D.Min. Candidate Alena Lamirato Looking at Why People Are Leaving Church

 

Study eyes rejection of church

Elizabeth-based seminarian looks for research participants

Scholar and researcher Alena Lamirato is working toward a Doctor of Ministry degree at United Lutheran Seminary.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALENA LAMIRATO

Posted Wednesday, January 4, 2023 4:22 pm

Chancy J. Gatlin-Anderson
Special to Colorado Community Media

Christianity is the predominant religion in Elbert County, with churches scattered across the area welcoming local residents each week. For many believers, church is seen as a safe space for praise and community. However, some who once felt welcome in the church no longer do.

 

Elizabeth-based doctoral researcher Alena Lamirato is working to gain a better understanding as to why people leave the church as well as their current general feelings about the church. She also wants to know whether or not a person’s previous experience led them to feel negatively toward the church. Currently, Lamirato is a student at the United Lutheran Seminary working toward her Doctor of Ministry.

 

For her research project, Lamirato is seeking interview participants. She is looking for anyone who has grown up in a Christian church and has left for any reason with no plan to ever return. For the purpose of this research, “church” is defined as any Christian community of two or more people who gather to engage in Bible study, to pray, or to take part in any other Jesus-based activity. Those who currently attend a house church or regular Bible study do not fit the parameters of the research. Lamirato’s goal is to collect the information of 100 individuals.

 

Study participants will answer four questions, taking up only five minutes of their time. Participants may complete the survey via email, Facebook messenger, phone call or in person.

 

The study is quantitative, meaning that the data will be displayed numerically for analysis. Survey answers will be categorized into different reasons people have left the church. There will be no transcripts of the conversations in the final dissertation and names of survey participants will not be published.

 

In an interview from Dec. 27, Lamirato said she hopes to gather this data for her project, but that the Christian community could also use further understanding as to why people leave the church.

 

“The church as a whole needs a better understanding of why people have left and if there is anything that needs to be done to heal the relationships with those who have left,” said Lamirato. “It’s not to get people back, but an act of reconciliation.”

 

For her research, Lamirato is choosing to focus on her local community and wants to stress the importance of understanding the rural way of life.

 

“I have a love for rural communities and think too often they are ignored by researchers,” said Lamirato. “I’m curious to see if people in rural locations have a different feeling toward the church than urban or suburban people do.”

 

To participate in the study, contact Alena Lamirato at alamirato@uls.edu.

Keywords

church, research, religion, Elizabeth, Elbert County

Breakfast with the Squirrels - And Squirrel Archive

 

I provide a lot of leftover fruit for the birds, squirrels, and possums. One pineapple was so aged in the refrigerator that I cut slices into its rugged hide and tossed it outside for the evening possum visit. The pineapple evaporated overnight.

Today I had two fat slices of pineapple for breakfast. The fruit is loaded with Vitamin C and manganese - and also helps the sinuses.

I hope the Jackson have breakfast ready.

I quarter the slices and eat them down to the armored shell. I put them on the recycle bin lid and waited. Soon a plump squirrel was sitting on his haunches and eating the pineapple shell with great gusto. Soon a group of squirrels began an assault on his lofty position and began chasing each other around the yard, up and down trees as well - very entertaining. Later the scraps were gone and I left some apple cores.

Dr. Fuhrman expects me to eat 4-6 fruit servings a day, which is fairly easy once fruits and vegetables displace Fritos, Christmas candy, fast food, cheese, eggs, and large portions of meat. 

If the ratio of candy sales to fresh frozen vegetables does not appall the shopper, then one can calculate the cost of the sugared nostrums in the pharmacy area. A large share of the over-the-counter cures are sugar-based and considered useless but tasty. I said it before - ground up fiber sold at a high cost is far more profitable and less effective than fibrous foods - beans, peas, fruits, etc. 

Who buys and uses Metamucil? Correct - those with bad digestion are ample proof that the nostrum does not work, except for making fruit and vegetable addicts shudder with horror. 

The Efficacy Quotations Expose the Vagrancy and Stupidity of the Lutheran Sects - From ELCA Down to the ELDONUTs

The Efficacy Motherlode quotes I gathered and linked on Dropbox were copied in the days of DOS computers and DOS databases. 

I used my first computer and IBM's ProFile to collect the quotations because I was appalled by the ignorance of WELS, ELS, and the LCMS. Nothing they bragged about had anything to do with Luther's Biblical doctrine. Their lust for Church Growth and their oily lies were anathema to faithful Lutheran teaching. I was going to write oleaginous lies, but I knew that would stump the graduates of Mequon, Ft. Wayne, and St. Louis.

A few clergy and laity knew something was wrong, but everyone quailed when the apostates raised their voices, scowled, and retaliated. They have picked off everyone now, so there is no reason to attend seminaries that range from Willow Creek's womanizing to Roman Catholics' haute couture.

 Mark and Avoid Jeske - always trying to correct his lopsided smile, a dead-giveaway.