The Difference of Faith: The Influence of Faith in Human Service Programs

Data from 1,110 privately funded human service programs show that programs with a faith component vary significantly as to how faith is conceptualized, presented to program participants, understood as related to how participants change, and included as a program outcome. Many of the study's participating programs are part of voluntary community organizations that are faith‐based, run by staff and volunteers motivated by deeply held religious convictions, and seek to help people in need at the local level, most often with little public support. The study offers an important beginning step toward an empirically based conceptual classification of the type and degree of participant exposure to a faith‐related service component.