Tania ap Siôn

Distinguishing between intention, reference and objective in an analysis of prayer requests for health and well-being: Eavesdropping from the rural vestry

The present study proposes an approach to analysing prayer for health and well-being within the developing research context of exploring written prayer requests. This approach, building on and modifying the conceptual framework devised for analysing prayer requests left in churches, is examined on a total of 1067 prayer cards left in one rural church over a 16-month period. The conceptual framework distinguishes between three aspects of intercessory and supplicatory prayer defined as reference, intention, and objective. For prayer reference, only 5% of prayer examples were for the prayer author alone, while the majority of prayer examples were for other people who were usually family members and friends (81%). For prayer intention, nearly one-third of all the requests made were for explicit physical and mental-health concerns. Many of the requests also included important affective intentions where, for example, prayer authors communicated with others, expressed emotions, empathized with others, and identi...The present study proposes an approach to analysing prayer for health and well-being within the developing research context of exploring written prayer requests. This approach, building on and modifying the conceptual framework devised for analysing prayer requests left in churches, is examined on a total of 1067 prayer cards left in one rural church over a 16-month period. The conceptual framework distinguishes between three aspects of intercessory and supplicatory prayer defined as reference, intention, and objective. For prayer reference, only 5% of prayer examples were for the prayer author alone, while the majority of prayer examples were for other people who were usually family members and friends (81%). For prayer intention, nearly one-third of all the requests made were for explicit physical and mental-health concerns. Many of the requests also included important affective intentions where, for example, prayer authors communicated with others, expressed emotions, empathized with others, and identified needs. For prayer objective, prayer examples relating to health and well-being were largely part of primary control requests (69%) where the prayer authors sought to influence and suggest desirable outcomes to their prayers. From the results of the analysis, a number of conclusions are then drawn.

Ordinary prayer and the rural church : an empirical study of prayer cards

Abstract The study explores the content of ordinary peoples prayers by analysing 1,067 prayer cards left in one rural church over a sixteenth-month period. The analysis is placed in the theoretical context of ordinary theology, and it uses a conceptual framework which distinguishes between three aspects of ordinary intercessory and ordinary supplicatory prayer defined as reference, intention, and objective (ap Siôn, 2007). Results of the analysis show that specific concrete issues were not included in 30% of prayer requests, but in the 70% of requests where concrete contexts were provided, 29% cited illness and 20% death. Overall, there were more examples of primary control (55%) than secondary control (45%). The results, alongside selected exemplification of categories, identify the concerns of ordinary theologians expressed in a rural ministry context and their contribution to the empirical study of ordinary theology.

Listening to prayers: an analysis of prayers left in a country church in rural England

This study builds on a long-established tradition within the psychology of religion concerned with the analysis and interpretation of prayer. Drawing on 917 prayer-cards left in one rural church over a sixteenth-month period, the analysis distinguishes between three aspects of intercessory and supplicatory prayer defined as reference, intention, and objective. Results of the analysis showed that only 4% of prayer requests had the prayer author as a key focus, and that there was a preference to pray for other people and for world or global issues (90%). Specific concrete issues were not included in 29% of prayer requests, but in the 71% of requests where concrete contexts were provided, 76% of these were concerned with illness, death, and conflict or disaster. Overall, there were more examples of secondary control (57%) than primary control (43%), and primary control was found more often in requests which had the prayer author as a key focus and in the categories of illness, growth, work, relationships, and general requests. These results give rise to a number of hypotheses regarding prayers authors’ perceptions of prayer and its purpose.

Coping through prayer: an empirical study in implicit religion concerning prayers for children in hospital

This study links two fields of empirical research. The first field (grounded in empirical theology) is concerned with ordinary prayer and that aspect of implicit religion discernable within explicit religious expressions. The second field (grounded in the psychology of religion) is concerned with private prayer as a significant method of coping in health-related contexts. Few previous studies, however, have focussed on the specific components comprising the content of such prayers and their concern for health issues relating to others, such as family and friends. The present study addresses this gap by employing the analytical framework for health and well-being devised previously in a content analysis of 583 prayers left in the chapel of a childrens hospital in England. The conceptual and practical applications of the new research findings are discussed.

Experiencing education in the new Christian schools in the United Kingdom: listening to the male graduates

The new independent Christian schools developed by parents and evangelical churches in the United Kingdom since the late 1960s remain controversial among both Christian and secular educators. In response to this controversy, the present study traced 106 men who had graduated from these schools between 1985 and 2003 and analysed their evaluation of the education they had received in these schools within four main themes: the quality of the education, the context of Christian and moral nurture, the quality of relationships (among the pupils, with the teachers and with the wider world) and preparation received for life after leaving school. Although there were some issues of criticism, the balance of opinion among the former pupils within all four areas was generally supportive of the new independent Christian schools, which were generally perceived as having prepared them well for life.

Praying "Online": The Ordinary Theology of Prayer Intentions Posted on the Internet.

Astley’s construct of ordinary theology takes seriously listening to the religious expression and experience of ordinary people, both churched and unchurched. One method by which this has already been achieved is through the empirical analysis of the content of ordinary people’s intercessory prayer requests left in hospitals and churches. Building on this research tradition, the current study analyses 290 prayer requests posted on the Church of England’s ‘Say one for Me’ website using ap Siôn’s ‘general’ framework for analysing intercessory prayer requests. This general framework distinguishes between three aspects of intercessory prayer styled as prayer intention, prayer reference, and prayer objective. Results demonstrated that the ‘general’ framework performed well within the new context of online prayer requests and enabled the findings to be compared with those from two earlier prayer card studies by ap Siôn. The main findings show that, in terms of prayer reference, the majority of prayer requests were for other people known to the prayer author (57%), although a significant proportion were for the prayer authors themselves (34%); in terms of prayer intention, most prayer requests were concerned with illness (26%), relationships (24%), work (19%), and growth (18%); and in terms of prayer objective, most prayer requests employed primary control (84%) rather than secondary control (16%). When the online prayer results were compared with previous prayer card results, using the same analytical framework, online prayer authors were found to be distinctive in terms of prayer reference, prayer intention, and prayer objective. The reasons for these differences are discussed and applied to the Church’s provision for intercessory prayer.

The psychology of prayer : a review of empirical research

After years of comparative neglect, a renewed research interest developed in the field of prayer during the mid-1980s and has led to prayer being recognized as of central importance in understanding the role of religion and spirituality in human development and human functioning. In the context of this developing research agenda, the present chapter concentrates on three themes. The first theme focuses on research concerned with the subjective effects of prayer, looking at the correlates of prayer among those who engage in that activity. The second theme focuses on research concerned with the objective effects of prayer, giving particular attention to clinical trials of “prayer treatment”, examining the medical outcomes of patients who do not know that they are being prayed for. The third theme focuses on the content of prayer as a window through which to view the religion and spirituality of ordinary people.

Defining and measuring the contribution of Anglican secondary schools to students' religious, personal and social values

The involvement of the Christian Churches within a state-maintained system of schools, as in the case of England and Wales, raises interesting and important questions regarding the concept of religion employed in this context and regarding defining and measuring the influence exerted by schools with a religious character on the students who attend such schools. Since the foundation of the National Society in 1811, Anglican schools have provided a significant contribution to the state-maintained sector of education in England and Wales and by the end of the twentieth century were providing about 25% of primary school places and nearly 5% of secondary school places. From the early 1970s, Francis and his colleagues have offered a series of studies profiling the attitudes and values of students attending Anglican schools as a way of defining and measuring the influence exerted by schools with a religious character. The present study extends previous research in three ways. It offers a comparative study by examining the responses of 1,097 year-nine and year-ten students from 4 Anglican schools with 20,348 students from 93 schools without a religious foundation. It examines a range of religious, social and personal values. It employs multilevel linear models to identify the contribution made by Anglican schools after taking into account differences within the students themselves. Of the 11 dependent variables tested, only one, self-esteem, showed any significant difference between Anglican schools and schools without a religious foundation. Students attending Anglican schools recorded a significantly lower level of self-esteem. On the other hand, there were no significant school effects identified in terms of rejection of drug use, endorsing illegal behaviours, racism, attitude toward school, conservative Christian belief or views on sexual morality (abortion, contraception, divorce, homosexuality, and sex outside marriage).

Empirical Theology and Biblical Hermeneutics: Exploring Lessons for Discipleship from the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13-35)

This study engages the scientific approach of empirical theology with the investigation and evaluation of the reader perspective approach to biblical hermeneutics rooted in psychological type theory. By engaging participants attending the 2015 annual conference of the Institution for Socio-Biblical Studies, this empirical investigation tests whether individual psychological type preferences influence how academically-trained scholars within the field of biblical studies read, interpret and proclaim scripture. Eleven participants were invited in type-alike groups to engage in a conversation between the Lucan post-resurrection narrative concerning the Road to Emmaus journey and encounter and the contemporary theme of discipleship. The data clearly demonstrated how the distinctive voices of sensing, intuition, feeling, and thinking emerged from the ways in which academically-trained biblical scholars managed the exercise.

Measuring the Contribution of Independent Christian Secondary Schools to Students' Religious, Personal, and Social Values

From the late 1960s independent Christian schools have emerged in England and Wales, initiated either by churches or by parents. Many of these new independent schools are linked through the Christian Schools Trust. The impact that these schools are exerting on their students may be of interest for the churches with which they are associated and of concern for wider society. The political debate concerning these schools has so far been informed by only a small number of empirical studies conducted in England and Wales. The present study extends previous research in three ways. It offers a comparative study by examining the responses of 271 year-nine and year-ten students (age 13 to 15 years) from 11 independent Christian schools with 20,348 students from 93 schools without a religious foundation. It examines a range of religious, social and personal values. It employs multilevel models to identify the contribution made by independent Christian schools after taking into account personal, psychological, and contextual differences within the students themselves. The hypothesis was that Christian schools were committed to developing distinctly Christian values among their students. The data supported this hypothesis. Even after allowing for differences in the religiosity of the students themselves, attendance at an independent Christian school was associated with higher self-esteem, greater rejection of drug use, lower endorsing of illegal behaviors, lower racism, higher levels of conservative Christian belief, and more conservative views on sexual morality (abortion, contraception, divorce, homosexuality, and sex outside marriage).