Previous studies examining the relationship between religion and providing social support have claimed that religious involvement and social networks explain the higher levels of social support among religious Americans. By limiting its focus to attenders of religious congregations, this study seeks to understand if private devotional activities and congregational context also matter for predicting the provision of social support in a highly religious sample. Utilizing a sample of attenders and their congregations from the 2008/2009 U.S. Congregational Life Survey, a national survey representative of American congregations, this study uses multilevel models to examine the relationships that congregational involvement, private devotional activities, and congregational context have with providing social support. Results suggest that, among attenders of religious congregations, congregational involvement and private devotional activities matter for predicting the provision of social support, but two aspects of congregational context-size and theology-do not.

Background Homophily, the tendency for relationships to be more common among actors who share similarities, has been observed in social network studies of individuals and organizations. Homophily can encourage close, supportive relationships but limit exposure to diversity. Homophily may have important implications for religious congregations, but research has been limited due to few social network data collections on congregations. Purpose This research note uses a new data collection from an inter-congregational network of religious congregations in eight counties encompassing and surrounding a major metropolitan area in the southeastern United States. Its goal is to identify sources of homophily between congregations as well as types of congregations whose immediate networks, which include the congregations to which a congregation has direct relational ties, differ in levels of homophily. Methods Quadratic assignment procedure correlations are used to identify sources of homophily, and both fractional logistic and negative binomial regression models are used to examine the extent to which congregational characteristics predict levels of homophily. Results Three key sources of homophily include sharing the same religious tradition and family, sharing the same racial composition, and having a smaller geographical distance between congregations. Congregations’ religious family, racial composition, community setting, and the extent to which attenders are younger and newer matter for predicting levels of homophily. The results have implications for: LDS and Church of Christ congregations; multiracial congregations; declining denominationalism; rural congregations. Conclusions and Implications Congregations of a feather do, in fact, flock together. The results inform a variety of practical implications for congregations. Because of the time constraints experienced by many ministers, denominational events might provide some of the most accessible opportunities to build relationships with other congregations. Multiracial congregations often serve as bridges connecting congregations of different racial compositions. Distinctive and centralized religious groups, like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, may also effectively encourage relationships across congregations of different racial compositions. Homophily may also impact the extent to which congregations learn about innovations from other congregations and the extent to which collaborations with other congregations are effective.

Past research indicates that levels of social embeddedness in a congregation differ between small and large congregations. Since embeddedness in religious social networks is an important predictor of community involvement, this study contributes to the literature by examining whether the relationship between embeddedness in congregational social networks and involvement in community organizations varies based on congregation size. Using a sample of attenders and their congregations from the 2008/2009 U.S. Congregational Life Survey, a national survey representative of American congregations, this study examines the relationship between social embeddedness in a congregation and involvement in community organizations and the cross-level interaction between congregation size and social embeddedness. Results suggest that the relationship between social embeddedness and involvement in community organizations is positive overall, but stronger in larger congregations. Involvement in community organizations is the most likely for attenders of smaller congregations and attenders who are socially embedded in their congregations, but it is the least likely for attenders of large congregations who are not very embedded in them.

This article investigates the relationship between homophily, the tendency for relationships to be more common among similar actors, and social capital in a social network of religious congregations from eight counties encompassing and surrounding a major metropolitan area in the southeastern United States. This network is inter-congregational, consisting of congregations and the relationships between them. Two types of social capital are investigated: the first involves the extent to which congregations bridge across structural holes, or bridge together otherwise disconnected congregations within the network; secondly, network closure involves the extent to which congregations are embedded in tight-knit clusters. Analyses use two types of homophily (religious and racial) to predict both outcomes, and they test linear and curvilinear relationships between both forms of homophily and the outcomes. Results indicate that congregations with moderate levels of religious homophily are more likely to bridge between otherwise disconnected congregations; however, congregations with low or high religious homophily as well as congregations with high racial homophily are more likely to be embedded in tight-knit relational clusters. This article contributes additional social network research on congregations and evidence of curvilinear relationships between homophily and social capital to the fields of social network analysis and sociology of religion.

Some congregations sponsor activities through which people can serve in the community, like serving meals at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter, offering after-school programs for neighborhood children, and hosting counseling and support groups. This study investigates whether attenders who are involved in congregationally sponsored community service activities (CSCSA) are more likely to engage in forms of prosocial behavior that are not organized or sponsored by their congregation. In doing so, it draws on past literatures about three key predictors of prosocial behavior—congregational involvement, religious beliefs and values, and community involvement. Results from the 2008/2009 U.S. Congregational Life Survey indicate that: (1) even when controlling for congregational involvement, religious beliefs and values, and community involvement, involvement in CSCSA is positively related to providing social support, charitable giving, civic engagement, and involvement in non-congregationally related community organizations; (2) involvement in CSCSA improves the model fit when predicting these outcomes. These results suggest that: (1) despite its similarity to past predictors, involvement in CSCSA matters for predicting prosocial behavior (i.e., it is more than the sum of the past predictors); (2) engaging in prosocial behavior through CSCSA may spill over into attenders’ everyday lives and encourage them to engage in forms of prosocial behavior that are not organized or sponsored by a congregation.