Building Community in the Modern Era

Tuesday, January 18th at 7:30 pm, live

In an era where fewer Americans identify as religious, how do communities of faith sustain their practices together? While this question continues to puzzle researchers and community leaders alike, we have new insights from the scientific study of religion and civic life that can help. In this talk, I review what we know about the changing context of the American religious landscape, look at what researchers have learned about what makes for a vibrant and welcoming community of faith, and make some tangible suggestions for growing congregational communities in the 21st century.

Evan Stewart is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at University of Massachusetts Boston. As a political and cultural sociologist, his research focuses on belonging in public life, including religious change, civic engagement, and public opinion on a range of issues such as immigration and climate concern.

His research has been published in leading social science journals including American Sociological Review and Sociological Theory, with media features in outlets including WBUR Boston, The Conversation, Washington Post’s Monkey Cage, and FiveThirtyEight. He was a 2023 Religion, Spirituality, and Democratic Renewal Fellow with the Social Science Research Council and a 2021 Fellowship with the Public Religion Research Institute.

Evan earned a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Minnesota, where he was an Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellow with the Center for the Study of Political Psychology. He also holds a B.A. in Political Theory and Social Policy from Michigan State University’s James Madison College.