A Revised General Model
By Rodney Stark
ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry
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Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences Baylor University, Waco, Texas
Co-Director - Institute for Studies of Religion
Founding Editor - Interdisciplinary Journal of
Research on Religion
Honorary Professor of Sociology - Peking
University, Beijing, China
 Every
year, hundreds of new religious movements appear.
 Some are formed by disgruntled members from older
groups.
 Some will start because someone created or discovered a
new religious culture and convinced others of its
authenticity.
Regardless of their origins, almost every new group will have
one thing in common: eventual failure.
 Roughly, one religious movement out of 1,000 will attract
more than 100,000 followers and last for 100 years.
 Even most movements that achieve these modest results will be
no more than a footnote in the history of religions.
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Other things being equal, religious movements will succeed to the degree
that:
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They retain cultural continuity with the conventional faiths of
the societies within which they seek converts.
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Their doctrines are non-empirical.
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They maintain a medium level of tension with their surrounding
environment – are strict, but not too strict.
 They
have legitimate leaders with adequate authority to
be effective
◦ A. Adequate authority requires clear doctrinal justifications for
an effective and legitimate leadership
◦ B. Authority is regarded as more legitimate and gains in
effectiveness to the degree that members perceive themselves
as participants in the system of authority.
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They can generate a highly motivated, volunteer, religious labor
force, including many willing to proselytize.
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They maintain a level of fertility sufficient to at least offset
member mortality.
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They compete against weak, local conventional religious
organizations within a relatively unregulated religious economy.
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They sustain strong internal attachments, while remaining an
open social network, able to maintain and form ties to outsiders.
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They continue to maintain sufficient tension with their
environment – remain sufficiently strict.
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They socialize the young sufficiently well as to minimize both
defection and the appeal of reduced strictness.
For more information, please contact the
ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry
Headquarters: Sridham Mayapur, Cakra Building no. 128
Phone: (+91) 03472 – 245619
Website: namahatta.org
Email: cdministry@namahatta.org