March 27, 2003

Contact: Mary Jane Dunlap, University Relations, (785) 864-8853.

Hear my prayer: KU class conducting census of religion in Douglas County

LAWRENCE -- Eleven University of Kansas students are spending weekends visiting religious services throughout Douglas County to conduct a census of religion on one small space.

The students are on assignment as part of a graduate-level course, "Contours of Religion in Douglas County," taught by Tim Miller, KU professor of religious studies. Miller says he designed the experimental class in an effort to provide more solid information about American religion.

His students are attempting to compile a comprehensive list of religious groups in Douglas County, list their worship places, the day and times of worship and the numbers in each congregation during a weekly service. The students' list includes about 130 churches or groups in Douglas County.

Ultimately Miller hopes the class can compile enough data on religion in Douglas County to enable researchers to make comparisons with the national data. Miller would like the students' 2003 census to be on record to provide a benchmark for researchers in 10 or 20 years to determine trends in religion in the county. A long-range goal for future students would be to locate elders in the groups to record oral histories.

"The common perception is that religious groups are fairly fixed in a community," Miller says. "But in fact, I think [the community] changes annually."

Douglas County may have a wide range of groups due in part to a large number of international students, but Miller notes that religious diversity also is probably more common than many think.

"I think there is a lot of religious diversity everywhere," he says.

The course was born out of a sense of lack of accuracy in the few national resources that enumerate religious groups in the United States, Miller says.

In the early 1900s, the U.S. Census reports included religion, which provided benchmarks regarding the diversity of religious groups across the United States for scholars, politicians and other researchers. The federal census counted the number of churches or places of worship, number of members for each, sex of membership and the value of the real estate. The federal census stopped reporting on religious groups in 1936.

Since then, researchers have relied on annual reports that are prepared either through self-reporting by religious groups or through survey samples, Miller says.

Neither form is entirely satisfactory for several reasons, Miller notes. In self-reporting surveys, groups tend to exaggerate their membership numbers.

"There is a tendency to report numbers that will make them seem big and successful, as growing rather than decreasing in membership," he says.

Statistical surveys extrapolate from data that may or may not be accurate.

Yearbooks and encyclopedias of religion tend to report on the larger denominations in communities, but they often include few of the smaller groups. Miller's students have used several phone directories, religious directories published in newspapers as well as word-of-mouth to compile the growing list of religious groups in Douglas County.

The annual Gallup Poll includes a religious survey question, asking: "Have you attended religious services in the last seven days?"

"They get a 38 to 39 percent 'yes' response every year. That means well over 100 million people are going to services every week and in Douglas County at least 40,000 attend services every week," Miller says. He adds that he doubts the numbers are accurate. Miller says he believes people tend to respond "yes," feeling they should have been in a religious service in the past week.

"We will have concrete information because we have done an actual count," Miller says of his students' work.

Dividing a list of 200 groups among 11 students for one week for about 16 weeks in the semester is nearly a full-time task. Some groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims and Jews meet on Fridays or Saturdays. A few small groups meet in people's homes. Zen Buddhists meet several times a week at 6 a.m.

Students conducting the census and their hometowns (parent information is included when available) are:

DOUGLAS COUNTY
From Eudora
Teri Michelle Chambers, master's degree student in religious studies; graduate of Arkansas City High School.

From Lawrence
Efugbaike Usibaka Ajayi, master's degree student in American studies, daughter of Omofolabo Ajayi; graduate of Lawrence High School.

Lee Anderson Basham, master's degree student in religious studies.

Kellie S. Harmon, master's degree student in religious studies; graduate of Phillipsburg High School.

Jessica M. Proctor, junior majoring in religious studies; graduate of Lawrence High School.

HODGEMAN COUNTY
From Jetmore
Tawnya C. Bach, senior in journalism and in theatre and film, daughter of Ron and Theresa Bach; graduate of Jetmore High School.

JOHNSON COUNTY
From Lenexa
John Wheeler Davis, sophomore in English.

From Stilwell
Angela Marie Hauser, senior in religious studies, daughter of William Hauser; graduate of Blue Valley High School.

SHAWNEE COUNTY
From Topeka
Andrew C. Mitchell, master's degree student in religious studies, son of the Rev. Paul and Karny Mitchell; graduate of Shawnee Heights High School.

ILLINOIS
From Highland Park
Carly M. Stein, senior in communication studies, daughter of Deborah Winton; graduate of Highland Park High School.

MISSOURI
From Kansas City
Sidney Charles Malone, senior in economics, son of Sidney Malone; graduate of F.L. Schlagle High School.