Sacred Places: A PhotoVoice Study

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What landscapes or landscape features do people identify as sacred?

How do individuals dialogue with their surroundings through faith?

The Pilot Project

In the fall of 2011 we received a research grant from the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas to conduct a pilot study using photovoice methodology. For the pilot we decided to work with volunteers from Christian churches. We reached out into the community contacting churches and potentially interested individuals. We successfully recruited 36 volunteers from 7 different churches representing 5 different Christian denominations. 25 of these volunteers completed the study. Volunteers attended a training session, during which time the project was explained and their role in the project was discussed. In addition, volunteers completed a survey collecting demographic information and information on personal religiosity and spirituality.* Finally, volunteers were given a disposable "point and click" camera and a journal and asked to take pictures within their community in response to a set of guiding questions. In their journals they explained why they selected the places they photographed and provided a description of the locations enabling us to map the locations for future spatial analysis. Locational information is currently being geo-coded for the production of maps using a GIS platform. As these maps are completed they will be made available on this webpage.

* Questions used in this study to examine religiosity and spirituality were adapted for use from the work of Ralph L. Piedmont, "Does Spirituality Represent the Sixth Factor of Personality? Spiritual Transcendence and the Five-Factor Model," Journal of Personality, Vol. 67, No. 6, Dec. 1999.

The Guiding Questions

As a person of faith, what do you value in your landscape and why?

What landscapes or landscape features best reflect your relationship with God?

To what landscapes or landscape features do you attach spiritual significance, and why?

Pilot Project Results: The Photographs

362 photographs were collected with accompanying journal text.Three categories of photographs were identified. These include natural, public,and private landscapes and landscape features.

Themes

As volunteers wrote about their photographs, in most cases, the subject of the photos was identified as illustrating a particular theme, such as "being an example of God's love," or "evidence of the presence of God." The text accompanying the photographs was examined and eleven themes were identified. In addition, 26% of the landscapes and features photographed were identified as sacred based on their connection to, or evocation of, a past activity or event that may or may not have occured at the location photographed.

Project Expansion

Congregation Kol Ami

Flower Mound, Texas

Volunteers from Congregation Kol Ami (CKA), located in Flower Mound, Texas, joined the study in December of 2012. Twelve volunteers completed training. Among the volunteers, 42% were male and 58% were female, with an average age of 48. All of the volunteers were caucasion. Ninety-two percent were married and eight percent were divorced. Our volunteers were well educated. Sixty-seven percent had not only attended college but had earned a graduate degree. The average household income ranged from $70,001 to $80,000. Finally, most had lived in Flower Mound 12 - 15 years.

Survey Findings

Religiosity

Among our volunteers 58% identified themselves as deeply religious. 100% strongly agreed or agreed that they find comfort and strength in their religion. 42% attended temple weekly, and 67% participated very often or somewhat often in activities at the temple. 75% rated their religion as being moderately important in day-to-day lving. Finally, all the volunteers reporting making annual contributions to the temple, with the average being $2,000. By way of comparison, the findings from CKA and the pilot group are presented here.

Spirituality

While 100% of the volunteers strongly agreed or agreed that they have been "touched by the beauty of creation", only half identified themselves as "deeply spiritual". In addition, only half strongly agreed or agreed that they are able to "step outside" themselves and experience a "larger sense of fulfillment." Finally, less than half reported that they have had a spiritual experience that changed their life or wherein they lost track of time. The findings from CKA as compared to the pilot group are found here.

Connections

The majority of volunteers strongly agreed or agreed that they felt connected to humanity and God. 91% strongly agreed or agreed that all life is inter-connected, and 83% reported that they feel that "all of us share a common bond". 75% strongly agreed or agreed that they feel an emotional bond with humanity and have had a spiritual experience where they felt connected to God and the World. However, only 58% strongly agreed or agreed that their life is part of a larger spiritual force. Results from CKA are compared to findings from the pilot group here.

Importance of Community and Family

100% of our volunteers strongly agreed or agreed that it was important for them to give something back to the community, and that they are a "link in the chain" of their family's heritage. Volunteers from the pilot group felt much the same way and you may view a comparison to their responses here.

The Individual's Personal Relationship with God

More than half of the volunteers expressed a strong belief in a God who watches over them and feel God's presence and love for them directly or through others. Half strongly agreed or agreed that they work with God as a partner but half also strongly agreed or agreed that they "try to make sense of a situation and decide what to do without relying on God". Less than half of the volunteers strongly agreed or agreed that they look to God for "supoprt and guidance on a daily basis". These results differ sharply from those of the pilot group.

Expressions of Belief

Sixty-seven percent of the volunteers strongly agreed or agreed that they believe there is a "larger meaning to life" and an "order to the universe that transcends human thinking". However, only a third of the volunteers expressed a belief in a "life after death". These findings strongly contrast with those of the pilot group.

Open-Ended Questions

Volunteers from the pilot and CKA were asked to address two open-ended questions:

"If someone were to ask you what the meaning of the word 'sacred' means to you, how would you define it?'

and,

"If you could travel anywhere in the world to take a photo of one thing that has the most sacred meaning to you, where would it be, and what would it be?"

Word frequency counts were used to identify themes, or consistencies, within the responses to open-ended questions.

Regarding the definition of the sacred, members of the pilot group identified "something" that promotes feelings of (spiritual) connection between God and themselves. Volunteers from CKA were much more direct with the sacred being related to some form experience in a physical place that had significance for them.

There were also differences between the pilot group and CKA in regard to their various responses to the second question. This question asked volunteers to identify the one place in the world they held most sacred. Members of the pilot group tended to focus on natural settings including beaches, canyons, waterfalls, mountains, ocean, trees, water, and the sunrise. Other important places included labyrinths and walls. Animals, children, and family were equally mentioned but not as often as "people" or spouses. However, while volunteers from CKA also mentioned natural settings, such as desert, mountains, and the sunrise, one feature was identified more often than any other; the Wailing Wall.

The Photographs

Although 12 volunteers completed training, only five completed the project in its entirety (42%). Forty-four photographs were collected that fall into three categories; natural, public, and private landscapes. Using both the text accompanying the photographs, and the photographs themselves, nine themes were identified.

Observations

In the pilot study it was noted that volunteers tended to focus on the small details of a landscape when describing it as sacred. For example, when photographing a wooded area volunteers frequently discussed a single tree, even taking that a step further to discuss a single characteristic about that tree, such as its bark. CKA volunteers rarely did this, instead focusing more on the entire scene or "big picture". When they did focus on a single element it was usually placed in the larger context, such as a single tree left standing in a parking lot. In addition, CKA volunteers were less likely to invoke a memory of a past activity or event when describing a landscape as sacred. These volunteers appeared to be concretely grounded in the "here and now" interpreting the landscape as a "present" feature rather than one evocative of history, personal or otherwise.

The different interpretations of the sacred between the pilot group and volunteers from CKA leave much room for discussion. To fully address why these differences exist more research is needed.

Project News

New items coming soon!

Pilot Project Results :

Our Volunteers and Survey Responses

Our Volunteers

Among our volunteers, 64% were female and 36% male. The average age was 47. 94% were white and 6% were African American. 64% were married, 22% single, and 14% were either widowed or divorced. There was a wide range of annual household incomes reported, but over half reported an annual household income between $30,000 and $60,000. Our volunteers were well educated, with 30% reporting "some college," 17% had earned a bachelor's degree, and 39% had completed graduate school earning either a master's degree or a PhD.

The Survey Questions

Volunteers completed a survey including questions examining six areas: religiosity, spirituality, connections, the importance of community and family, the individual's personal relationship with God, and expressions of belief.

Religiosity and Sprituality

Volunteers identified themselves as being both deeply religious and spiritual. The majority reported that they found "strength and comfort" in their religion, and that religion is important in their daily lives. Well over half of our volunteers reported that they attend church on a weekly basis and all make regular contributions to their church, averaging approximately $1,500 per year.

The majority of our volunteers revealed that they have had a life changing spiritual experience and most reported a spiritual experience wherein they lost track of time or their location. All of our volunteers agreed that they are "touched by the beauty of creation," and the majority reported that they have been able to "step outside" themselves and experience a larger sense of fulfillment.

Connections

Almost all of our volunteers believe that all life is inter-connected and that we all share a common bond. Many reported that they feel they have an "emotional bond" with all of humanity and almost all believe that their life is part of a larger spiritual force. Except for a very few, almost all reported a spiritual experience wherein they felt deeply connected to God and the world.

Importance of Community and Family

With few exceptions our volunteers agreed that it is important to give something back to the community and identified themselves as "link" in their family's heritage from past, present, and to the future.

The Individual's Personal Relationship with God

The majority of our volunteers believe that God watches over them and that they feel God's presence and love. Most work with God "as a partner," and look to God for guidance on a daily basis.

Expressions of Belief

The majority of our volunteers believe that there is a larger meaning to life, there is an order to the universe, and there is a life after death.

Open-Ended Question

At the end of the survey volunteers were asked to explain the meaning of "sacred." Answers to this question fall into six categories. Examples of definitions that fall within each category are found here.

In the Future

Based on the pilot, we hope to expand this study to include groups from a variety of different religions, including Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and NeoPaganism. The pilot was undertaken in a rural area, and we also hope to increase geographic diversity by recruiting volunteers from urban areas, as well as other rural areas across Texas and possibly the United States.

Project Maps

Project Video Links

Each participating group received a video in which their photographs and commentary were compiled for discussion purposes within their house of worship. In addition to being burned to DVD, the videos were posted to YouTube for public viewing. Click on a participating group to watch their video! These videos range from 10 to 30 minutes in length.

Unity Christian Church

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hASyFMnEMuE

St. Mary's Catholic Campus Ministry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUJxd1jV1F4

Christ Episcopal Church

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6qOApdgXhk

Austin Heights, Bethlehem, and Lone Star Baptist Churches (combined)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWm-FWfZeNc

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PMi0573LLA&feature=youtu.be

Congregation Kol Ami

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRl2a6DypCY&feature=youtu.be