COP 03 / Primary Research / St. Wilfrid's

After visiting York and talking to a wondeful lady who worked in a church called St Wilfrid's, I was told that the pastor was too busy to answer any questions I had that day, and to email them instead.

The questions I asked:

1. Do you think religion (christianity in particular) is becoming branded?

2. If so, do you think this is preserving or eradicating the meaning of faith?

3. If so, why do you think this is happening?

The response:

1. Do you think religion (christianity in particular) is becoming branded?

No, not really. Even within Catholicism there is far too much diversity for any one “brand” to give anyone an idea of what it is about.  Brands are something we choose but real religion is about using chosen by “someone”, in the case of Christianity, by Jesus Christ.

The rest of the questions were left blank. 

Analysis:

From this email conversation it is clear that religious individuals are most likely not to see the effects of branding on religion. This may be because they see religion as something bigger than an individual like myself would - I notice the effects of branding because it is not something sacred and 'big' to me. This is important to consider when talking to religious professionals about this topic. Still, although not quite indepth, this is still an interesting response.