Associate Professor Ruth Powell
Honorary ProfessorAssociate Professor Ruth Powell is Director of NCLS Research, a research centre that focuses on church vitality and community spirituality and wellbeing. Ruth has worked with NCLS Research since 1991 and became Director in 2007. She also holds a position as Associate Professor at Australian Catholic University (ACU).
Major projects for NCLS Research include the five-yearly National Church Life Survey, which commenced in 1991 and forms the basis of one of the largest, most comprehensive databases on church life of its kind in the world. The 2016 NCLS included more than a quarter of a million church attenders from 3000 local churches representing most Australian Christian denominations, from Catholic, Anglican, Uniting, other Protestant and Pentecostal faith traditions.
As well as conducting research projects on both church and community life, NCLS Research provides resources to every local church that participates as well as local and wider church leadership. These are aimed to assist churches identify and build on their strengths.
Ruth’s own primary interests lie in assisting churches to reflect on their interaction with the wider Australian community. As well as church health, and tracking changes in church life over time, she has worked on differences between age cohorts, and potential generational influences over time.
Further details on Assoc Prof Powell's research and scholarship is available here.
Books
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2012
- Powell, R., Bellamy, J., Sterland, S. Jacka., K., Pepper. M., Brady, M. (2012). Enriching Church Life – Edition 2. Adelaide: Mirrabooka Press.
Book Chapters
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2020
- Francis, L. J., Powell, R., & McKenna, U. (2020). Chapter 15 Religion and Personal Happiness among Young Churchgoers in Australia: The Importance of the Affective Dimension In , Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (pp. ). Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands. | External link
- Arasaratnam-Smith, L. A., Pepper, M., Powell, R., & Ward, N. (2020). Chapter 12 A Study of Cultural Empathy and Attitude toward Diversity: The Case of Australian Church Attenders In , Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (pp. ). Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands. | External link
- Francis, L. J., McKenna, U., & Powell, R. (2020). Chapter 14 The Internal Consistency Reliability and Construct Validity of the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity (Modified Short-Form) among 8- to 14-year-old Churchgoers in Australia In , Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (pp. ). Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands. | External link
- Francis, L. J., McKenna, U., & Powell, R. (2020). Chapter 16 Ecclesia domestica and the Role of the Home in Sustaining Churchgoing among Catholics: An Empirical Enquiry among 8- to 14-year-olds in Australia In , Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (pp. ). Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands. | External link
- Powell, R. (2020). Chapter 7 Ethnic Diversity and Young Churchgoers as Key Factors for Australian Churches In , Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (pp. ). Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands. | External link
- Powell, R., & Pepper, M. (2020). Chapter 8 Ethnic Diversity and Congregational Vitality in Australia In , Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (pp. ). Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands. | External link
- Village, A., Pepper, M., & Powell, R. (2020). Chapter 10 Bonding and Bridging among First Generation Asian Migrants in Catholic Churches in Australia In , Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (pp. ). Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands. | External link
- Okuwobi, O., Powell, R., & Ward, N. (2020). Chapter 11 Ethnic Diversity and Leadership Roles among Australian Protestant Churchgoers in Mono-Ethnic and Multi-Ethnic Congregations In , Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (pp. ). Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands. | External link
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2018
- Pepper, M., Powell, R., Sterland, S., & Hancock, N. (2018). Twenty-Five Years of Data on Australian Churches: Strengths and Limitations In , Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (pp. ). Leiden, The Netherlands: BRILL. | External link
- Sterland, S., Powell, R., Hancock, N., Pepper, M., & Dowson, M. (2018). Newcomers and Collective Confidence in Protestant Churches: A Longitudinal Study from 2001 to 2011 In , Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (pp. ). Leiden, The Netherlands: BRILL. | External link
- Sterland, S., Powell, R., Pepper, M., & Hancock, N. (2018). Vitality in Protestant Congregations: A Large Scale Empirical Analysis of Underlying Factors across Four Countries In , Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (pp. ). Leiden, The Netherlands: BRILL.. | External link
- Powell, R., & Pepper, M. (2018). Local Churches and Innovativeness: An Empirical Study of 2800 Australian Churches In , Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (pp. ). Leiden, The Netherlands: BRILL.. | External link
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2017
- Powell, R. (2017). Australia In D. Goodhew, Growth and Decline in the Anglican Communion: 1980 to the present (pp. ). Routledge.
Journal Articles
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2023
- Powell, R.; Pepper, M. & McEwan T. (2023). The Impact of Marriage Norms and Gender on Anglican Clergy Actions in Response to Domestic Violence. Religions, 14(6).
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2022
- Powell, R. & Pepper, M. (2022). Domestic and Family Violence: Responses and Approaches across the Australian Churches. Religions, 13(3).
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2020
- Francis, L.J. Powell, R. & Village, A. (2020). Mystical experience and emotional wellbeing: a study among Australian church leaders. Journal of Beliefs & Values, 41(4) 1-5.
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2019
- Pepper, M. Powell, R. & Bouma, G.D.(2019). Social Cohesion in Australia: Comparing Church and Community. Religions, 10 605.
Current Supervision
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Current
- Bellamy, M, (Bachelor of Advanced Studies (Honours))
- Floyd, J, Violence Against Women: Gendered Attitudes in the ACC (PhD thesis)