Introduction On April 15, 1984 six Romanian families that were gathering in their homes to worship and pray, signed the paperwork to establish the Romanian Baptist Church of Portland (RBC Portland). Eighteen years later, the church community grew to 323 members and today we are over 400 members gathering twice every Sunday and on Friday evenings. What makes this tight knit community so intriguing is that it brings together individuals not only of the same religion but also of the same ethnic background. Solidarity, the feeling of inclusion within a group, is incredibly high and with increased solidarity, people become reflections of their community. RBC Portland generates a unique strong commitment from its members by creating a sanctuary for …show more content…
The theory takes a macro-level analysis of society, looking at the culture to explain the individuals inside. The theory argues that there are social facts that control our behavior. These social facts are independent of individuals, coercive, and durable over time. Solidarity was the basis of Durkheim’s theory. In specific, Durkheim analyzed mechanical and organic solidarity. RBC Portland would fall under mechanical solidarity which is the social integration of members of a society who have similar beliefs and values. These common beliefs and values “create a collective conscience that works internally in individual members to cause them to cooperate” (The Editors of Encyclopædia …show more content…
The prevalence of the Orthodox religion influences RBC Portland because our church specifically goes to great lengths to distinguish itself from the Orthodox church, since Baptists rebelled against the Orthodox church in Romania. In most typical Baptist churches, there would be a cross displayed in the front of the church or somewhere in the sanctuary. Due to the Romanian heritage of our church, a cross isn’t allowed to be displayed. This is because during Communism, Protestants would be persecuted and beaten with wooden crosses. Having the cross displayed would bring discomfort to many of the older church members. This past year, the decorating team included some younger members who decided to place a cross at the front of the church. There was an uproar, and after a meeting with the church committee and pastors, the cross was removed and the individuals were