The death of the Christian, female Generation A: social, religious, economic impacts.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Kent
Department Name: Sch of European Culture and Languages
Abstract
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Organisations
| Description | "The Final Active Generation": Project hypothesis was confirmed: Generation A is unique and its passing signals an inevitable acceleration of the decline of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion of the global north due to Generation A's not being able - amidst widespread cultural revolutions - to transmit specific skills, beliefs and practices to their 'baby-boomer' children and churches. Counter-intuitively, the church's emphasis on attracting young people is wholly misplaced: it is the 'middle' generation they should have retained. 2. "Staying Power, Pew Power": the specific desires, skills, and practices necessary to keep churches open and growing are unique to Generation A lay-women. A main reason they have maintained their loyalty is the dense, inter-woven relationship between home, family, church, and religion. Through their highly specialised knowledge and often invisible labour they have maintained and grown churches during the last 70 years through their 'Pew Power'. What is sometimes simply described as 'commitment' or 'duty' masks more complex and highly reasoned motives, desires and meanings. Generation A has sustained the spiritual, social, emotional, physical and economic life of the church and its immediate community. Seven stages of belonging have been identified. 3. "What doesn't count isn't counted." A major reason for the previous gap in knowledge about this female generation is an androcentric methodological bias: the national churches do not collect data about lay-women and, hence, church scholars have continued to ignore them. Over-generalisations from thin data produce grand narratives about the apparent religiosity of women when, in fact, the empirical evidence about lived religion in the churches lacks ethnographic depth amidst studies that prefer more at-distant methods. Underlying this is a pervasive ignorance and neglect of lay-women women reflected in church practices that continue to render them invisible. 4. "Informal Gendered Social Care: the impending crisis": Generation A keeps churches open during the week and often provides refuge and warmth to vulnerable people. They also are aware of who is sick or needy in their church community and they look after them, often without wider recognition. This has consequences for the people who depend on them and the future of gendered voluntary labour in their churches and beyond, particularly as the church hierarchy and their consultants fail to recognise this gendered labour. 5. "Gendering Generation". The research uniquely interrogated the concept of 'generation' through finding that 'Generation A' is more heterogeneous than stereotypically portrayed and yet shares particular gendered experiences of war-time, nation re-building, post-war austerity, domestication and the consumerist boom. 6. "Communions of the Global North" There was a high degree of resonance found in comparable Anglican communion churches studied in the UK, United States and Canada, pointing to a shared commonality of Anglican Communion experience, at least in the global north. |
| Exploitation Route | a) Curriculum development both at university level and ministry training. b) 'Northern Research Network on Religion' to research common strands identified in countries with Protestant national churches and similar demographic patterns. c) Extensive new project for larger 'narratives of Generation A religious women' to capture more data on this generation of religious women. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education |
| Description | I have been invited to discuss findings with church leaders, laity and professionals in person and in writing. The main event in the past 12 months was as a speaker at the annual Modern Church conference, July 2014, where I spoke on 'Religion and Spirituality Today: finding the spirit of Generation A.'. My talk consisted of a detailed overview of my research findings with the request that the audience would feed back about whether my findings rang true and were relevant. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Another key event was on 6th November: Oxford Faith Debates People - how can Anglicans of all kinds be engaged in the Church of the future? I was an invited 'Provocateur' responding with evidence from my research about generational change and decline. My paper for the Church of England weekly newspaper has been published as a chapter in an edited collection: Day, A. (2014) "Generation A: the dwindling force" Church Times 2.02.2014. http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/7-february/features/features/generation-a-%E2%80%94-the-dwindling-force Day, Abby. 2014. "Generation A: the dwindling force" in Woodhead, Linda, Doney, Malcolm and Walker, Dave (eds.) How Healthy is the CofE: the Church Times Health Check. London: Canterbury Press. 67-70. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
| Sector | Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Description | Elderly Christian women: survivors, soldiers, sustainers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Elderly Christian women: survivors, soldiers, sustainers Dr Abby Day Senior Research Fellow University of Kent This chapter offers reflections on the female Christian Generation A, women in countries of the global north born in the 1920s and 1930s, and specifically those women who have maintained continual support of Anglicanism, both in the churches and surrounding community. Conference Presentation to Society for Scientific Study of Religion, USA |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Farewell to Generation A: the waning women of the Christian north |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Conference Paper and discussion ISSR conference, Turku, Finland June 29 2013 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Generation A - the Dwindling Force |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Commissioned article for the Church Times, the Anglican Communion's weekly newspaper. Summarised key findings from research of practical consequence to non-academics and wider community. http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/7-february/features/features/generation-a-%E2%80%94-the-dwindling-force http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/7-february/features/features/generation-a-%E2%80%94-the-dwindling-force |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Understanding Generation A: interim report from ESRC funded study |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Understanding Generation A: interim report from ESRC funded study Dr Abby Day Senior Research Fellow University of Kent The prevalence in mainstream Christian congregations of older women is a widely accepted phenomenon. Literature focusing on older women, or aging, neglects the generational component. This interim report from a 2-year ESRC funded study offers reflections on Generation A, women born in the 1920s and 1930s, and specifically those women who have maintained continual support of the Anglican communion, primarily through their everyday, embodied, material labour. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |