Back through the front door: newcomers to New Zealand Presbyterian and Uniting churches

Abstract

Newcomers to New Zealand Presbyterian and Uniting Churches since 2001 who have returned to church after an absence of three years or more from regular attendance, or who have started attending with little church background, were participants in qualitative research to explore the social contexts in which newcomers joined a local church, and to identify what helped or hindered in this process. The study employed a grounded theory approach and focus group methodology, working from a constructivist epistemology. Qualitative data analysis used the constant comparative method, from which propositional theory emerged inductively in reflection upon patterns or clusters of attitudes and related behaviours. Three primary categories of social context were identified: experiences of loss; initiating change; family and community. In considering the role of socialisation to church in childhood and adolescence, the study proposes that early attendance builds a capacity in adult life to identify church as a spiritual and communal resource, by which the individual can explore questions of meaning, find support in times of difficulty or loss, or revisit in the task of parenting their own children. However, where parents had been critical of church practice, or had removed themselves and their family from church attendance, the adult returnee to church carried a negative caution, which comprised concern over expectations of the newcomer by the people in the local church in matters of religious belief, in how they chose to live, and in levels of participation. In exploring the relationship between belief and belonging, the study proposes that for some newcomers, attachment to God has been, and will remain, more significant than their attachment to a church. A priority is placed on the individual's autonomy in choosing beliefs and lifestyles that make sense to them, though these may differ from a church norm. For other newcomers, including those who are starting to attend, belief in God is more provisional, and represents a 'leaning into' the collective faith of a church community. These propositions are discussed further in relation to recent patterns of western European religious affiliation and theories of social change and cultural transition.