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RESEARCH & TRENDS
Echurch research spans the whole spectrum from short, shareable trend reports, to more comprehensive surveys and analysis. We scan different aspects from the cultural, arts, political, economic, scientific and technological spheres, to bring you the most pressing issues impacting the local church today. The content includes illuminating infographics, local and international trends, and most importantly, practical applications for local communities of faith.
All the reports are free in pdf format, and you're welcome to share them with your own community, non-profit or business.
THE CHURCH AND THE WAVE OF DISPAIR AND DISTRUST IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
In December 2008 Nathan Nunn and Leonard Wantchekon released a study on the origin of distrust in 17 countries in Africa, which includes all countries in Southern Africa. They indicate that only 50% of the respondents implicitly trust their families; 28% of people trust their neighbours to a large degree; 26% place their trust in other members of their own groups, and only 16% trust strangers implicitly.
THE PROTESTER
This new world tests everything, measures everything, weighs everything and reacts at the speed of light when there is the slightest trace of unfairness or intransparency. No one is safeguarded against the voice of the masses. This is a world where people do not hesitate to take drastic steps against the instigators of unfairness.
INFORMAL RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES
There was a huge commotion when Rapport of 18 February 2012 reported that the NG Church had lost more than 20 000 members in one year. Must we believe it or not? Is there a reason for this decline in numbers? Does it mean South Africa has fewer believers? Or do the faithful find other ways of living out their faith than in the traditional church?
"SMALLNESS"
"Gutenbergers can’t get over the idea that for a thing to be better, it has to be bigger. This mania applies to mega-malls, mega-churches, mega-evangelism, mega-thinking. For the same reason that Ralph Waldo Emerson wanted his essays to get to the “grandly simple”, Googler culture focuses on autonomous agents doing small things well..."
SELF PHONE
The stream of mobile technology throughout the world is full of interesting, and sometimes confusing paradoxes. For the first time in human history we are seeing a global community that is more connected than ever, yet who lives, works and worships more individualistically. In this report we want to look at the increasing influence of mobile technology.
CENSUS 2011
The stream of mobile technology throughout the world is full of interesting, and sometimes confusing paradoxes. For the first time in human history we are seeing a global community that is more connected than ever, yet who lives, works and worships more individualistically. In this report we want to look at the increasing influence of mobile technology.
WORK MANNERS
Traditionally most young people underwent some form of tertiary education directly after school. This is how they established the foundation for their career. Then there was the stereotypical expectation that they would remain in this career until their retirement. This traditional idea of work is largely something of the past. These days work is more flexible, virtual and subject to continuous change and variation.
WOMENTALITY
We live in an era where all the boundaries are becoming less visible. No matter if it is economic, political or cultural boundaries, it is getting tougher and tougher to discern between different groupings. Nowhere is the lack of boundaries more apparent than in the areas of gender and the stereotypical roles between women and men.
PRODUCTS, CUSTOMERS AND CONSUMERISM
Surely the biggest phenomenon of our time is the “new”. Be it the new phone, the new car, the new house, or the new movie, the idea of a faster, fresher, or more beautiful product has the whole world running
wild. Is the answer to this imperial consumerism of our time to withhold ourselves from it all, or is there an alternative?
HAPPINESS
In his new book, The Antidote: Happiness for people who can’t stand positive thinking, Oliver Burkeman describes five myths that we believe about our own happiness and positive frame of mind. Many of these myths are settled in our minds by modernistic movements of ‘mind over matter’ and ‘positive thinking’.