The communalization of religious experience in contemporary religious groups

Samples of one new religious group (Unificationists) and two established religious groups (Catholics and Presbyterians) were compared on measures of the importance of communal experiences to one's religious faith and the number of prior religious associations. A three-way interaction emerged among religious group, importance of communal experiences, and number of prior religious associations. Also, communal experiences in a religious context generally were valued for the social support they provide, although the type of social support differed among the three groups. These findings provide evidence of the “communalization of experience” and religious searching for some members of one new religion and even for some members of two established religions.