Above: Professor Kraig Beyerlein presents data on rates of congregational survival and closures in the City of Chicago.
In 2025, the Association Sociology of Religion (ASR) annual conference in Chicago, IL, centered around the theme of Religion and Resilience. The conference included a full symposium of events highlighting the work of the Chicago Congregations Project (CCP). A series of lectures and discussions, presenting methodology and preliminary findings, was organized. The full schedule of the symposium included the following panels featuring the CCP:
- Background and Overview – A broad overview of the project, including the motivations and basic methodology of this research.
- Selected Methodological and Substantive Findings – An overview of the methodology and some of the preliminary findings of the project.
- Report from the Field: Challenges and Solutions – Undergraduate and Graduate Research Assistants discussed the challenges and rewards of inviting religious congregations in the City of Chicago to participate in the survey–through calls, emails, and in person visits.
- 20 Plus Years Later: Survival, Death, and Repurposing – Preliminary findings were discussed on congregational survival and closures in the City of Chicago, examining longitudinal data over a 20+ year period.
Above: Undergraduate and Graduate Research Assistants gave a presentation on the challenges and complexities of data collection and outreach efforts to religious congregations. Pictured with Professors Beyerlein and Martinez-Schuldt (right).
We are grateful to the conference organizers for this opportunity to present some of the preliminary findings of our research.
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