. Results The original 8,145 census tracts were collapsed into 794 local neighborhoods, distributed along 158 administrative neighborhoods. Local neighborhoods contained a mean of 10 census tracts, and there were an average of five local neighborhoods per administrative neighborhood. The local neighborhood units demarcated in this study are less socioeconomically heterogeneous than the administrative neighborhoods and provide a means for decreasing the well-known statistical variability of indicators based on census tracts. The local neighborhoods were able to distinguish between different areas within administrative neighborhoods

  10. Demarcation of local neighborhoods to study relations between contextual factors and health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santos, Simone M; Chor, Dora; Werneck, Guilherme Loureiro

    2010-06-29

    Several studies have highlighted the importance of collective social factors for population health. One of the major challenges is an adequate definition of the spatial units of analysis which present properties potentially related to the target outcomes. Political and administrative divisions of urban areas are the most commonly used definition, although they suffer limitations in their ability to fully express the neighborhoods as social and spatial units. This study presents a proposal for defining the boundaries of local neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro city. Local neighborhoods are constructed by means of aggregation of contiguous census tracts which are homogeneous regarding socioeconomic indicators. Local neighborhoods were created using the SKATER method (TerraView software). Criteria used for socioeconomic homogeneity were based on four census tract indicators (income, education, persons per household, and percentage of population in the 0-4-year age bracket) considering a minimum population of 5,000 people living in each local neighborhood. The process took into account the geographic boundaries between administrative neighborhoods (a political-administrative division larger than a local neighborhood, but smaller than a borough) and natural geographic barriers. The original 8,145 census tracts were collapsed into 794 local neighborhoods, distributed along 158 administrative neighborhoods. Local neighborhoods contained a mean of 10 census tracts, and there were an average of five local neighborhoods per administrative neighborhood.The local neighborhood units demarcated in this study are less socioeconomically heterogeneous than the administrative neighborhoods and provide a means for decreasing the well-known statistical variability of indicators based on census tracts. The local neighborhoods were able to distinguish between different areas within administrative neighborhoods, particularly in relation to squatter settlements. Although the literature on

  11. The wall painting in the church of the assumption of the virgin in village Donje Korminjane

    OpenAIRE

    Ženarju, Ivana S.

    2014-01-01

    As a part of religious revival in the 19th century church of the Assumption of the Virgin in the village Done Korminjane, was renewed. Painter Avram Dičov was engaged to paint the church interior in the 1870, along with his companions Zafir, Todor and Spiro. The decorative program of wall painting was common for the parish churches in the Diocese of Raska and Prizren in the 19th century. The program was organized in two horizontal zones on the walls, and vault was painted as well. The altar a...

  12. Medieval Churches in Shushica Valley (South Albania and the Slavonic Bishopric of St. Clement of Ohrid

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Skënder Muçaj

    2014-08-01

    In St. Clement’s bishopric Church Slavonic was used as a liturgical language. For that purpose, a set of Byzantine liturgical books was translated from Greek into Church Slavonic, and Clement took an active part in this process. Liturgical pecularities of these books partially observed in Greek manuscripts of South Italian provenance testify to the hypothesis that Greek sources of the earliest Church Slavonic translations belonged to liturgical tradition of Epirus, similar to those of South Italy. This also proves the location of St. Clement’s bishopric in the valley of the Shushica River.

  13. A Niche in a Conflict Area: The Development of the Baptist Church in the Areas of Petrinja, Glina, Sisak and Dvor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Šakaja

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available One of the aspects of social changes during the transitional period in most post-socialist countries was the revival of religion. The revival of Churches that accompanied the national upsurge in some countries was associated with the growth of post-socialist nationalism. This discussion focuses on the development of a different, transnational religious option in an area of ethnic conflict. It analyses the development of the Baptist Church in the post-conflict region of Banovina. The paper is based on interviews conducted mostly among representatives and members of the Baptist Church. After the Croatian Homeland War, in Banovina there was an increase in the number of members of this Church. Among new members the majority were ethnic Serbs, persons from mixed marriages and former communists. Neither the Catholic Church nor the Serbian Orthodox Church were acceptable options to them. The authors conclude that the Baptist option was sustainable due to three factors. First, the development of the Church was based on an already existing tradition and on memories of events from World War II, which were activated by the new war situation at the beginning of the Nineties. Second, the Baptist Church ensured a middle, transnational option in an ethnically mixed setting, and in this way attracted all those who were looking for a neutrality niche in an ethnically strongly divided and conflictive society. Third, the active involvement and help of humanitarian organisations associated with the Baptist Church, during the war and the afterwards, helped to create an image of the Baptist Church as a shelter. These humanitarian activities made it possible for the Baptist Church to leave the shadows and become “visible”, and thus prevail over perceptions in which it was seen as an obscure sect.

  14. The neighborhood environment and obesity: Understanding variation by race/ethnicity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Michelle S; Chan, Kitty S; Jones-Smith, Jessica C; Colantuoni, Elizabeth; Thorpe, Roland J; Bleich, Sara N

    2018-06-01

    Neighborhood characteristics have been associated with obesity, but less is known whether relationships vary by race/ethnicity. This study examined the relationship between soda consumption - a behavior strongly associated with obesity - and weight status with neighborhood sociodemographic, social, and built environments by race/ethnicity. We merged data on adults from the 2011-2013 California Health Interview Survey, U.S. Census data, and InfoUSA (n=62,396). Dependent variables were soda consumption and weight status outcomes (body mass index and obesity status). Main independent variables were measures of three neighborhood environments: social (social cohesion and safety), sociodemographic (neighborhood socioeconomic status, educational attainment, percent Asian, percent Hispanic, and percent black), and built environments (number of grocery stores, convenience stores, fast food restaurants, and gyms in neighborhood). We fit multi-level linear and logistic regression models, stratified by individual race/ethnicity (NH (non-Hispanic) Whites, NH African Americans, Hispanics, and NH Asians) controlling for individual-level characteristics, to estimate neighborhood contextual effects on study outcomes. Lower neighborhood educational attainment was associated with higher odds of obesity and soda consumption in all racial/ethnic groups. We found fewer associations between study outcomes and the neighborhood, especially the built environment, among NH African Americans and NH Asians. While improvements to neighborhood environment may be promising to reduce obesity, null associations among minority subgroups suggest that changes, particularly to the built environment, may alone be insufficient to address obesity in these groups. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  15. Neighborhood-level social processes and substantiated cases of child maltreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molnar, Beth E; Goerge, Robert M; Gilsanz, Paola; Hill, Andrea; Subramanian, S V; Holton, John K; Duncan, Dustin T; Beatriz, Elizabeth D; Beardslee, William R

    2016-01-01

    Child maltreatment is a preventable public health problem. Research has demonstrated that neighborhood structural factors (e.g. poverty, crime) can influence the proportion of a neighborhood's children who are victims of maltreatment. A newer strategy is the identification of potentially modifiable social processes at the neighborhood level that can also influence maltreatment. Toward this end, this study examines neighborhood-level data (maltreatment cases substantiated by Illinois' child protection agency, 1995-2005, social processes measured by the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, U.S. Census data, proportions of neighborhoods on public assistance, and crime data) that were linked across clusters of contiguous, relatively homogenous Chicago, IL census tracts with respect to racial/ethnic and socioeconomic composition. Our analysis-an ecological-level, repeated cross-sectional design utilizing random-intercept logit models-with a sensitivity analysis using spatial models to control for spatial autocorrelation-revealed consistent associations between neighborhood social processes and maltreatment. Neighborhoods higher in collective efficacy, intergenerational closure, and social networks, and lower in disorder had lower proportions of neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse substantiated cases, controlling for differences in structural factors. Higher collective efficacy and social network size also predicted a lower proportion of substance-exposed infants. This research indicates that strategies to mobilize neighborhood-level protective factors may decrease child maltreatment more effectively than individual and family-focused efforts alone. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Investigations of biodeterioration by fungi in historic wooden churches of Chiloé, Chile.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortiz, Rodrigo; Párraga, Mario; Navarrete, José; Carrasco, Ivo; de la Vega, Eduardo; Ortiz, Manuel; Herrera, Paula; Jurgens, Joel A; Held, Benjamin W; Blanchette, Robert A

    2014-04-01

    The use of wood in construction has had a long history and Chile has a rich cultural heritage of using native woods for building churches and other important structures. In 2000, UNESCO designated a number of the historic churches of Chiloé, built entirely of native woods, as World Heritage Sites. These unique churches were built in the late 1700 s and throughout the 1800 s, and because of their age and exposure to the environment, they have been found to have serious deterioration problems. Efforts are underway to better understand these decay processes and to carryout conservation efforts for the long-term preservation of these important structures. This study characterized the types of degradation taking place and identified the wood decay fungi obtained from eight historic churches in Chiloé, seven of them designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Micromorphological observations identified white, brown and soft rot in the structural woods and isolations provided pure cultures of fungi that were identified by sequencing of the internal transcribed region of rDNA. Twenty-nine Basidiomycota and 18 Ascomycota were found. These diverse groups of fungi represent several genera and species not previously reported from Chile and demonstrates a varied microflora is causing decay in these historic buildings.

  17. Spatial dimensions of the effect of neighborhood disadvantage on delinquency

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vogel, M.S.; South, S.J.

    2016-01-01

    esearch examining the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and adolescent offending typically examines only the influence of residential neighborhoods. This strategy may be problematic as 1) neighborhoods are rarely spatially independent of each other and 2) adolescents spend

  18. A Systematic Review of Neighborhood Disparities in Point-of-Sale Tobacco Marketing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Joseph G L; Henriksen, Lisa; Rose, Shyanika W; Moreland-Russell, Sarah; Ribisl, Kurt M

    2015-09-01

    We systematically reviewed evidence of disparities in tobacco marketing at tobacco retailers by sociodemographic neighborhood characteristics. We identified 43 relevant articles from 893 results of a systematic search in 10 databases updated May 28, 2014. We found 148 associations of marketing (price, placement, promotion, or product availability) with a neighborhood demographic of interest (socioeconomic disadvantage, race, ethnicity, and urbanicity). Neighborhoods with lower income have more tobacco marketing. There is more menthol marketing targeting urban neighborhoods and neighborhoods with more Black residents. Smokeless tobacco products are targeted more toward rural neighborhoods and neighborhoods with more White residents. Differences in store type partially explain these disparities. There are more inducements to start and continue smoking in lower-income neighborhoods and in neighborhoods with more Black residents. Retailer marketing may contribute to disparities in tobacco use. Clinicians should be aware of the pervasiveness of these environmental cues.

  19. A Systematic Review of Neighborhood Disparities in Point-of-Sale Tobacco Marketing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henriksen, Lisa; Rose, Shyanika W.; Moreland-Russell, Sarah; Ribisl, Kurt M.

    2015-01-01

    We systematically reviewed evidence of disparities in tobacco marketing at tobacco retailers by sociodemographic neighborhood characteristics. We identified 43 relevant articles from 893 results of a systematic search in 10 databases updated May 28, 2014. We found 148 associations of marketing (price, placement, promotion, or product availability) with a neighborhood demographic of interest (socioeconomic disadvantage, race, ethnicity, and urbanicity). Neighborhoods with lower income have more tobacco marketing. There is more menthol marketing targeting urban neighborhoods and neighborhoods with more Black residents. Smokeless tobacco products are targeted more toward rural neighborhoods and neighborhoods with more White residents. Differences in store type partially explain these disparities. There are more inducements to start and continue smoking in lower-income neighborhoods and in neighborhoods with more Black residents. Retailer marketing may contribute to disparities in tobacco use. Clinicians should be aware of the pervasiveness of these environmental cues. PMID:26180986

  20. A relevant liturgy for Reformed churches of African origin concerning liturgical music

    OpenAIRE

    Letšosa, R.S.; De Klerk, B.J.

    2007-01-01

    The question to be answered in this article is: How can the Reformed Churches of African origin come to liturgical music that is Biblical and contextual? The following basis theoretical principles for Reformed Churches can be summarised: Liturgical music must be faithful to the Bible and it has to glorify God; it must edify the congregation and the music should be composed in such a way that people should sing from the heart, through the Spirit and in understanding. Liturgical music is a spir...

  1. The church hisTory socieTy of souThern AfricA (chssA) ATTemPTing ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    it is attempting to come of age and the prospects for the future are relatively positive. ... itself to be dominated by primarily Transvaal teachers' organizations and for ... the initial and recurring pleas and even attempts for a representative membership ... church history students in the ministry of the reformed churches attended.

  2. Women ministers' experiences of gender discrimination in the Lutheran Church : a discourse analysis

    OpenAIRE

    2011-01-01

    M.A. The aim of this psychological study was to uncover women minister’s experiences of gender discrimination in the Lutheran Church by using a discourse analysis. Three female participants, who are involved in ministry in the Lutheran Church, were interviewed about their experiences and perceptions of gender discrimination. The resultant texts were analysed using Parker’s (2005) steps to discourse analytic reading. The discourses that were discovered indicate that power struggles are prev...

  3. Research Progresses of Halo Streams in the Solar Neighborhood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xi-long, Liang; Jing-kun, Zhao; Yu-qin, Chen; Gang, Zhao

    2018-01-01

    The stellar streams originated from the Galactic halo may be detected when they pass by the solar neighborhood, and they still keep some information at their birth times. Thus, the investigation of halo streams in the solar neighborhood is very important for understanding the formation and evolution of our Galaxy. In this paper, the researches of halo streams in the solar neighborhood are briefly reviewed. We have introduced the methods how to detect the halo streams and identify their member stars, summarized the progresses in the observation of member stars of halo streams and in the study of their origins, introduced in detail how to analyze the origins of halo streams in the solar neighborhood by means of numerical simulation and chemical abundance, and finally discussed the prospects of the LAMOST and GAIA in the research of halo streams in the solar neighborhood.

  4. A framework for crafting and implementing a congregational strategy in the local congregations of the Reformed Churches of South Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Grobler, Aldeon B.; van der Walt, J. Louw; de Klerk, Barend J.

    2012-01-01

    The church is not like any other institution or organisation in society. Although the church is primarily invisible and spiritual, it is a visible organisation in the world, and it spans across borders of nations, languages and countries. John Calvin strongly rejected the notion that the church is only a spiritual organisation of which the visible administrative side is downplayed. The fellowship of the church must not only be seen as a mystical relation with Jesus Christ. During 2010, an emp...

  5. Effect of housing relocation and neighborhood environment on adolescent mental and behavioral health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byck, Gayle R; Bolland, John; Dick, Danielle; Swann, Gregory; Henry, David; Mustanski, Brian

    2015-11-01

    This study examined whether relocating from a high-poverty neighborhood to a lower poverty neighborhood as part of a federal housing relocation program (HOPE VI; Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere) had effects on adolescent mental and behavioral health compared to adolescents consistently living in lower poverty neighborhoods. Sociodemographic, risk behavior, and neighborhood data were collected from 592 low-income, primarily African-American adolescents and their primary caregivers. Structured psychiatric interviews were conducted with adolescents. Prerelocation neighborhood, demographic, and risk behavior data were also included. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to test associations between neighborhood variables and risk outcomes. HLM was used to test whether the effect of neighborhood relocation and neighborhood characteristics might explain differences in sexual risk taking, substance use, and mental health outcomes. Adolescents who relocated of HOPE VI neighborhoods (n = 158) fared worse than control group participants (n = 429) on most self-reported mental health outcomes. The addition of subjective neighborhood measures generally did not substantively change these results. Our findings suggest that moving from a high-poverty neighborhood to a somewhat lower poverty neighborhood is not associated with better mental health and risk behavior outcomes in adolescents. The continued effects of having grown up in a high-poverty neighborhood, the small improvements in their new neighborhoods, the comparatively short length of time they lived in their new neighborhood, and/or the stress of moving appears to worsen most of the mental health outcomes of HOPE VI compared to control group participants who consistently lived in the lower poverty neighborhoods. © 2015 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

  6. Dimensions of sustainability for a health communication intervention in African American churches: a multi-methods study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheirer, Mary Ann; Santos, Sherie Lou Z; Tagai, Erin K; Bowie, Janice; Slade, Jimmie; Carter, Roxanne; Holt, Cheryl L

    2017-03-28

    Sustainability of evidence-based health promotion interventions has received increased research attention in recent years. This paper reports sustainability data from Project HEAL (Health through Early Awareness and Learning) a cancer communication implementation trial about early detection, based in African American churches. In this paper, we used a framework by Scheirer and Dearing (Am J Publ Health 101:2059-2067, 2011) to evaluate multiple dimensions of sustainability from Project HEAL. We examined the following dimensions of sustainability: (a) continued benefits for intervention recipients, (b) continuation of intervention activities, c) maintaining community partnerships, (d) changes in organizational policies or structures, (e) sustained attention to the underlying issues, (f) diffusion to additional sites, or even (g) unplanned consequences of the intervention. Project HEAL provided a three-workshop cancer educational series delivered by trained lay peer community health advisors (CHAs) in their churches. Multiple sources of sustainability were collected at 12 and 24 months after the intervention that reflect several levels of analysis: participant surveys; interviews with CHAs; records from the project's management database; and open-ended comments from CHAs, staff, and community partners. Outcomes differ for each dimension of sustainability. For continued benefit, 39 and 37% of the initial 375 church members attended the 12- and 24-month follow-up workshops, respectively. Most participants reported sharing the information from Project HEAL with family or friends (92% at 12 months; 87% at 24 months). For continuation of intervention activities, some CHAs reported that the churches held at least one additional cancer educational workshop (33% at 12 months; 24% at 24 months), but many more CHAs reported subsequent health activities in their churches (71% at 12 months; 52% at 24 months). No church replicated the original series of three workshops

  7. Association between neighborhood safety and overweight status among urban adolescents

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    Johnson Renee M

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Neighborhood safety may be an important social environmental determinant of overweight. We examined the relationship between perceived neighborhood safety and overweight status, and assessed the validity of reported neighborhood safety among a representative community sample of urban adolescents (who were racially and ethnically diverse. Methods Data come from the 2006 Boston Youth Survey, a cross-sectional study in which public high school students in Boston, MA completed a pencil-and-paper survey. The study used a two-stage, stratified sampling design whereby schools and then 9th–12th grade classrooms within schools were selected (the analytic sample included 1,140 students. Students reported their perceptions of neighborhood safety and several associated dimensions. With self-reported height and weight data, we computed body mass index (BMI, kg/m2 for the adolescents based on CDC growth charts. Chi-square statistics and corresponding p-values were computed to compare perceived neighborhood safety by the several associated dimensions. Prevalence ratios (PRs and 95% confidence intervals (CI were calculated to examine the association between perceived neighborhood safety and the prevalence of overweight status controlling for relevant covariates and school site. Results More than one-third (35.6% of students said they always felt safe in their neighborhood, 43.9% said they sometimes felt safe, 11.6% rarely felt safe, and 8.9% never felt safe. Those students who reported that they rarely or never feel safe in their neighborhoods were more likely than those who said they always or sometimes feel safe to believe that gang violence was a serious problem in their neighborhood or school (68.0% vs. 44.1%, p p = 0.025. In the fully adjusted model (including grade and school stratified by race/ethnicity, we found a statistically significant association between feeling unsafe in one's own neighborhood and overweight status among

  8. Race, Neighborhood Economic Status, Income Inequality and Mortality.

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    Nicolle A Mode

    Full Text Available Mortality rates in the United States vary based on race, individual economic status and neighborhood. Correlations among these variables in most urban areas have limited what conclusions can be drawn from existing research. Our study employs a unique factorial design of race, sex, age and individual poverty status, measuring time to death as an objective measure of health, and including both neighborhood economic status and income inequality for a sample of middle-aged urban-dwelling adults (N = 3675. At enrollment, African American and White participants lived in 46 unique census tracts in Baltimore, Maryland, which varied in neighborhood economic status and degree of income inequality. A Cox regression model for 9-year mortality identified a three-way interaction among sex, race and individual poverty status (p = 0.03, with African American men living below poverty having the highest mortality. Neighborhood economic status, whether measured by a composite index or simply median household income, was negatively associated with overall mortality (p<0.001. Neighborhood income inequality was associated with mortality through an interaction with individual poverty status (p = 0.04. While racial and economic disparities in mortality are well known, this study suggests that several social conditions associated with health may unequally affect African American men in poverty in the United States. Beyond these individual factors are the influences of neighborhood economic status and income inequality, which may be affected by a history of residential segregation. The significant association of neighborhood economic status and income inequality with mortality beyond the synergistic combination of sex, race and individual poverty status suggests the long-term importance of small area influence on overall mortality.

  9. Walking to Work: The Roles of Neighborhood Walkability and Socioeconomic Deprivation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Cheryl M; Lian, Min; Struthers, Jim; Kammrath, Anna

    2015-06-16

    There are few studies that aimed to find a relationship between transportation-related physical activity and neighborhood socioeconomic condition using a composite deprivation index. The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship of neighborhood walkability and socioeconomic deprivation with percentage of adults walking to work. A walkability index and a socioeconomic deprivation index were created at block group-level. The outcome variable, percentage of adults who walk to work was dichotomized as walkability and socioeconomic deprivation with walking to work. Individuals in the most walkable neighborhoods are almost 5 times more likely to walk to work than individuals in the least walkable neighborhoods (OR = 4.90, 95% CI = 2.80-8.59). After adjusting for neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation, individuals in the most walkable neighborhoods are almost 3 times more likely to walk to work than individuals in the least walkable neighborhoods (OR = 2.98, 95% CI = 1.62-5.49). Walkability (as measured by the walkability index) is a very strong indicator of walking to work even after controlling for neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage.

  10. Church-based health programs for mental disorders among African Americans: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hankerson, Sidney H; Weissman, Myrna M

    2012-03-01

    African Americans underutilize traditional mental health services, compared with white Americans. The authors conducted a systematic review of studies involving church-based health promotion programs for mental disorders among African Americans to assess the feasibility of utilizing such programs to address racial disparities in mental health care. A literature review of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and ATLA Religion databases was conducted to identify articles published between January 1, 1980, and December 31, 2009. Inclusion criteria were as follows: studies were conducted in a church; the primary objective involved assessment, perceptions and attitudes, education, prevention, group support, or treatment for DSM-IV mental disorders or their correlates; number of participants was reported; qualitative or quantitative data were reported; and African Americans were the target population. Of 1,451 studies identified, only eight met inclusion criteria. Five studies focused on substance-related disorders, six were designed to assess the effects of a specific intervention, and six targeted adults. One study focused on depression and was limited by a small sample size of seven participants. Although church-based health promotion programs have been successful in addressing racial disparities for several chronic medical conditions, the literature on such programs for mental disorders is extremely limited. More intensive research is needed to establish the feasibility and acceptability of utilizing church-based health promotion programs as a possible resource for screening and treatment to improve disparities in mental health care for African Americans.

  11. Unity and catholicity in the Korean Presbyterian Church: An ecumenical Reformed assessment

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    Jaegeon Ha

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available I attempt to find the main causes of the serious disunity in the Presbyterian Church in Korea (PCK, which started as one church but is now divided into more than 100 denominations, as well as a solution to promote the unity of the PCK. This attempt starts with an exegesis of Ephesians, with special reference to Ephesians 4:1�16, to understand the biblical principle on this matter. This article draws on a mature ecclesiology and a mature sense of unity as key concepts. After that, the history of the PCK disunity is briefly described, dealing with four major schisms. Based on this historical investigation, the disunity in the PCK is assessed. In addition, the weak sense of unity and weak ecclesiology of the PCK, which played a role in its disunity, are discussed in view of the confessions of faith, the ministry of the word and the Lord�s Supper, and ecumenical efforts in relation to national and international ecumenical organisations. Lastly, contributory suggestions based on the mature sense of unity are offered to the PCK in particular and the Reformed family and all Christian churches in general.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: In my ecumenical Reformed intradisciplinary assessment of unity and catholicity in the PCK, which started as one church but is now divided into more than 100 denominations, I identify the main causes of serious disunity in the PCK, namely a weak sense of unity, immaturity and secularisation.

  12. The early Korean Protestant Churches’ impact on Korea’s democratisation: With special reference to the Korean Presbyterian Church

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    Jae-Buhm Hwang

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the significant influence of the early Korean Protestant churches in general and the Korean Presbyterian Church in particular on the early phases of Korea’s democratisation. Firstly, the Western Protestant mission works in general were visibly conducive for dissemination and cultivation of egalitarian and democratic ideals, with the mission churches becoming sites of do-it-yourself democracy. Secondly, the Nevius (Mission Methods of the Korean Presbyterian Church came to foster the democratic spirit of self-support and self-government, resulting in its rapid growth. Thirdly, with the implementation of a nationwide, representative and democratic polity (presbytery with a constitution, the church even facilitated law-binding and institutional democracy for Koreans in general and Korean Christians in particular. Fourthly, the church’s democratic working deeply inspired Korean democratic politicians, especially Mr Changho Ahn, who had an important influence on the making of the Provisional Government of Korea and its Constitution.

  13. Does Race Matter in Neighborhood Preferences? Results from a Video Experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krysan, Maria; Couper, Mick P.; Farley, Reynolds; Forman, Tyrone

    2013-01-01

    Persistent racial residential segregation is often seen as the result of the preferences of whites and blacks: whites prefer to live with whites while blacks wish to live near many other blacks. The origin of these preferences and their social psychological underpinnings are hotly debated. Are neighborhood preferences colorblind or race-conscious? Does neighborhood racial composition have a net influence upon preferences or is race a proxy for social class? If preferences are race-conscious, is this more a matter of a desire to be in a neighborhood with one’s “own kind” or to avoid being in a neighborhood with another racial group? We tested the racial proxy hypothesis using an innovative experiment that isolated the net effects of race and social class and followed it with an analysis of the social psychological factors associated with residential preferences. Face-to-face surveys using computer assisted interviewing were conducted with random samples of Detroit and Chicago residents. Respondents were asked how desirable they would rate neighborhoods shown in videos in which racial composition and social class characteristics were manipulated and they also completed—via computer assisted self-interviews—questions tapping into perceptions of discrimination, racial and neighborhood stereotypes, and in-group identity. We find that net of social class, the race of a neighborhood's residents significantly influenced how it was rated. Whites said the all-white neighborhoods were most desirable. The independent effect of racial composition was smaller among blacks and blacks identified the racially mixed neighborhood as most desirable. Hypotheses about how racial group identity, stereotypes, and experiences of discrimination influenced the effect of race of residents upon neighborhood preferences were tested and show that for whites, those who hold negative stereotypes about African Americans and the neighborhoods where they live are significantly influenced by

  14. Neighborhood Factors and Dating Violence Among Youth: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Renee M; Parker, Elizabeth M; Rinehart, Jenny; Nail, Jennifer; Rothman, Emily F

    2015-09-01

    The purpose of this review is to summarize the empirical research on neighborhood-level factors and dating violence among adolescents and emerging adults to guide future research and practice. In 2015, a total of 20 articles were identified through a search of the literature using PubMed. Eligible articles included those that (1) had been published in a peer-reviewed journal since 2005; (2) reported a measure of association between at least one neighborhood-level factor and dating violence; and (3) had a study population of youth aged dating violence and neighborhood factors, and measures of effect. Results were summarized into three categories based on the aspect of neighborhood that was the focus of the work: demographic and structural characteristics (n=11); neighborhood disorder (n=12); and social disorganization (n=8). There was some evidence to suggest that neighborhood disadvantage is associated with dating violence, but very little evidence to suggest that residence characteristics (e.g., racial heterogeneity) are associated with dating violence. Results do suggest that perceived neighborhood disorder is associated with physical dating violence perpetration, but do not suggest that it is associated with physical dating violence victimization. Social control and community connectedness are both associated with dating violence, but findings on collective efficacy are mixed. Existing research suggests that neighborhood factors may be associated with dating violence. However, there is a limited body of research on the neighborhood context of dating violence, and more rigorous research is needed. Copyright © 2015 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Justice and the Missional Framework Document of the Dutch Reformed Church

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    Jaco Botha

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This article engages with the Missional Framework Document of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC from the perspectives of solidarity with the poor and justice for South African society. The democratic South Africa continues to face significant socio-economic problems and an increasingly dissatisfied population. In the light of this, the article presents an introductory conversation with the Missional Framework Document in order to ask whether it offers an adequate response to South Africa�s current contextual challenges. The lens through which this article will engage the Framework Document is the theological paradigm of justice, specifically the theory of justice presented by Nicholas Wolterstorff as well as some important contributions from contemporary South African scholars who advocate for a theology from the margins of society. It is contended that the DRC remains a predominantly white middle-class church. This social, economic and political location has an impact on the missional theology of the church as expressed in the Framework Document. Hence, we engage with the Missional Theology of the DRC by means of a paradigm that operates from the �underside� or the economic, political and social �margins� of South African society. We argue that any missional theology aimed at furthering God�s Kingdom in South Africa at present must develop in community with the marginalised majority of the nation. The critical engagement with the Framework Document will be done by sketching a theological landscape where current contextual realities are brought into relief against a kairos moment on which the efficacy of this church�s mission, indeed its public work and witness, is being called into question.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This interdisciplinary study in Systematic Theology and Ethics engages the missional theology found in the Missional Framework Document of the Dutch Reformed Church. Methodologically, the

  16. ADOLESCENTS’ EXPOSURE TO COMMUNITY VIOLENCE: ARE NEIGHBORHOOD YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS PROTECTIVE?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gardner, Margo; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne

    2011-01-01

    Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN), we identified a significant inverse association between the variety of youth organizations available at the neighborhood level and adolescents’ exposure to community violence. We examined two non-competing explanations for this finding. First, at the individual level, we tested the hypothesis that access to a greater variety of neighborhood youth organizations predicts adolescents’ participation in organized community-based activities, which, in turn, protects against community violence exposure. Second, at the neighborhood level, we tested the hypothesis that lower violent crime rates explain the inverse relation between neighborhood youth organization variety and community violence exposure. Our findings supported the latter of these two mechanisms. PMID:21666761

  17. Differences by Sexual Orientation in Perceptions of Neighborhood Cohesion: Implications for Health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henning-Smith, Carrie; Gonzales, Gilbert

    2018-06-01

    A large body of research documents the relationship between health and place, including the positive association between neighborhood cohesion and health. However, very little research has examined neighborhood cohesion by sexual orientation. This paper addresses that gap by examining differences in perceived neighborhood cohesion by sexual orientation. We use data from the 2016 National Health Interview Survey (n = 28,164 respondents aged 18 years and older) to examine bivariate differences by sexual orientation in four measures of neighborhood cohesion. We then use ordered logistic regression models to assess the relationship between sexual orientation and a scaled measure of neighborhood cohesion, adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, living arrangements, health status, region, and neighborhood tenure. We find that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults are less likely to say that they live in a close-knit neighborhood (54.6 vs. 65.6%, p < 0.001), they can count on their neighbors (74.7 vs. 83.1%, p < 0.001), they trust their neighbors (75.5 vs. 83.7%, p < 0.001), or people in their neighborhood help each other out (72.9 vs. 83.1%, p < 0.001), compared to heterosexual adults. Even after controlling for socio-demographic factors, neighborhood cohesion scores are lower for LGB adults compared to heterosexual adults (odds ratio of better perceived neighborhood cohesion for sexual minorities: 0.70, p < 0.001). Overall, LGB adults report worse neighborhood cohesion across multiple measures, even after adjusting for individual characteristics and neighborhood tenure. Because living in a cohesive neighborhood is associated with better health outcomes, future research, community-level initiatives, and public policy efforts should focus on creating welcoming neighborhood environments for sexual minorities.

  18. Independent Effects of Neighborhood Poverty and Psychosocial Stress on Obesity Over Time.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwarteng, Jamila L; Schulz, Amy J; Mentz, Graciela B; Israel, Barbara A; Perkins, Denise White

    2017-12-01

    The objective of the study was to examine the independent effects of neighborhood poverty and psychosocial stress on increases in central adiposity over time. Data are from a community sample of 157 Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic White, and Hispanic adults collected in 2002-2003 and 2007-2008, and from the 2000 Decennial Census. The dependent variable was waist circumference. Independent variables included neighborhood poverty, perceived neighborhood physical environment, family stress, safety stress, everyday unfair treatment, and a cumulative stress index. Weighted 3-level hierarchical linear regression models for a continuous outcome were used to assess the effects of neighborhood poverty and psychosocial stress on central adiposity over time. We also assessed whether psychosocial stress mediated the association between neighborhood poverty and central adiposity. Neighborhood poverty and everyday unfair treatment at baseline were independently associated with increases in central adiposity over time, accounting for the other indicators of stress. Perceptions of the neighborhood physical environment and cumulative stress mediated associations between neighborhood poverty and central adiposity. Results suggest that residing in neighborhoods with higher concentrations of poverty and exposure to everyday unfair treatment independently heighten risk of increased central adiposity over time. Associations between neighborhood poverty and central adiposity were mediated by perceptions of the neighborhood physical environment and by the cumulative stress index. Public health strategies to reduce obesity should consider neighborhood poverty and exposure to multiple sources of psychosocial stress, including everyday unfair treatment.

  19. The Russian Orthodox and Catholic Church in 1980 – the 1990th Years: to History of Relationship

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    Larisa A. Koroleva

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available In article relationship of Russian Orthodox Church and Catholic in 1980 – the 1990th years is considered. Dialogue development between them had not only internal political, but also foreign policy value. One of the most painful questions in relationship of Russian Orthodox Church and the question of the uniatsky church earlier existing in the territory of Ukraine and Belarus and restored in the second half of the 1980th years was Catholic. Divergences in a number of theological questions remained. In particular, it belonged to the doctrine confirmed with the Second Vatican Cathedral about Papal infallibility and a primacy of the Roman High priest. Peacekeeping activity was that sphere where the Russian Orthodox and Catholic churches most successfully cooperated though rivalry was present and here.

  20. Neighborhood and Friendship Composition in Adolescence

    OpenAIRE

    Edling, Christofer; Rydgren, Jens

    2010-01-01

    The social surroundings in which an individual grows up and spends his or her everyday life have an effect on his or her life chances. Much of the research into this phenomenon focuses on so-called neighborhood effects and has put particular emphasis on the negative effects of growing up in a poor neighborhood. Originating from the sociological study of inner-city problems in the United States, the research has recentl...

  1. Male perpetration of teen dating violence: associations with neighborhood violence involvement, gender attitudes, and perceived peer and neighborhood norms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, Elizabeth; Silverman, Jay G; Raj, Anita; Decker, Michele R; Miller, Elizabeth

    2011-04-01

    This study aims to examine the link between male perpetration of teen dating violence (TDV) and neighborhood violence, as well as associations with gender attitudes and perceived peer and neighborhood norms related to violence among a sample of urban adolescent boys. Participants of this cross-sectional study (N = 275) were between the ages of 14 and 20 years and recruited from urban community health centers. Crude and adjusted logistic and linear regression models were used to examine TDV perpetration in relation to (a) neighborhood violence involvement, (b) perceptions of peer violence, (c) perceptions of neighborhood violence, and (d) gender attitudes. Slightly more than one in four (28%) boys reported at least one form of TDV perpetration; among boys who have ever had sex, almost half (45%) reported at least one form of TDV perpetration. In logistic and linear regression models adjusted for demographics, boys who reported TDV perpetration were more likely to report involvement in neighborhood violence (odds ratio (OR) = 3.1; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.7-5.5), beliefs that their friends have perpetrated TDV (OR = 2.7; 95%CI = 1.4-5.1), perceptions of violent activity within their neighborhood (OR = 3.0; 95%CI = 1.4-6.3), and greater support of traditional gender norms (β = 3.2, p = 0.002). The findings suggest that efforts are needed to address boys' behaviors related to the perpetration of multiple forms of violence and require explicit efforts to reduce perceived norms of violence perpetration as well as problematic gender attitudes (e.g., increasing support for gender equity) across boys' life contexts.

  2. Gene therapy, human nature and the churches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunstan, G R

    1991-12-01

    Moral analysis must begin with respect for the empirical features, the "facts of the case". Major advances in genetic knowledge and technology -- as in other sciences -- inevitably change mental attitudes. But they could not change human nature, a product of the distinctively human cerebral cortex. Human capacities like compassion and justice are our own and for us to guard. To ask (as some do) about a "right" to inherit a non-manipulated genome is to ask an unanswerable question: the language of rights is inappropriate in this context. Parents have a duty to safeguard and to serve the interests of their potential child. The medical duty is to help in that task in ways which they have limited freedom to choose. The role of churches is to be faithful to their deposit of faith and their theological principles, including that of freedom of conscience. Churches are too easily led in practice to over-rule conscience on grounds of authority, ecclesiastical or biblical, not sustained by convincing reason. This is most evident in some declarations concerning human reproduction. Better were it for them to help their faithful in moral reasoning, the ethics of choice; to keep consciences tender.

  3. Planning According to New Urbanism: the Ostadsara Neighborhood Case Study

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    Nader Zali

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The modern urbanism activities have led to rupture of previous spatial structure of neighborhoods and destruction of their identity. The New Urbanism Movement, as one of the successful models in urbanization field attempts to revive this lost national-social identity through the project of returning to traditional structure of neighborhoods by applying modern urbanization models and methods. The current paper aims at evaluation and analysis of “the Ostadsara neighborhood's organization based on new urbanism principles” and representation of solutions for planning a successful neighborhood center considering these principles. In this regard, various methods including library method, observation, photography, questionnaire and interview with users of the environment were utilized. The results from identification and assessment of weaknesses and strengths and specification and analysis of potential threats and opportunities shows the possibility of applying walkability, connectivity and integration, improvement of public transportation, improvement of architecture quality and urban design, maintenance and improvement of public and green open spaces, maintenance and strengthening the structure of traditional neighborhood units and using cooperation of Ostadsara neighborhood's inhabitants. Finally, the current study will represent appropriate strategies for changing the mentioned neighborhood into a desirable and prosperous one.

  4. Tacit consent: the Church and birth control in northern Italy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dalla-Zuanna, Gianpiero

    2011-01-01

    This article employs novel documentation to examine ways in which the Church's moral rules on contraception were (or were not) communicated to parishioners in a predominantly Catholic context in a period of rapid fertility decline: the diocese of Padua, in the northeastern Italian region of Veneto, during the first half of the twentieth century. The account is based on documents that have until now been overlooked: the moral cases discussed during the periodic meetings among Padua priests in the years 1916–58, and the written answers provided by priests in response to a question asked of them concerning their efforts to combat the limiting of births. This documentation reveals the limited effect on the reproductive behavior of the position of the Catholic Church against birth control.

  5. Considering Weight Loss Programs and Public Health Partnerships in American Evangelical Protestant Churches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, D Gibbes

    2018-06-01

    The obesity epidemic is a critical public health threat facing the USA. With the advent of American Evangelical Protestant (AEP) weight loss guides and narratives, AEP churches could potentially aid public health agencies in combatting obesity, and some scholars have called for investment in partnerships between public health agencies and religious institutions. This paper examines the theological and social underpinnings of AEP weight loss programs and considers the potential benefits and risks of public health partnerships with AEP churches to combat obesity. While AEP churches may be successful at empowering people to lose weight, AEP weight loss also carries several risks. These risks include reinforcing gendered bodily norms, stigmatizing both overweight bodies and unhealthy behaviors deemed to be sinful (for example, overeating), and failing to acknowledge social factors that promote obesity. These risks must be assessed and minimized to create appropriate public health weight loss partnerships with AEP communities.

  6. Neighborhood Decline and the Economic Crisis (discussion paper)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zwiers, M.D.; Bolt, G.; Van Ham, M.; Van Kempen, R.

    2014-01-01

    Neighborhood decline is a complex and multidimensional process. National and regional variation in economic and political structures (including variety in national welfare state arrangements), combined with differences in neighborhood history, development and population composition, makes it

  7. Motier church - refurbishment of heating system; Kirche Motier Sanierung der Raumheizung

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grizzetti, V.

    2003-07-01

    This final report for the Swiss Federal Office for Energy describes the refurbishment of the space heating system of the historical church in Motier, Switzerland. The 50-year old, inefficient electrical direct heating system of the church, which is a listed building, and the new, heat pump-based system are described. Heating energy is distributed via a warm-air system, geothermal energy provides the primary heat source for the heat pump. Technical details of the heating characteristics and energy consumption of the old and new heating systems are presented in the form of tables and diagrams. The maintenance of the heating system's ventilation unit is also discussed.

  8. Bridging cultures: Nonprofit, church, and emergency management agency collaboration after the May 2013 Oklahoma tornado outbreak.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Haley; Pudlo, Jason

    Community-based organizations, such as nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and churches, play an important role in helping individuals and communities bounce back after a disaster. The nature of disasters requires organizations across sectors to partner together to provide recovery services; however, collaboration is difficult even in times of stability and requires trust and communication to be built through prior collaborative relationships. These prior relationships rarely exist between the majority of the nonprofit sector, churches, and existing emergency management structures. Furthermore, these organizations often have very different cultures, values, and norms that can further hinder successful postdisaster collaboration. The authors use data collected from interviews with nonprofit and church leaders involved in recovery efforts after a series of devastating storms impacted central Oklahoma in 2013 to understand how well nonprofit and church leaders perceive their organizations collaborated with each other and with government and emergency management agencies in response and recovery efforts. Interview data suggest that NPOs and churches without a primary or secondary mission of disaster response and recovery have a difficult time collaborating with organizations involved in existing emergency management structures. The authors suggest that nonprofits with a primary or secondary purpose in disaster response are a potential bridge between other nonprofits and emergency management agencies.

  9. The Muted Voice of the Catholic Church in Angola

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-12-01

    laboring for the Church in the spacious lands of Africa.” 87 Harkening back to the centuries of colonialism, this document anachronistically celebrates ...112 The peace conference, which was endorsed by Pope John Paul II, featured a 107Comerford, “The

  10. An enquiry on poverty discourses in public theology for the calling of the church to respond to poverty: A case for the Africa Inland Church in Kenya

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noah K. Tenai

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available As an emergent and rapidly growing international field of study, public theology has its focus on how Christian faith and practice impact on ordinary life. Its principle concern is thewell-being of society. In Africa, and in Kenya in particular, where poverty levels are still high, there is a need to enquire into the value and efficacy of the poverty discourses in publictheology, for the calling of the church to respond to poverty. One of the main and fast growingchurches in Kenya, the Africa Inland Church (AIC, has vast resources used for, amongst otherthings, various on-going work amidst the poor and the vulnerable in remote and poor areas. Due to the unrelenting nature of poverty in Kenya, the AIC needs a theological perspective, which is sufficiently sensitive to poverty and can enable it to respond to poverty moreeffectively. Public theology’s emphasis on gaining an entrée into the public square andadopting the agenda of communities, including public theology’s calling on churches toactively participate in rational and plausible public discourses, can assist the AIC to respondeffectively to the challenge of poverty in Kenya.

  11. Neighborhood Design for Walking and Biking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Barbara B.; Smith, Ken R.; Hanson, Heidi; Fan, Jessie X.; Kowaleski-Jones, Lori; Zick, Cathleen D.

    2013-01-01

    Background Neighborhood designs often relate to physical activity and to BMI. Purpose Does neighborhood walkability/bikeability relate to BMI and obesity risk and does moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) account for some of the relationship? Methods Census 2000 provided walkability/bikeability measures—block group proportions of workers who walk or bike to work, housing age, and population density—and National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES 2003–2006) provided MVPA accelerometer measures. Regression analyses (2011–2012) adjusted for geographic clustering and multiple control variables. Results Greater density and older housing were associated with lower male BMI in bivariate analyses, but there were no density and housing age effects in multivariate models. For women, greater proportions of neighborhood workers who walk to work (M=0.02) and more MVPA was associated with lower BMI and lower obesity risk. For men, greater proportions of workers who bike to work (M=0.004) and more MVPA was associated with lower BMI and obesity risk. For both effects, MVPA partially mediated the relationships between walkability/bikeability and BMI. If such associations are causal, doubling walk and bike-to-work proportions (to 0.04 and 0.008) would have –0.3 and –0.33 effects on the average BMIs of adult women and men living in the neighborhood. This equates to 1.5 lbs for a 64” woman and 2.3 lbs for a 69” man. Conclusions Although walking/biking to work is rare in the U.S., greater proportions of such workers in neighborhoods relate to lower weight and higher MVPA. Bikeability merits greater attention as a modifiable activity-friendliness factor, particularly for men. PMID:23415119

  12. Follower-Centric Influences on Sexual Decision Making in a Pentecostal Church Faith Community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elias Mpofu

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This study utilized participatory action research approaches to construct a follower-centric framework for measuring influences on sexual decision making by youth members of a church organization. Participants were Batswana Pentecostal church members self-reporting on their engagement in pre-marital sex (n = 68, females = 62%; age range 15–23 years; median age = 20.3 years from eight of 26 randomly selected congregations. They completed a multi-stage concept mapping process that included free listing of statements of potential influences on their sexual decisions. They then sorted the statements into groupings similar in meaning to them, and rated the same statements for relative importance to their sexual decisions. Multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis of the data yielded a five cluster solution in which church teachings emerged as most salient to the teenagers’ sexual decision making followed by future orientation, community norms, knowledge about HIV/AIDS and prevention education. While the youth believed to be influenced by religion teachings on primary sexual abstinence, they self-reported with pre-marital sex. This suggests a need for secondary abstinence education with them to reduce their risk for STIs/HIV and unwanted pregnancies. Concept mapping is serviceable to construct frameworks and to identify content of follower-centric influences on sexual decision making by church youth members.

  13. Mitigating the Impact of Bats in Historic Churches: The Response of Natterer’s Bats Myotis nattereri to Artificial Roosts and Deterrence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeale, Matt R. K.; Bennitt, Emily; Newson, Stuart E.; Packman, Charlotte; Browne, William J.; Harris, Stephen; Jones, Gareth; Stone, Emma

    2016-01-01

    Bats frequently roost in historic churches, and these colonies are of considerable conservation value. Inside churches, bat droppings and urine can cause damage to the historic fabric of the building and to items of cultural significance. In extreme cases, large quantities of droppings can restrict the use of a church for worship and/or other community functions. In the United Kingdom, bats and their roosts are protected by law, and striking a balance between conserving the natural and cultural heritage can be a significant challenge. We investigated mitigation strategies that could be employed in churches and other historic buildings to alleviate problems caused by bats without adversely affecting their welfare or conservation status. We used a combination of artificial roost provision and deterrence at churches in Norfolk, England, where significant maternity colonies of Natterer’s bats Myotis nattereri damage church features. Radio-tracking data and population modelling showed that excluding M. nattereri from churches is likely to have a negative impact on their welfare and conservation status, but that judicious use of deterrents, especially high intensity ultrasound, can mitigate problems caused by bats. We show that deterrence can be used to move bats humanely from specific roosting sites within a church and limit the spread of droppings and urine so that problems to congregations and damage to cultural heritage can be much reduced. In addition, construction of bespoke roost spaces within churches can allow bats to continue to roost within the fabric of the building without flying in the church interior. We highlight that deterrence has the potential to cause serious harm to M. nattereri populations if not used judiciously, and so the effects of deterrents will need careful monitoring, and their use needs strict regulation. PMID:26771548

  14. Neighborhood Environment and Cognition in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Besser, Lilah M; McDonald, Noreen C; Song, Yan; Kukull, Walter A; Rodriguez, Daniel A

    2017-08-01

    Some evidence suggests that treating vascular risk factors and performing mentally stimulating activities may delay cognitive impairment onset in older adults. Exposure to a complex neighborhood environment may be one mechanism to help delay cognitive decline. PubMed, Web of Science, and ProQuest Dissertation and Theses Global database were systematically reviewed, identifying 25 studies published from February 1, 1989 to March 5, 2016 (data synthesized, May 3, 2015 to October 7, 2016). The review was restricted to quantitative studies focused on: (1) neighborhood social and built environment and cognition; and (2) community-dwelling adults aged ≥45 years. The majority of studies were cross-sectional, U.S.-based, and found at least one significant association. The diversity of measures and neighborhood definitions limited the synthesis of findings in many instances. Evidence was moderately strong for an association between neighborhood SES and cognition, and modest for associations between neighborhood demographics, design, and destination accessibility and cognition. Most studies examining effect modification found significant associations, with some evidence for effect modification of the neighborhood SES-cognition association by individual-level SES. No studies had low risk of bias and many tested multiple associations that increased the chance of a statistically significant finding. Considering the studies to date, the evidence for an association between neighborhood characteristics and cognition is modest. Future studies should include longitudinal measures of neighborhood characteristics and cognition; examine potential effect modifiers, such as sex and disability; and study mediators that may help elucidate the biological mechanisms linking neighborhood environment and cognition. Copyright © 2017 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Perceived Neighborhood Safety and Adolescent School Functioning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin-Storey, Alexa; Crosnoe, Robert

    2014-01-01

    This study examined the association between adolescents' perceptions of their neighborhoods' safety and multiple elements of their functioning in school with data on 15 year olds from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 924). In general, perceived neighborhood safety was more strongly associated with aspects of schooling…

  16. Intergenerational Education Transmission: Neighborhood Quality and

    OpenAIRE

    Patacchini, Eleonora; Zenou, Yves

    2004-01-01

    Using cultural transmission, we develop a model that gives some microfoundation to the impact of residential neighborhood on children's educational attainment and then test it using the UK National Child Development Study. We find that, for high-educated parents, the better the quality of the neighborhood in terms of human capital, the higher the parent's involvement in children's education, indicating cultural complementarity. For high-educated parents, we also find that both parents' involv...

  17. Luminescence (IRSL) dating of Yeni Rabat church in Artvin, Turkey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Şahiner, Eren; Meriç, Niyazi; Uygun, Selda

    2013-01-01

    Luminescence dating is a chronological method that has been used extensively in terrestrial materials. In this study, we present Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) dating results obtained for sediment and pottery samples taken from Yeni Rabat Church, Ardanuç, Artvin, Turkey. For this purpose, equivalent dose (ED) and annual dose rate (AD) of samples were measured. For annual dose rate, concentrations of radioactive isotopes (U, Th, K) were determined by using a high-purity germanium detector. For the equivalent dose, polymineral fine grain SAR (Single Aliquot Regenerative Dose) and MAAD (Multiple Aliquot Additive Dose) procedures were used. The optimal preheat temperature was determined for sediment and pottery samples. Ages were calculated by Aitken's luminescence age calculation method, which found 710±190 years for the pottery sample and 1450±370 years, 1390±420 years, 1430±310 years, 2210±520 years and 1640±390 years for different sediment samples, respectively. These estimated age ranges support the theory that Yeni Rabat Church could have been constructed in medieval times. - Highlights: ► The luminescence (IRSL) ages of the samples, taken from in Yeni Rabat church in Artvin-Turkey were found. ► Equivalent doses and annual doses were determined. ► Polymineral fine grain SAR (Single Aliquot Regenerative Dose) and MAAD (Multiple Aliquot Additive Dose) procedures were used

  18. Leadership mentoring and succession in the Charismatic churches in Bushbuckridge

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard M. Ngomane

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Leadership mentoring and succession programmes are critical in the development and preparation of emerging leaders for leadership transitions. By virtue of their one-founder-leaders whose special leadership talents are usually celebrated by their followers, Charismatic church leaders may fail to identify and develop young emerging leaders who may be equally gifted to prepare them for leadership succession. This quantitative study investigated the state of leadership mentoring and succession programmes in the Charismatic churches in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, South Africa (Bushbuckridge is one of five local municipalities in the Ehlazeni District Municipality situated in the north-east of the Mpumalanga province in South Africa. It borders private game ranches and the Kruger National Park. A population of 287 respondents drawn from 48 churches from rural and urban locations was assessed. Many of them (85% were reported to have leadership mentoring programmes in their congregations and 72% of them reported that they had leadership succession programmes in place. Location was found to have no statistically significant effect on leadership mentoring. Gender and education levels were reported to have a statistically significant effect in describing leadership mentoring. Charismatic groupings in Bushbuckridge believe and take the Bible seriously as authoritative for faith, life and ministry. We therefore think it is appropriate to include in this article a relevant illustrative text – 2 Timothy 2:1–3.

  19. Neighborhood disadvantage and ischemic stroke: the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Arleen F; Liang, Li-Jung; Vassar, Stefanie D; Stein-Merkin, Sharon; Longstreth, W T; Ovbiagele, Bruce; Yan, Tingjian; Escarce, José J

    2011-12-01

    Neighborhood characteristics may influence the risk of stroke and contribute to socioeconomic disparities in stroke incidence. The objectives of this study were to examine the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic status and incident ischemic stroke and examine potential mediators of these associations. We analyzed data from 3834 whites and 785 blacks enrolled in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a multicenter, population-based, longitudinal study of adults ages≥65 years from 4 US counties. The primary outcome was adjudicated incident ischemic stroke. Neighborhood socioeconomic status was measured using a composite of 6 census tract variables. Race-stratified multilevel Cox proportional hazard models were constructed adjusted for sociodemographic, behavioral, and biological risk factors. Among whites, in models adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, stroke hazard was significantly higher among residents of neighborhoods in the lowest compared with the highest neighborhood socioeconomic status quartile (hazard ratio, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.01-1.72) with greater attenuation of the hazard ratio after adjustment for biological risk factors (hazard ratio, 1.16; 0.88-1.52) than for behavioral risk factors (hazard ratio, 1.30; 0.99-1.70). Among blacks, we found no significant associations between neighborhood socioeconomic status and ischemic stroke. Higher risk of incident ischemic stroke was observed in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods among whites, but not among blacks. The relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic status and stroke among whites appears to be mediated more strongly by biological than behavioral risk factors.

  20. Missionary Destinations and Diasporic Destiny: Spatiality of Korean/American Evangelism and the Cell Church

    OpenAIRE

    Han, Ju Hui Judy

    2005-01-01

    The existing literature on immigrant Korean Protestant churches in North America typically addresses identity formation and dynamics of assimilation in the context of North American religious pluralism and multiculturalism, particularly focusing on the role of religion in “maintaining ethnicity” and “preserving traditions.” In this literature, the immigrant Korean church is depicted as an ethnic enclave, a bounded territorial enclosure that facilitates adjustment and transition into the main...

  1. A contribution to the study of architecture of the monastery church of St. Archangel Michael in Prilep

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Korunovski Sasho

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with architecture of the one of the most significant churches in the Prilep region that was built in the years around 1280 as a foundation of John, the megas chartoularious of the West. The main focus is on the typological concept of the church, and its’ unique combination of a two-domed and two-storeyed structure. In the survey the particular elements of the church structure are elaborated with a reference to the most striking structures that bear such elements in the architecture of the Byzantine sphere of influence.

  2. A New Neighborhood Every Fall: Aging in Place in a College Town.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powell, Kathleen H

    Older adults who live in residential neighborhoods adjacent to college and university campuses have a unique experience that makes them vulnerable to marginalization and displacement. As these neighborhoods become increasingly dominated by college students living in rental properties, older adults find themselves in the minority in a neighborhood where they have lived for many years. In addition, these neighborhoods are attractive to universities, city governments, and private companies for their development potential, which can result in gentrification. A year-long ethnographic study of a campus-adjacent neighborhood in a small US college town that is home to a medium-sized public university sheds light on the relationships between members of 5 stakeholder groups that have a vested interest in the neighborhood. The study highlights the need for additional research on different types of neighborhoods and their effects on aging in place in addition to outlining social work interventions in campus-adjacent neighborhoods that are designed to enhance these intergenerational spaces.

  3. Contamination of a church ceiling due to the burning of candles in combination with floor heating

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schellen, H.L.; Deelman, J.; Aarle, van M.A.P.

    2005-01-01

    An air heating system originally heated St. Martinus’ church in Weert. Together with a large restoration in 1984 a floor heating system replaced this heating system. After this major renovation a number of problems arose: due to the floor heating system and massive granite floor the church could

  4. Contamination of a church ceiling due to the burning of candles in combination with floor heating

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schellen, H.L.; Aarle, van M.A.P.

    2005-01-01

    An air heating system originally heated St. Martin's church in Weert. Together with an extensive restoration in 1984 a floor heating system replaced this heating system. After this major renovation a number of problems arose: due to the floor heating System and massive granite floor the church could

  5. Neighborhood perceptions and allostatic load : Evidence from Denmark

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Deurzen, I.A.; Hulvej Rod, Naja; Christensen, Ulla; Hansen, Åse Marie; Lund, Rikke; Dich, Nadya

    2016-01-01

    An influential argument explaining why living in certain neighborhoods can become harmful to one's health maintains that individuals can perceive certain characteristics of the neighborhood as threatening and the prolonged exposure to a threatening environment could induce chronic stress. Following

  6. Ecclesial Opposition to Large-Scale Mining on Samar: Neoliberalism Meets the Church of the Poor in a Wounded Land

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William Norman Holden

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, the government of the Philippines (adhering to the precepts of neoliberalism has promoted large-scale mining as a method of stimulating economic development. Mining, an activity with substantial potential for environmental harm, is staunchly opposed by the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines, particularly on the island of Samar. The crux of the church’s opposition to mining are the adverse environmental consequences that mining may impose upon the rural poor who, engaging in subsistence agriculture and aquaculture, are vitally dependent upon access to natural resources. Should there be a mining-related environmental disruption, these people will be thrust from subsistence into destitution. The commitment of the church to act on behalf of the poor emanates from the conciliar documents of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965, the fertile ground for liberation theology in the Philippines provided by the Marcos dictatorship (1972–1986, and by the commitment of the church in its 1992 Second Plenary Council to become a church of the poor. Samar contains quality mineralization set amid a wealth of biodiversity, grinding poverty, a simmering Maoist insurgency, and a vulnerability to natural hazards such as typhoons and El Niño induced drought. The opposition of the church to mining on Samar demonstrates the commitment of the church to be a church of the poor and how this praxis stands in contradistinction to the intellectual hegemony of neoliberalism.

  7. SOCIAL ACTIVITIES OF PARISH CLERGY IN CIRCUMSTANCES OF GOVERNMENTALIZING OF ORTHODOX CHURCH IN RUSSIAN EMPIRE OF 19 TH CENTURY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Светлана Геннадиевна Зубанова

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the experience of the Russian empire of the 19 th century in creating the conditions for social activities of the Russian Orthodox Church. The author describes such types of the Russian Orthodox Church activities aimed at helping those in need as helping the poor, coordinating the work of poor-houses, collecting donations, supporting parochial schools, poor houses, orphanages, hospitals, construction and reconstruction of churches. The author analyzes the role of the parochial patronages in the charity and social service activities, as well as in the moral and spiritual education of the population. The work of the well-known members of the clergy which forms a part of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian history in general is given as an example of the above mentioned activities. The article extensively covers the responsibilities of parish priests, the difficulties which they come across, and highlights the reasons for the negative attitude towards the clergy in the late 19 th - early 20 th centuries. The author summarizes the historical lessons of the social activity of the Russian Orthodox Church. The article provides grounds for the opinion that the social activities of the Church should not interfere with its main religious functions, and the partnership of the state and the Russian Orthodox Church in the social projects should contribute to the improvement of people’s life and their moral and spiritual growth.

  8. The Church as a Bridge to Deliver Health Resources Via Telehealth

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-10-25

    Obesity; Diet, Food, and Nutrition; Church; Healthcare Disparities; Minority Health; Mobile Health; Telehealth; Community-based Participatory Research; Primary Health Care; Weight Loss Programs; Health Behavior

  9. THE BELHAR CONFESSION AND CHURCH AND SOCIETY: A ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Naudé 77-89, and for a more academic account, Naudé 1997. ... perspectives: The priestly task of the church requires it to proclaim in word and deed .... In the broader field of hermeneutics and Biblical Studies, the ... by feminist scholars, materialist exegetes, black and African theologians, .... But for the first years after 1982,.

  10. Safety in numbers: does perceived safety mediate associations between the neighborhood social environment and physical activity among women living in disadvantaged neighborhoods?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timperio, Anna; Veitch, Jenny; Carver, Alison

    2015-05-01

    The aim of this study is to examine associations between the neighborhood social environment and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA)(1) and walking among women, and whether these associations are mediated by perceived personal safety. Women (n = 3784) living in disadvantaged urban and rural neighborhoods within Victoria, Australia completed a self-administered survey on five social environment variables (neighborhood crime, neighborhood violence, seeing others walking and exercising in the neighborhood, social trust/cohesion), perceived personal safety, and their physical activity in 2007/8. Linear regression analyses examined associations between social environment variables and LTPA and walking. Potential mediating pathways were assessed using the product-of-coefficients test. Moderated mediation by urban/rural residence was examined. Each social environment variable was positively associated with engaging in at least 150 min/week of LTPA (OR = 1.16 to 1.56). Only two social environment variables, seeing others walking (OR = 1.45) and exercising (OR = 1.31), were associated with ≥ 150 min/week of walking. Perceived personal safety mediated all associations. Stronger mediation was found in urban areas for crime, violence and social trust/cohesion. The neighborhood social environment is an important influence on physical activity among women living in disadvantaged areas. Feelings of personal safety should not be included in composite or aggregate scores relating to the social environment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Re-Building Coal Country: A Church/University Partnership

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carl Milofsky

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a developing partnership between a church-based service learning center and a university initiative to build a field station in a low-income community in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania. It is a case study of how secular and religious institutions have been collaborating to achieve the shared goal of improving social conditions in specific communities. The theoretical focus of the paper is on how a change from a “glass is half empty” to a “glass is half full” perception of the community opens new possibilities for change. This paper concentrates on the story of one partnership as a case study demonstrating current trends in service learning both within universities and within the Catholic Church in America. Analysis centers on the basic question of why the project had symbolic power for both partners and on the institutional processes within both organizations that helped the partnership grow. We use the framework of Assets-Based Community Development (ABCD, also known as the “strengths perspective”, to conceptualize the contrast.

  12. Healthy and Unhealthy Food Prices across Neighborhoods and Their Association with Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Proportion Black/Hispanic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kern, David M; Auchincloss, Amy H; Robinson, Lucy F; Stehr, Mark F; Pham-Kanter, Genevieve

    2017-08-01

    This paper evaluates variation in food prices within and between neighborhoods to improve our understanding of access to healthy foods in urbanized areas and potential economic incentives and barriers to consuming a higher-quality diet. Prices of a selection of healthier foods (dairy, fruit juice, and frozen vegetables) and unhealthy foods (soda, sweets, and salty snacks) were obtained from 1953 supermarkets across the USA during 2009-2012 and were linked to census block group socio-demographics. Analyses evaluated associations between neighborhood SES and proportion Black/Hispanic and the prices of healthier and unhealthy foods, and the relative price of healthier foods compared with unhealthy foods (healthy-to-unhealthy price ratio). Linear hierarchical regression models were used to explore geospatial variation and adjust for confounders. Overall, the price of healthier foods was nearly twice as high as the price of unhealthy foods ($0.590 vs $0.298 per serving; healthy-to-unhealthy price ratio of 1.99). This trend was consistent across all neighborhood characteristics. After adjusting for covariates, no association was found between food prices (healthy, unhealthy, or the healthy-to-unhealthy ratio) and neighborhood SES. Similarly, there was no association between the proportion Black/Hispanic and healthier food price, a very small positive association with unhealthy price, and a modest negative association with the healthy-to-unhealthy ratio. No major differences were seen in food prices across levels of neighborhood SES and proportion Black/Hispanic; however, the price of healthier food was twice as expensive as unhealthy food per serving on average.

  13. A systematic review of relations between neighborhoods and mental health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Truong, Khoa D; Ma, Sai

    2006-09-01

    The relationship between neighborhood characteristics and resident mental health has been widely investigated in individual studies in recent years, but this literature is not adequately reviewed. To systematically review relevant individual research of the relation between neighborhoods and adult mental health by identifying and synthesizing all relevant studies in this literature. We conducted an electronic search with PubMed and PsycINFO, and manual reference-checking, resulting in 8,562 screened studies of which 29 were selected. Studies were included in the main synthesis if they (i) were published in English in peer reviewed journals; (ii) had relevant definitions and measures of neighborhood characteristics; (iii) utilized standardized measures of adult mental health; (iv) controlled for individual characteristics; (v) reported quantitative results; and, (vi) studied a population in a developed country. We focused on two key areas within this literature: the methodologies utilized to study neighborhood effects and quantitative results. With regard to the former, we examined five major issues: (i) definitions and measures of neighborhoods; (ii) definitions and measures of mental health; (iii) controls for individual level characteristics; (iv) conceptual models; and (v) analytical models. As for quantitative results, the relation was reviewed by types of neighborhood characteristics. We summarized general quantitative findings and drew common conclusions across groups of studies. 27/29 studies found statistically significant association between mental health and at least one measure of neighborhood characteristics, after adjusting for individual factors. This association was evident for all types of neighborhood features, varying from sociodemographic characteristics to physical environment, and from objective to subjective measures. Neighborhood effects were weakened when adding individual-level characteristics into the regression models, and were generally

  14. Towards the Romanization of the Mexican Church in the Late-Nineteenth Century

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cecilia A. Bautista García

    2005-07-01

    Full Text Available During  the second half of the nineteenth century,  the papacy designed a specific reform for catholicism in Latin America, consisting  in a gradual centralization of pontifical  authority in detriment of the power  exerted by local hierarchies. This process was known as Romanization and, in the  case of Mexico, was translated  into  a series of actions including the  arrival of special delegates from Rome with the purpose of intervening  in the ecclesiastical reorganization of local churches  and in the reshapement of Church-State relations.

  15. RURAL CHURCHES, „PEARLS” OF RURAL ARCHITECTURE IN CRIȘANA AND MARAMUREȘ

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandru ILIEȘ

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available In Romania in general and in particular Crişana and Maramureș wooden churches are identifies of local identity. Using specific tools and methods used in geographical but complementary fields, in conjunction with an interdisciplinary architectural heritage element are analyzed wooden churches as tourist planning perspective. Each „land" and ethnographic area of the Tisa and Mureș north to south has a specific fingerprint identifiable architectural style of these „pearls" of Romanian folk architecture. This diversity is an element of favorable effects on tourism diversification and increasing the attractiveness of a region or locality.

  16. Neighborhood crime and access to health-enabling resources in Chicago

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elizabeth L. Tung

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Neighborhood crime may be an important social determinant of health in many high-poverty, urban communities, yet little is known about its relationship with access to health-enabling resources. We recruited an address-based probability sample of 267 participants (ages ≥35 years on Chicago's South Side between 2012 and 2013. Participants were queried about their perceptions of neighborhood safety and prior experiences of neighborhood crime. Survey data were paired to a comprehensive, directly-observed census of the built environment on the South Side of Chicago. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine access to health-enabling resources (potential and realized access as a function of neighborhood crime (self-reported neighborhood safety and prior experience of theft or property crime, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and self-reported health status. Low potential access was defined as a resident having nearest resources >1 mile from home; poor realized access was defined as bypassing nearby potential resources to use resources >1 mile from home. Poor neighborhood safety was associated with low potential access to large grocery stores (AOR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.04, 2.87, pharmacies (AOR = 2.24, 95% CI = 1.33, 3.77, and fitness resources (AOR = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.15, 3.24, but not small grocery stores. Any prior experience of neighborhood crime was associated with higher adjusted odds of bypassing nearby pharmacies (AOR = 3.78, 95% CI = 1.11, 12.87. Neighborhood crime may be associated with important barriers to accessing health-enabling resources in urban communities with high rates of crime. Keywords: Built environment, Neighborhood crime, Access to resources, Social determinants of health, Obesity, Hypertension

  17. Resurgent Ethnicity among Asian Americans: Ethnic Neighborhood Context and Health

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walton, Emily

    2012-01-01

    In this study I investigate the associations of neighborhood socioeconomic and social environments with the health of Asian Americans living in both Asian ethnic neighborhoods and non-Asian neighborhoods. I use a sample of 1962 Asian Americans from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS, 2003-04). Three key findings emerge. First,…

  18. Neighborhood Environmental Health and Premature Death From Cardiovascular Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaglioti, Anne H; Xu, Junjun; Rollins, Latrice; Baltrus, Peter; O'Connell, Laura Kathryn; Cooper, Dexter L; Hopkins, Jammie; Botchwey, Nisha D; Akintobi, Tabia Henry

    2018-02-01

    Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States and disproportionately affects racial/ethnic minority groups. Healthy neighborhood conditions are associated with increased uptake of health behaviors that reduce CVD risk, but minority neighborhoods often have poor food access and poor walkability. This study tested the community-driven hypothesis that poor access to food at the neighborhood level and poor neighborhood walkability are associated with racial disparities in premature deaths from CVD. We examined the relationship between neighborhood-level food access and walkability on premature CVD mortality rates at the census tract level for the city of Atlanta using multivariable logistic regression models. We produced maps to illustrate premature CVD mortality, food access, and walkability by census tract for the city. We found significant racial differences in premature CVD mortality rates and geographic disparities in food access and walkability among census tracts in Atlanta. Improved food access and walkability were associated with reduced overall premature CVD mortality in unadjusted models, but this association did not persist in models adjusted for census tract population composition and poverty. Census tracts with high concentrations of minority populations had higher levels of poor food access, poor walkability, and premature CVD mortality. This study highlights disparities in premature CVD mortality and neighborhood food access and walkability at the census tract level in the city of Atlanta. Improving food access may have differential effects for subpopulations living in the same area. These results can be used to calibrate neighborhood-level interventions, and they highlight the need to examine race-specific health outcomes.

  19. Neighborhood perceptions and allostatic load: Evidence from Denmark.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Deurzen, Ioana; Rod, Naja Hulvej; Christensen, Ulla; Hansen, Åse Marie; Lund, Rikke; Dich, Nadya

    2016-07-01

    An influential argument explaining why living in certain neighborhoods can become harmful to one's health maintains that individuals can perceive certain characteristics of the neighborhood as threatening and the prolonged exposure to a threatening environment could induce chronic stress. Following this line of argumentation, in the present study we test whether subjective perceptions of neighborhood characteristics relate to an objective measure of stress-related physiological functioning, namely allostatic load (AL). We use a large dataset of 5280 respondents living in different regions of Denmark and we account for two alternative mechanisms, i.e., the objective characteristics of the living environment and the socio-economic status of individuals. Our results support the chronic stress mechanisms linking neighborhood quality to health. Heightened perceptions of disorder and pollution were found related to AL and this relationship was particularly robust for women. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Ali, Cunich: Halley's Churches: Halley and the London Queen Anne Churches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Jason R.; Cunich, Peter

    2005-04-01

    Edmond Halley's enormous contribution to science has received much attention. New research adds an intriguing chapter to his story and concerns his hitherto unexplored association with the baroque architectural visionary Nicholas Hawksmoor, and some important Temple-inspired churches that were built in London in the early 1700s. We argue that Christchurch Spitalfields and St Anne's Limehouse, which were both started in the summer of 1714, were aligned exactly eastwards using ``corrected'' magnetic-compass bearings and that Halley influenced or aided Hawksmoor. By this time the men had probably known each other for 30 years and had recently worked together on the Clarendon Building in Oxford. Despite there being more than 1500 years of Chinese and about 500 years of Western compass technology at the time, these probably represent the first constructions planned using a modern-day ``scientific'' technique. The research also throws light on Halley's contended religious position.

  1. Historic Church of the Holy Cross in Kielce - Valuable Substance and Cultural Heritage in the Space of the Modern City

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gil-Mastalerczyk, Joanna

    2017-10-01

    In the frequently modified city fabrics, sacral architecture still plays an important role defining aspects of spatial forms and their compositional relations to the surroundings. The historic church of the Holy Cross in Kielce (1903-1939) has been a characteristic sight, a landmark and a contributing factor to the structure of the modern city. Large dimensions and dominant vertical shapes give a sturdy, recognizable form to the church architecture. The body of this Neogothic church, original and distinguishable from its surroundings, has been highly appreciated by the community members. The church provides an example of the aesthetics of the time in which it was built, it also documents changes in the people’s lives and attitudes. It shows Poland’s economic, legal and social transformation. The church has gained a status of one of the symbols of the city.

  2. Association between neighborhood need and spatial access to food stores and fast food restaurants in neighborhoods of colonias.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharkey, Joseph R; Horel, Scott; Han, Daikwon; Huber, John C

    2009-02-16

    To determine the extent to which neighborhood needs (socioeconomic deprivation and vehicle availability) are associated with two criteria of food environment access: 1) distance to the nearest food store and fast food restaurant and 2) coverage (number) of food stores and fast food restaurants within a specified network distance of neighborhood areas of colonias, using ground-truthed methods. Data included locational points for 315 food stores and 204 fast food restaurants, and neighborhood characteristics from the 2000 U.S. Census for the 197 census block group (CBG) study area. Neighborhood deprivation and vehicle availability were calculated for each CBG. Minimum distance was determined by calculating network distance from the population-weighted center of each CBG to the nearest supercenter, supermarket, grocery, convenience store, dollar store, mass merchandiser, and fast food restaurant. Coverage was determined by calculating the number of each type of food store and fast food restaurant within a network distance of 1, 3, and 5 miles of each population-weighted CBG center. Neighborhood need and access were examined using Spearman ranked correlations, spatial autocorrelation, and multivariate regression models that adjusted for population density. Overall, neighborhoods had best access to convenience stores, fast food restaurants, and dollar stores. After adjusting for population density, residents in neighborhoods with increased deprivation had to travel a significantly greater distance to the nearest supercenter or supermarket, grocery store, mass merchandiser, dollar store, and pharmacy for food items. The results were quite different for association of need with the number of stores within 1 mile. Deprivation was only associated with fast food restaurants; greater deprivation was associated with fewer fast food restaurants within 1 mile. CBG with greater lack of vehicle availability had slightly better access to more supercenters or supermarkets, grocery

  3. Association between neighborhood need and spatial access to food stores and fast food restaurants in neighborhoods of Colonias

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Han Daikwon

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Objective To determine the extent to which neighborhood needs (socioeconomic deprivation and vehicle availability are associated with two criteria of food environment access: 1 distance to the nearest food store and fast food restaurant and 2 coverage (number of food stores and fast food restaurants within a specified network distance of neighborhood areas of colonias, using ground-truthed methods. Methods Data included locational points for 315 food stores and 204 fast food restaurants, and neighborhood characteristics from the 2000 U.S. Census for the 197 census block group (CBG study area. Neighborhood deprivation and vehicle availability were calculated for each CBG. Minimum distance was determined by calculating network distance from the population-weighted center of each CBG to the nearest supercenter, supermarket, grocery, convenience store, dollar store, mass merchandiser, and fast food restaurant. Coverage was determined by calculating the number of each type of food store and fast food restaurant within a network distance of 1, 3, and 5 miles of each population-weighted CBG center. Neighborhood need and access were examined using Spearman ranked correlations, spatial autocorrelation, and multivariate regression models that adjusted for population density. Results Overall, neighborhoods had best access to convenience stores, fast food restaurants, and dollar stores. After adjusting for population density, residents in neighborhoods with increased deprivation had to travel a significantly greater distance to the nearest supercenter or supermarket, grocery store, mass merchandiser, dollar store, and pharmacy for food items. The results were quite different for association of need with the number of stores within 1 mile. Deprivation was only associated with fast food restaurants; greater deprivation was associated with fewer fast food restaurants within 1 mile. CBG with greater lack of vehicle availability had slightly better

  4. The Digital Hood: Social Media Use among Youth in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevens, Robin; Gilliard-Matthews, Stacia; Dunaev, Jamie; Woods, Marcus; Brawner, Bridgette M

    2017-06-01

    This study examines the role of social media in the lives of youth living in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Feminist Standpoint theory, which privileges the voices of marginalized communities in understanding social phenomena, suggests that youth at the margins have specific knowledge that helps us understand social media more broadly. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 females and 30 males aged 13 to 24 about their social worlds and neighborhoods, both on- and offline. The findings reveal a dynamic and somewhat concerning interplay between the geographic neighborhood and the digital neighborhood, whereby negative social interactions in the geographic neighborhood are reproduced and amplified on social media.

  5. The Byzantine wall-paintings in the church of Saint Theodore at Platanos, Kynouria (Arcadia

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    Agrevi Maria

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The church of St Theodore (also known as "Sts Theodoroi" at Platanos, Kynouria, is a single-nave building of small dimensions. The interior surfaces of its walls preserve their Byzantine paintings, which are partially visible under the coat of plaster that covers most of them. The paintings exhibit affinity with wall-paintings of churches in the Peloponnese (neighbouring Laconia included, and can be dated to the last quarter of the thirteenth century.

  6. As I see it: a study of African American pastors' views on health and health education in the black church.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowland, Michael L; Isaac-Savage, E Paulette

    2014-08-01

    The Black Church is the only institution that has consistently served the interest of African Americans, and there is no other institution in the African American community that rivals its influence (Camara, 2004). The spiritual well-fare, social support, health, and well-being of its people have been one of its main goals. With health disparities of African Americans still at an alarming rate, the Black Church has used informal education as a means to impart knowledge on health, as well as other non-religious and religious topics. One of the avenues least researched within the Black Church is the pastor's perception of its educational role in health and wellness and its efforts to reduce health discrimination and health disparities between African American and European Americans in the U.S. Since social justice appears as a theme and concern in the traditions of many churches, it is only appropriate that, among other things, the Black Church should address the issue of health education and interventions. The purpose of this study was to explore African American pastors' perceptions of the role of the Black Church in providing health care, health education, and wellness opportunities to African Americans. Many pastors reported their church provided some form of health education and/or health screenings. Their perceptions about the important issues facing their congregants versus African Americans in general were quite similar.

  7. Building Community: The Neighborhood Context of Social Organization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swaroop, Sapna; Morenoff, Jeffrey D.

    2006-01-01

    This study explores how neighborhood context influences participation in local social organization through a multilevel-spatial analysis of residents in Chicago neighborhoods. We construct a typology of community participation based on two dimensions: instrumental vs. expressive motivations for participation and formal vs. informal modes of…

  8. Neighborhood Processes, Self-Efficacy, and Adolescent Mental Health

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dupere, Veronique; Leventhal, Tama; Vitaro, Frank

    2012-01-01

    Self-efficacy beliefs are central to mental health. Because adolescents' neighborhoods shape opportunities for experiences of control, predictability, and safety, we propose that neighborhood conditions are associated with adolescents' self-efficacy and, in turn, their internalizing problems (i.e., depression/anxiety symptoms). We tested these…

  9. Contemporary Neighborhood Theories: Integration versus Romance and Reaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stever, James A.

    1978-01-01

    This paper discusses the integrative, romantic, and reactive theories of neighborhood government within the context of the urban reform movement and argues that the integrative theory is the one best suited for an effective political relationship between the neighborhood and the greater metropolis. (EB)

  10. Indicators of the church in John’s metaphor of the vine

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    Johann Fourie

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available This article aims to answer the question of what belongs to the essence of the church, as God intended it to be, by identifying certain indicators of the essence of the church through a study of one of the central metaphors of the New Testament: the vine in the Gospel of John. Through structural analyses, commentary and metaphorical analyses, several indicators of unity as part of the essence of the church emerge in this metaphor. These indicators are the primacy (or authority of Christ, trinitarian balance, equality, interdependence, inclusivity, growth and unity (in diversity. Hierdie artikel poog om die volgende vraag te beantwoord: Wat behoort tot die essensie van kerkwees soos God dit bedoel het? Dit word gedoen deur sekere aanwysers van die essensie van kerkwees te identifiseer vanuit ’n studie van een van die essensiële metafore vir kerkwees in die Nuwe Testament, naamlik die Wynstok in die Evangelie van Johannes. Deur middel van struktuuranalise, kommentaar en metaforiese analise kom verskeie eenheidsaanwysers as deel van die essensie van kerkwees in hierdie metafoor na vore. Hierdie aanwysers is die hoër gesag (of outoriteit van Christus, die balans van die Drie-eenheid, gelykheid, interafhanklikheid, inklusiwiteit, groei en eenheid (in diversiteit.

  11. Pentecostalism & schisms in the Reformed Church in Zambia 1996

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    the documentary evidence from church records and media coverage of the events ... The motivation to do this research emerged from ... Economic, political and social influences of globalization had ..... investment, tourism and natural calamities, to name a few. ... daily experiences of life define the shift in Zambian culture.

  12. Do Neighborhood Characteristics in Amsterdam Influence Adiposity at Preschool Age?

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    E. Jessica Hrudey

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: Neighborhood characteristics may contribute to adiposity in young children, but results in the current literature are inconsistent. This study aimed to investigate whether objective (socioeconomic status (SES and subjective (perceived safety, satisfaction with green spaces and perceived physical disorder neighborhood characteristics directly influence child adiposity (as measured by BMI, percent body fat (%BF and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR. Methods: Data on child BMI, %BF and WHtR were obtained from the Amsterdam Born Children and their Development cohort at 5–6 years of age. Three thousand four hundred and sixty nine (3469 children were included in the analyses. Mixed models, using random intercepts for postal code area to account for neighborhood clustering effects, were used to analyze the relationships of interest. Results: Associations were observed for both perceived safety and neighborhood SES with %BF after adjustment for maternal education and ethnicity. All relationships were eliminated with the inclusion of individual covariates and parental BMI into the models. Conclusions: In general, child adiposity at age 5–6 years was not independently associated with neighborhood characteristics, although a small relationship between child %BF and both neighborhood SES and perceived safety cannot be ruled out. At this young age, familial and individual factors probably play a more important role in influencing child adiposity than neighborhood characteristics.

  13. Cognitive Aspects of Regularity Exhibit When Neighborhood Disappears

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Sau-Chin; Hu, Jon-Fan

    2015-01-01

    Although regularity refers to the compatibility between pronunciation of character and sound of phonetic component, it has been suggested as being part of consistency, which is defined by neighborhood characteristics. Two experiments demonstrate how regularity effect is amplified or reduced by neighborhood characteristics and reveals the…

  14. Neighborhood size and local geographic variation of health and social determinants

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    Emch Michael

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Spatial filtering using a geographic information system (GIS is often used to smooth health and ecological data. Smoothing disease data can help us understand local (neighborhood geographic variation and ecological risk of diseases. Analyses that use small neighborhood sizes yield individualistic patterns and large sizes reveal the global structure of data where local variation is obscured. Therefore, choosing an optimal neighborhood size is important for understanding ecological associations with diseases. This paper uses Hartley's test of homogeneity of variance (Fmax as a methodological solution for selecting optimal neighborhood sizes. The data from a study area in Vietnam are used to test the suitability of this method. Results The Hartley's Fmax test was applied to spatial variables for two enteric diseases and two socioeconomic determinants. Various neighbourhood sizes were tested by using a two step process to implement the Fmaxtest. First the variance of each neighborhood was compared to the highest neighborhood variance (upper, Fmax1 and then they were compared with the lowest neighborhood variance (lower, Fmax2. A significant value of Fmax1 indicates that the neighborhood does not reveal the global structure of data, and in contrast, a significant value in Fmax2 implies that the neighborhood data are not individualistic. The neighborhoods that are between the lower and the upper limits are the optimal neighbourhood sizes. Conclusion The results of tests provide different neighbourhood sizes for different variables suggesting that optimal neighbourhood size is data dependent. In ecology, it is well known that observation scales may influence ecological inference. Therefore, selecting optimal neigborhood size is essential for understanding disease ecologies. The optimal neighbourhood selection method that is tested in this paper can be useful in health and ecological studies.

  15. Improving Mental Health Through the Regeneration of Deprived Neighborhoods: A Natural Experiment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, James; Greene, Giles; Farewell, Daniel; Dunstan, Frank; Rodgers, Sarah; Lyons, Ronan A; Humphreys, Ioan; John, Ann; Webster, Chris; Phillips, Ceri J; Fone, David

    2017-08-15

    Neighborhood-level interventions provide an opportunity to better understand the impact of neighborhoods on health. In 2001, the Welsh Government, United Kingdom, funded Communities First, a program of neighborhood regeneration delivered to the 100 most deprived of the 881 electoral wards in Wales. In this study, we examined the association between neighborhood regeneration and mental health. Information on regeneration activities in 35 intervention areas (n = 4,197 subjects) and 75 control areas (n = 6,695 subjects) was linked to data on mental health from a cohort study with assessments made in 2001 (before regeneration) and 2008 (after regeneration). Propensity score matching was used to estimate the change in mental health in intervention neighborhoods versus control neighborhoods. Baseline differences between intervention and control areas were of similar magnitude as produced by paired randomization of neighborhoods. Regeneration was associated with an improvement in the mental health of residents in intervention areas compared with control neighborhoods (β = 1.54, 95% confidence interval: 0.50, 2.59), suggesting a reduction in socioeconomic inequalities in mental health. There was a dose-response relationship between length of residence in regeneration neighborhoods and improvements in mental health (P-trend = 0.05). These results show that targeted regeneration of deprived neighborhoods can improve mental health. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

  16. Social Capital and Economic Development: A Neighborhood Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew J. Hanka

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Sean Safford’s 2009 book Why the Garden Club Couldn’t Save Youngstown introduces a revolutionary idea that much of a community’s economic resilience is tied to the social capital that exists within it. Recent research suggests that social capital not only benefits those who develop it, but it can serve as a source of economic development in the communities in which it arises. Past quantitative research on the economic benefit of social capital has only examined the city or higher levels of aggregation. This study measures social capital in three diverse socioeconomic neighborhoods to better understand how social capital can serve as a tool for economic development. An ordered probit regression model was developed to examine how individual and neighborhood levels of social capital benefit households within these communities. Moreover, this study addresses how differences in social capital across neighborhoods are explained by both individual and neighborhood characteristics.

  17. NEIGHBORHOOD TEST DESIGN BASED ON HISTORIC PRECEDENTS

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    Besim S. Hakim

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available There have been various attempts to emulate traditional architecture and to experiment with the form and aesthetics of building design. However, learning from precedents of urban morphology is rare. This design study is a test at the neighborhood level using the pattern of traditional courtyard housing that is prevalent in the majority of historic towns and cities of North Africa and the Middle East. The study is undertaken at five levels of design enquiry: dwelling types, dwelling groups, neighborhood segment and community center. All of which are synthesized into a full prototype neighborhood comprising of 428 dwelling units covering an area that includes circulation and the community center, of 17.6 hectares. The test demonstrates that the traditional pattern of neighborhoods that are based on the typology of the courtyard dwelling as the initial generator of urban form may be used to develop a contemporary settlement pattern that is compatible with current necessities of lifestyle, vehicular circulation,  including parking and infrastructure achieving an attractive livable environment with an overall gross density, that includes a community center, of about 24 dwelling units per hectare.

  18. Do psychosocial factors moderate the association between neighborhood walkability and adolescents' physical activity?

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Meester, Femke; Van Dyck, Delfien; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Deforche, Benedicte; Cardon, Greet

    2013-03-01

    Ecological models emphasize the interaction between individuals and their environment. Furthermore, they posit that environmental variables influence physical activity (PA) not only directly but also indirectly through their interaction with other factors. This study explored if the association between neighborhood walkability and adolescents' PA is moderated by psychosocial factors using data from the Belgian Environmental PA Study in Youth (BEPAS-Y). BEPAS-Y recruited adolescents from 32 neighborhoods differing in objectively determined neighborhood walkability and income. Between 2008 and 2009, 637 adolescents (13-15 years; 49.4% boys) completed a survey measuring socio-demographic and psychosocial factors and wore an accelerometer for seven days. Multilevel-regression analyses revealed that for adolescents living in low-income neighborhoods, the association between neighborhood walkability and PA is moderated by perceived barriers and perceived benefits toward PA. Neighborhood walkability was positively associated with PA among adolescents, living in low-income neighborhoods, who perceived many barriers and few benefits, while for adolescents who perceived few barriers and many benefits, the PA level was high, irrespective of neighborhood walkability. For adolescents, living in high-income neighborhoods, none of the psychosocial attributes moderated the association between neighborhood walkability and PA. These findings provide some support for the predicted interactions posited by ecological models. Improving neighborhood walkability might increase PA-levels of adolescents living in low-income neighborhoods, with less positive psychosocial profiles, or in other words; those who are most difficult to reach through PA interventions. However, in order to increase PA in large populations, interventions focusing solely on improving neighborhood walkability may not have the desired effect. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Neighborhood Child Opportunity and Individual-Level Pediatric Acute Care Use and Diagnoses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kersten, Ellen E; Adler, Nancy E; Gottlieb, Laura; Jutte, Douglas P; Robinson, Sarah; Roundfield, Katrina; LeWinn, Kaja Z

    2018-05-01

    : media-1vid110.1542/5751513300001PEDS-VA_2017-2309 Video Abstract OBJECTIVES: Although health care providers and systems are increasingly interested in patients' nonmedical needs as a means to improve health, little is known about neighborhood conditions that contribute to child health problems. We sought to determine if a novel, publicly available measure of neighborhood context, the Child Opportunity Index, was associated with pediatric acute care visit frequency and diagnoses. This cross-sectional study included San Francisco residents <18 years of age with an emergency department and/or urgent care visit to any of 3 medical systems ( N = 47 175) between 2007 and 2011. Hot-spot analysis was used to compare the spatial distribution of neighborhood child opportunity and income. Generalized estimating equation logistic regression models were used to examine independent associations between neighborhood child opportunity and frequent acute care use (≥4 visits per year) and diagnosis group after adjusting for neighborhood income and patient age, sex, race and/or ethnicity, payer, and health system. Neighborhood child opportunity and income had distinct spatial distributions, and we identified different clusters of high- and low-risk neighborhoods. Children living in the lowest opportunity neighborhoods had significantly greater odds of ≥4 acute care visits per year (odds ratio 1.33; 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.73) compared with those in the highest opportunity neighborhoods. Neighborhood child opportunity was negatively associated with visits for respiratory conditions, asthma, assault, and ambulatory care-sensitive conditions but positively associated with injury-related visits. The Child Opportunity Index could be an effective tool for identifying neighborhood factors beyond income related to child health. Copyright © 2018 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  20. Neighborhood Environmental Health and Premature Death From Cardiovascular Disease

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Junjun; Rollins, Latrice; Baltrus, Peter; O’Connell, Laura Kathryn; Cooper, Dexter L.; Hopkins, Jammie; Botchwey, Nisha D.; Akintobi, Tabia Henry

    2018-01-01

    Introduction Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States and disproportionately affects racial/ethnic minority groups. Healthy neighborhood conditions are associated with increased uptake of health behaviors that reduce CVD risk, but minority neighborhoods often have poor food access and poor walkability. This study tested the community-driven hypothesis that poor access to food at the neighborhood level and poor neighborhood walkability are associated with racial disparities in premature deaths from CVD. Methods We examined the relationship between neighborhood-level food access and walkability on premature CVD mortality rates at the census tract level for the city of Atlanta using multivariable logistic regression models. We produced maps to illustrate premature CVD mortality, food access, and walkability by census tract for the city. Results We found significant racial differences in premature CVD mortality rates and geographic disparities in food access and walkability among census tracts in Atlanta. Improved food access and walkability were associated with reduced overall premature CVD mortality in unadjusted models, but this association did not persist in models adjusted for census tract population composition and poverty. Census tracts with high concentrations of minority populations had higher levels of poor food access, poor walkability, and premature CVD mortality. Conclusion This study highlights disparities in premature CVD mortality and neighborhood food access and walkability at the census tract level in the city of Atlanta. Improving food access may have differential effects for subpopulations living in the same area. These results can be used to calibrate neighborhood-level interventions, and they highlight the need to examine race-specific health outcomes. PMID:29389312