The Anglican Church in Newfoundland: An Exceptional Case? By Geoff Peddle Presented for the Degree of PhD Cardiff School of History, Archaeology and Religion December 2011 2 Declaration and Statements DECLARATION This work has not been submitted in substance for any other degree or award at this or any other university or place of learning, nor is being submitted concurrently in candidature for any degree or other award. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of …………………………(insert MCh, MD, MPhil, PhD etc, as appropriate) Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by explicit references. The views expressed are my own. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 4: PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BAR ON ACCESS I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loans after expiry of a bar on access previously approved by the Academic Standards & Quality Committee. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… 3 Summary Statistical trends among the Anglican Churches of Canada, the United States of America and England demonstrate significant patterns of decline not yet apparent in the Anglican Church in Newfoundland. This dissertation sets out to assess the extent to which this resilience is associated with a civic and church structure that has maintained a high level of investment in the social components of religious expression and the more private devotional patterns of Anglican life. This dissertation is divided into three parts. Part 1 will look at the origins of the Anglican Church in Newfoundland and its contemporary place in society and will propose social capital theory as a theoretical explanation for the patterns of Anglican Church life in Newfoundland. The relevance of religious orientation theory will be considered as a counterbalance to ask if the social capital found among Anglican churchgoers in Newfoundland is at the expense of intrinsic religious motivation. Part 2 begins with a discussion of methodological considerations followed by a comparison of statistical trends since 1960 for the Anglican Church in Newfoundland, the Anglican Church in the rest of Canada, the Episcopal Church in the United States of America and the Church of England. A contemporary profile of the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador will then be considered followed by a qualitative study of the Diocese. Results from the US Congregational Life Survey administered in the Diocese will also be presented, enabling comparisons to be undertaken between the Anglican Church in Newfoundland and the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Part 3 will reveal that in and around the Anglican Church in Newfoundland social capital remains high along with intrinsic religious motivation among churchgoers but it will be shown that the resilience of the Church is due to an unusually high degree of passive church membership in the wider society and the mutually beneficial way in which the Church and the community around it relate. 4 Acknowledgements I wish to thank The Revd Canon Professor Leslie J Francis with whom this journey has ended and The Revd Canon Dr Peter Sedgwick with whom it began. In addition, I thank the following persons and institutions: The Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador and Bishop Cyrus Pitman for granting me study leave on two occasions, St Michael’s College in Llandaff, Julia Mathieson for her assistance with diocesan archives, William Bellamy for coordinating the parish interviews, my son, Adam, for his review of the statistical calculations, and Alex Faseruk for reading the draft dissertation. I thank Peter Brierley and Lynda Barley for providing data on the Church of England, Kirk Hadaway for providing data on the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and Karen Evans for providing data on the Anglican Church of Canada. I also thank the clergy and people of The Parish of the Ascension, The Parish of Bay de Verde, The Parish of the Holy Innocents, The Parish of the Good Shepherd, The Parish of the Resurrection, and The Parish of St Michael & All Angels for allowing me to study them in depth. I gratefully acknowledge the financial support I received from the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, the Anglican Foundation of Canada, the Continuing Education Plan of the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Nigel F.S. Rusted Memorial Trust Fund. Last, but far from least, I thank my wife, Kathy, for her understanding and support … as always. 5 Contents Declaration and Statements 2 Summary 3 Acknowledgements 4 Introduction and Overview 7 Part 1: History and Theory 10 1. The Anglican Church in Newfoundland: Historical Development 11 Historical Origins of the Anglican Church in Newfoundland 12 The Impact of Missionary Societies 14 A Laity-driven Church 20 A Quarter of the Newfoundland Population 26 Discussion 31 2. Social Capital Theory and Religion 34 Social Capital Theory 34 Social Capital Theory and Robert Putnam 39 Critics of Social Capital Theory 45 Social Capital Theory and Religion 46 Social Capital Theory and Newfoundland 51 Operationalisation and Measurement 59 3. The Psychology of Religion and Theories of Orientation 64 Origin of Orientation Theory 65 Distinguishing between Three Orientations 69 Extrinsic Religion 69 Intrinsic Religion 71 Religion as Quest 73 Applying Orientation Theory 75 Operationalisation and Measurement 78 Part 2: Quantitative and Qualitative Studies 83 4. Quantitative and Qualitative Research 84 A Comparison of Quantitative and Qualitative Methods 84 Research Design and Ethical Considerations 87 The Anglican Church in Newfoundland: Statistical Trends since 1960 89 Methodology 89 A Survey of the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador 95 Methodology 96 A Qualitative Study of Six Parishes 98 Methodology 99 A Quantitative Study of Six Parishes 105 Methodology 106 6 5. The Anglican Church in Newfoundland: Statistical Trends since 1960 110 Church Membership 111 Baptisms 116 Confirmations 119 Marriages 120 Funerals 122 Discussion 123 6. A Survey of the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador 130 Parishioner Survey 131 Clergy Survey 134 Retired Clergy Survey 136 Discussion 139 7. A Qualitative Study of Six Parishes 143 The Interviews 146 Discussion 172 8. A Quantitative Study of Six Parishes 180 The US Congregational Life Survey 180 Demographic Profile of Responders 183 Bonding Social Capital 193 Bridging Social Capital 197 Intrinsic Religion 202 Discussion 208 9. The Anglican Church in Newfoundland: An Exceptional Case 213 Social Capital in Newfoundland 213 Part 3: Synthesis and Conclusion 230 10. The Research Outcome 231 Implications for Future Research and New Questions 231 Implications for Diocesan Life 236 Social Capital Theory and Religious Orientation Theory 240 Bibliography 250 Appendices 259 Appendix 1: Comparative Data 259 Appendix 2: Diocesan-wide Survey 272 Appendix 3: US Congregational Life Survey 288 7 Introduction and Overview Research Question The aim of this introductory section is to define the research question addressed by the dissertation and to demonstrate how that question has been clarified and addressed in the sequential and cumulative argument offered by the following chapters. The research question under investigation in this dissertation comprises two strands: •to test the thesis that the Anglican Church in Newfoundland has not experienced the same level of decline as Anglican Churches in the rest of Canada, the United States of America and England. •to test the capacity of the concepts of bonding social capital and bridging social capital as defined by Putnam to account for the comparative resilience of the Anglican Church in Newfoundland. The unique trajectory of church life in the Anglican Church in Newfoundland compared to other Anglican Churches will be explored from historical, statistical and theoretical perspectives to establish a comprehensive picture of the distinctive qualities of the Anglican Church in Newfoundland, in particular its unusually high degree of passive membership. Social capital theory counterbalanced with religious orientation theory will provide insights into this reality. Part 1: History and Theory Chapter 1 In order to understand and contextualize the contemporary place of the Anglican Church in Newfoundland, it is necessary to set the scene in this chapter by examining both its historical origins and its modern-day expression with an eye to determining how the past shapes the present in the Anglican Church in Newfoundland. Chapter 2 Chapter 2 will draw on social capital theory and consider the way in which the concept of social capital differentiated by Putnam as bonding social capital and bridging social capital may illuminate the Newfoundland situation. The relationship between social capital and faith communities will be examined with reference to the Anglican Church in Newfoundland. Chapter 3 Moving from the discussion in Chapter 2 of the sociological manifestations of religion as seen in theories of social capital, Chapter