Patterns of Church Distribution and Movement

Three well-established generalizations of church ecology are re-evaluated with Seattle Standard Metropolitan Area data on distribution and movement of churches by the major faiths, and four functional types of Protestant churches. Principal findings are: (1) Distinctive distributional patterns for geographical and social areas characterize the various religious categories. (2) Church spatial movement appears not to be as important a mode of adjustment to ecological and demographic changes as in the past. (3) No dominant pattern of outward and suburban movement by church organizations is revealed by this study, although intra-area moves are frequent. A LIVELY topic of sociological interest several decades ago was the question of the place of the church in an evolving urban scene.' Since then, only sporadic attention has been given to these and related matters. There is recent evidence, however, of renewed interest in examining church distribution and adaptation by * I wish to acknowledge financial assistance from the Office of Population Research, University of Washington, under the direction of Calvin F. Schmid. This paper has benefited from critical reading by John R. Walker, University of Washington, and Wendell Bell, University of California, Los Angeles. 1 For summaries of this research, see: F. Stuart This content downloaded from 207.46.13.53 on Thu, 01 Sep 2016 04:40:08 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms CHURCH DISTRIBUTION AND MOVEMENT 355 use of systematic urban typologies, notably social area analysis.2 This paper reports a study of all churches in the metropolitan area of Seattle, Washington, designed to re-examine some earlier formulations of church ecology and to provide an assessment of social area techniques for the study of spatial relations of churches. Firmly established in urban theory is the notion that the city encompasses a diversity of spatially distinct population groups, social organizations, and land uses, which are distributed in an orderly, systematic pattern within the urban framework. Theoretically, at least, there is a close association between these three elements. This certainly is true for churches, which as service organizations are closely related to the local community and to the population groups from which membership is drawn.3 Since numerous studies show that religious groups differ with respect to ideology, organizational structure, and sources of membership, it is generally assumed that religious organizations are differentially distributed among the subareas of the city. Several conditions may exist which affect the position of the church in the local community. Ecological and demographic shifts which result in changes in land use nd population distribution invariably have consequences for churches, particularly when this movement involves population groups predominantly served by certain types of religious groups. Churches located in areas of expanding industrial or commercial development, or in areas undergoing invasion and succession by population groups with different religious affiliations, are potentially subject to serious problems of dwindling membership and support. When these changes occur frequently, as they do in many parts of the metropolitan complex, religious organizations must constantly re-evaluate and reassess their position in the community. The strategy adopted by these churches may involve both structural and functional adaptations for the organization.4 The spatial movement of a church from one location in the city to another is one major mode of church adjustment discussed in the literature. As members belonging to a church move away from the community, a discrepancy is created between the location of the church and the locations of church members, providing membership in the church is maintained. A spatial move by the church is a possible solution toward reducing this discrepancy and assuring the survival of the organization. Churches which move tend to "follow the main trends of population, keeping fairly close to the residential locations of the majority of their members," according to Gist and Halbert.5 This conclusion is consistent with findings from a number of church studies conducted in large middle western cities.6 This paper examines three propositions which follow from this theoretical perspective on the ecology of the church. (1) There are distinct patterns of spatial distribution for different types of religious organizations. (2) Spatial movement is a common form of adjustment to environmental pressures. (3) The general pattern of movement by Chapin, Contemporary American Institutions (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1935); Harlan Paul Douglass, The Church in the Changing City (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1937); Samuel C. Kincheloe, The American City and Its Church (New York: Friendship Press, 1938); and James A. Quinn, Human Ecology (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1950). 2 Jack H. Curtis, Frank Avesing, and Ignatius Klosek, "Urban Parishes as Social Areas," American Catholic Sociological Review, 18 (December 1957), pp. 319-325, and Robert Leroy Wilson, "The Association of Urban Social Areas in Four Cities and the Institutional Characteristics of Local Churches in Five Denominations" (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Sociology, Northwestern University, 1958). At present, research projects are being carried on by several Protestant and Roman Catholic groups. One obvious shortcoming of these endeavors is that they are directed exclusively to particular religious organizations; therefore, they do not afford an overview by all major faiths. 3A general statement of the importance of maintaining community orientations is contained in Walter Kloetzli and Arthur Hillman, Urban Church Planning: The Church Discovers its Community (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1958). This viewpoint is not without its critics. See, e.g., Martin E. Marty, "Sects and Cults," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 332 (November 1960), pp. 131-132. 4These include spatial moves, mergers, ministerial replacements, alterations in church programs, etc. Full discussion of alternatives is to be included in another paper being prepared by the writer. 5Noel P. Gist and L. A. Halbert, Urban Society (New York: Crowell, 1956), pp. 115-116. 6 Harlan Paul Douglass, The St. Louis Church Susrvey (New York: Doran, 1924); Wesley Akin Hotchkiss, Areal Patterns of Religious Institutions in Cincinnati, Geography Research Paper No. 13 (University of Chicago, 1950); and Murray H. Leiffer, City and Church in Transition (Chicago: Willett, Clark, 1938). This content downloaded from 207.46.13.53 on Thu, 01 Sep 2016 04:40:08 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms