After 5: Where Faith Meets Culture

A seismic shift in the religious life of America is ongoing, researchers say, and women are leading the way.

The Barna Group, a national researcher of faith and culture, reported in mid-2009 that nine out of 10 U.S. adults say “my religious faith is very important in my life” and seven out of 10 say they are “more likely to develop my religious beliefs on my own, rather than to accept an entire set of beliefs that a particular church teaches.”

Given the woman’s historic role of being more spiritually inclined and fostering faith within families, the researchers conclude that females are driving these emerging notions.

Missouri State University has connected with the faiths of more than 20 area women and presented their findings in the “Religious Lives of Ozarks Women” archive. The women are of varying ages and faiths, including Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Native American tradition and Unity Church (Metaphysical).

It all comes together for a snapshot of the wide array of belief systems prevailing in the Ozarks.

“Not everyone has to believe the same thing that I believe (but) I’m not ashamed of my faith, as apparently those who also agreed to be apart of it aren’t ashamed of their faith,” says Vicki Simpson, the owner of Bigfish Screenprinting. “(Faith is) at the core of everything, whether we want to admit it or not.”

The database – posted online at www.missouristate.edu/relst/ozarkswomen – includes audio files, transcripts and summaries of interviews conducted by religious studies students under the direction of senior instructor Lora Hobbs. The collection also is available in the Duane G. Meyer Library on campus.

Susan Phillips, who teaches religion and general education classes at Ozarks Technical Community College and Phoenix University, has followed her Cherokee Indian ancestry to practice Native American spirituality. She invited her student interviewer, Holly Higgins, into her home to see how the Native American traditions affect her daily life.

“We talked for a few hours,” Phillips says, before she played the drum and toured her backyard, which contains a Cherokee prayer wheel, fire pit and “ceremonial things, some plants and herbs.”

Audio clips of the drumming and tour are part of the archive. Others interviewed include Debbie Lindell, the wife of an Assembly of God pastor; Mother Sergia, an Eastern Orthodox monastery leader; and Rita Sherwin, a Reformed Judaism rabbi.

For some of the women, the interviews helped solidify their core beliefs.

“When you verbally express them, it really confirms what you believe,” Simpson says, acknowledging that speaking about one’s beliefs also may produce a healthy doubt. “I guess it could shake your foundation a little or make it stronger in your mind. But it didn’t rock mine.”

Simpson, an 1984 MSU graduate, says she’s wrestled with the questions, “What am I here for?” and “What is my purpose?” before arriving at Christianity.

“When I say I’m a Christian, it means I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ based on what he did for all of us on the cross,” she said.

Her spiritual crossroads was in college, when she became friends with a night-class colleague. “She told me she had the answer to life,” Simpson recalls. “She presented me with the Gospel. It took me a while but I responded to that.”

Phillips started a nonprofit called Healing Spring and through it hosts “Talking Circles” meetings at homes, schools, parks and other public places, where the groups sing songs, talk and share stories. She says her faith permeates everything she does.

“It just is. It’s a way of life,” she says. “You just have an awareness of the creator of spirits in your life at all times. It’s hard to explain. It’s just a personal belief.”