General Church
Religion Lessons and the
General Church
Sarah Bruell Odhner
Adapted from a Theta Alpha Luncheon Address, October 9, 2015
T
his article presents outcomes of a study on General Church Religion
Lessons, a program that provided weekly religion lessons for 500-600
children affiliated with the General Church from 1940 to 1990.1
The program was the primary mission of Theta Alpha, an alumnae
association of the Academy Girls School, for 50 years. The goal of the women
who started and sustained the program was to build the General Church
through personal contact with isolated families.
My study explored Religion Lessons within the framework of New Church
education, the broader context of the sociology of religion, and women’s
changing roles in society. I will be sharing the findings of sociological studies
on ways in which religion is passed from one generation to the next, as well as
research findings that shed light on ways in which General Church Religion
Lessons were important for the growth
of the General Church.
Friendship networks
developed within
religious organizations
. . . support and sustain
the religious values
that are taught at home.
Cornwall, 1998; Hargrove, 1979
Transfer of Religion from One
Generation to Another – a
Sociological Perspective
Sociologist Peter Berger suggests that
1 This speech is based on research undertaken for
my Master of Arts thesis, Establish the Work of Our
Hands: General Church Religion Lessons 1940-1990,
Bryn Athyn College, 2015. The complete thesis is
online at www.bitly.com/ThetaAlphaGCRL.
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