{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.02085222121486854, 'fraction_numerical': 0.010879419764279238, 'mean_word_length': 5.571428571428571, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Older Members, Church Home, and Congregational Change: “We Worked and Worshipped in This Home for Years and Now You Say We're Not Important …”

ABSTRACT Many Protestant congregations are changing worship styles to a contemporary format. This change holds special significance for older members with long-term congregational affiliation who have come to define the congregation as their home. Our research examines older members' responses gathered during a time of congregational conflict over traditional and contemporary church services. A 1997 mail questionnaire was sent to 914 members of a midwestern Protestant congregation, resulting in a return of 457 surveys where 99 respondents offered extensive open-ended comments. Thematic analysis of these comments reveals older members' discussion of attachment to and loss of church home through ownership, relationship, tradition, and status. We suggest ways in which religious groups might conceptualize older members' relationships with their church home to lessen conflict and to honor their long-term affiliation in times of congregational change.