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Going on a field trip to the church, pupils can experience lived religion. But how do they feel during such a church visit? In this paper, we analyse statements of 516 German third graders (about 8 years old) made after they had visited their local church on a field trip. Using affective schema theory, we develop a conceptual model of emotions in churches that serves as theoretical framework for our quantitative content analysis. All in all, the vast majority of the participants report about positive feelings during their church visit. Moreover, it is one-third of the children who show spiritual or religious references in their statements. They talk about personal peace and comfort during the visit, or describe the church as a place to pray and experience the presence of God. Regression analysis identifies that it is the religiously educated children who express such references. Furthermore, children with high centrality of religiosity tend to choose traditional religious concepts, symbols and practices to express reference. These results are mostly in line with relevant theory from sociology of religion and primarily support the concept of subjective turn in religion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

McNamara (2009) hypothesized that a 4-step sequential decentering process (diminished agency, liminality, effort, and success) characterized the phenomenology of religious and spiritual experiences (RSEs) and was rooted in dreams and nightmares. We content analyzed 50 RSEs, 50 dreams, and 50 nightmares for presence and ordering of elements of the decentering process. Thirty-six percent of RSEs, 48% of dreams, and 44% of nightmares had all four decentering elements. The sense of success occurred most frequently in RSEs (11% of all decentering instances) and least frequently in nightmares (5%). Conversely, diminishment of agency occurred least often in RSEs (7% of all decentering instances) and most often in nightmares (10%). For RSEs 66% of instances of effort occurred, as hypothesized, after liminality and diminishment. We conclude that an orderly 4-step decentering process is reliably detectable in many, but not all, RSEs, and that randomly ordered decentering elements occur abundantly in dreams and nightmares. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to explore the interpretation of religious and spiritual experiences during mania, depression and recovery, from the perspective of bipolar clients and to inquire into their expectations of treatment in relation to these experiences. For this purpose, a qualitative pilot study is designed, which includes interviews with 10 outpatients of Altrecht, a Dutch mental health institution. The meaning of religious and spiritual experiences and the question of their authenticity proved to be an important theme for the participants. The support of spirituality for illness management was brought to the fore, as well as the temporary lack of this support during depression by some participants. Participants considered it desirable that more attention be paid to the topic during treatment, and to establish better cooperation between spiritual counsellors of the institution and other professionals. Thus, a more existential or hermeneutical approach towards religious experiences in relation to bipolar disorder would be a desirable contribution to standard treatment. The exact outlines of such an approach demand more empirical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]