New Website Showcases Independent Research Project on Global Adventism
22 August, 2024|
What follows is a news release from Lawson Interviews. Dr. Ron Lawson is a long-time friend of and contributor to Adventist Today.
BOSTON (Aug. 19, 2024) — An independent research team hosted by the Center for Mind and Culture, a Boston-based research institute and initiative of Just Horizons Alliance, has launched a new website for the “Lawson Interviews of Seventh-day Adventists” book project. Interested viewers will be able to follow the travels and findings of Dr. Ronald Lawson’s decades-long sociological study of Seventh-day Adventism.
“When I first found the sociology of religion, I came to understand my own church in new ways that I thought I shouldn’t keep to myself and that I wanted to share with my fellow Adventists,” Dr. Lawson said. “So, I launched a study which turned out to be a study of the global church.”
Over the course of some 40 years, Dr. Lawson interviewed over 4,500 pastors, teachers, students, academics, hospital personnel, administrators, and laity of the Seventh-day Adventist church from 60 countries around the world. The massive qualitative data have yet to be examined comprehensively — until now.
Dr. Lawson is now writing a series of books based on sociological theory, secondary sources, and observations from the interviews. The series will examine how Adventism has evolved as it spread across the world, responding to developments such as changing social norms, globalization, and periods of political upheaval. The research team is contributing to writing and preparing an archive for the interviews to enable the use of the anonymized data in future research.
“I’m really glad to share my amazing experiences during this research with anybody who’s interested,” Dr. Lawson added.
Website visitors will find short articles about the project, interactive maps documenting Dr.Lawson’s travels, supplementary archival materials to accompany the book series, and links to related scholarship from academics studying the global Adventist church.
“I am excited we have a place to share findings from Dr. Lawson’s impressively comprehensive study of Seventh-day Adventism,” said Dr. Rachel Bacon, co-principal investigator and project coordinator. “This unprecedented study is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in understanding their religious community in a quickly changing world.”
The project’s first volume is currently being written, with an expected release in 2025.
To comment click/tap here
