ATSS: Landon Schnabel, “There and Back Again: Religious Change from Sectarian Roots to Spiritual Quest”
28 May 2025 |
Religious change seldom follows a predictable, linear path. Instead, it moves in cycles—shifting between intensity and routine, separation and accommodation, institutional authority and personal authenticity. Institutions oscillate between radical fervor and bureaucratic stability, while individuals navigate periods of deep commitment and disengagement. Generational shifts increasingly reflect a move from institutional belonging to personalized spirituality, but often with movements back toward sectarian revival.
This talk explores how religious groups transform along the continuum from sect to denomination—and sometimes back again—as they respond to cultural pressures, institutional challenges, and global expansion.
The Adventist tradition exemplifies these dynamics: emerging from the ashes of the Great Disappointment, it became a global movement marked by institutional reach and theological tension. Its trajectory resists linear classification, with members in different regions pulling toward professional integration or apocalyptic separatism.
This cyclical perspective helps explain contemporary religious paradoxes: the collapse of moderate religion, the persistence and growth of intense religion, and the rise of spiritual individualism. While affiliation declines in many places, fervent religious expression endures—and even intensifies—in others. Meanwhile, young adults increasingly reject institutional religion while embracing values rooted in authenticity, equality, and the sacredness of the individual.
These trends raise urgent questions: Can global religious movements remain cohesive amid cultural divergence and rising individual autonomy? How do institutions adapt—or resist—as members demand more flexibility and personal resonance? Understanding religious change as cyclical and multidirectional, rather than linear or inevitable, offers a more accurate and useful framework for making sense of faith’s past, present, and possible futures.
Teacher:
Landon Schnabel is a sociologist and professor at Cornell University, whose research focuses on religion, gender, and social change. They received a BA at Walla Walla University and MDiv at Andrews University before studying sociology at Indiana University.
Moderator:
Gina Jett is a retired attorney living in the Sacramento area.
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The class is intended to last about 2 hours, though the conversation often continues to 4 PM (Eastern time).
About our class:
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YouTube channel:
You can see all of our previous ATSS recordings here.
Coming up:
- Charles Scriven
- Tami Weise
- Jodi Washburn
- Laurence Turner
- Kevin Burton
- Malcolm Russell
