Document Type
Thesis - Open Access
Award Date
1956
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department / School
Sociology and Rural Studies
Abstract
Of the many established and recorded religious groups in the United States over two hundred are classified as Protestant. The sociology of religion, however, has dealt mainly with the larger, more liberal denominations, leaving the many, smaller religious associations relatively unexplored. Nevertheless little information exists which is focused directly on the membership characteristics of a given denomination throughout a specific region. This is particularly true of the smaller Protestant religious associations, any of which are more fundamentalistic in their orientation than the larger denominations. Since most previous research deals with the larger, more liberal churches, the question arises, what type of people subscribe to the values and beliefs of these smaller, fundamentalistic denominations? One of these is the Free Methodist Church of North America. The Free Methodists, then, may be thought of as a small, fundamentalistic, “strict” denomination which is Arminian in doctrine. With a view to ascertaining what type of people subscribe to these beliefs in an area large enough to support tentative generalizations, the problem is stated as follows: what are the characteristics of the people in the Upper Midwest Region who subscribe to the beliefs and values of the Free Methodist Church? Other relative questions considered are: what is the relation of church activity to the selected characteristics of the Free Methodists, Upper Midwest Region? Do the lay leaders of this denomination possess discrimination characteristics from the general membership as found in the Upper Midwest Region?
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Methodist Church -- South Dakota
Church buildings -- South Dakota
Description
Includes bibliographical references
Format
application/pdf
Number of Pages
106
Publisher
South Dakota State University
Rights
No Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Only
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/
Recommended Citation
Kline, Bruce Leffingwell, "A Study of Selected Characteristics and the Extent of Church Activity of the Membership and Officials in the Free Methodist Church, Upper Midwest Region" (1956). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2355.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/2355