Voluntary leadership roles in religious groups and rates of change in functional status during older adulthood

"Agape love is justice": Black clergies' public and theological support of Black gay men

This study explored how 60 Black clergy came to publicly and theologically support Black gay men. They participated in three 90-minute life history interviews to address the study aims. Open, axial and selective coding were used to understand and order themes within their accounts while addressing specific aims. Life events, purpose-driven theological training and a commitment to justice provide the basis for theological and public support of Black gay men. Clergies' understanding of justice is an expression of agape love. Such love inspires both the support and advocacy of stigmatised, marginalised and overly burdened populations. Study findings question monolithic understandings of both Black clergy and the Black church as homophobic and heteronormative. The informants' data reveal agape love as a key motivation of ministerial holistic support for marginalised and oppressed populations, including Black gay men. Finally, these data assert that agape love is inconsistent with heteronomative and homophobic scriptural interpretation.

Association between religiosity and functional capacity in older adults: a systematic review

Abstract Objective: To verify the association between religiosity and functional capacity in the elderly. Method: a systematic review of literature in the SciELO, Lilacs, MEDLINE/PubMed and the portal of CAPES Journals databases was performed. The descriptors were selected through the list of Descriptors in Health Sciences (Decs) and Medical Subject Headings (Mesh). Original articles in Portuguese and English, published between 2007 and 2017, with a sample composed of elderly persons aged 60 years or more were included. Systematic or integrative reviews, case studies, scale validation studies, dissertations and theses and studies on religious social support were excluded, as well as articles that included elderly persons and adults in the sample. Result: 280 articles were identified, of which six were included in this review. Religiosity was associated with improved functional capacity and coping with disability and the delay of functional decline in the elderly. Different aspects of religiosity were associated with functional capacity, such as participation in religious activities, religious leadership role performance and religious beliefs and traditions. In three articles the positive association between religiosity and functional capacity was linked only to public religious activities and not to intrinsic religious practices. Conclusion: religiosity is significantly and positively associated with the functional capacity of the elderly. The association between intrinsic religiosity and functional capacity is still unclear.