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• 1 2018-12-07T16:48:44+00:00 Introduction: Religion and Cultural Geography 6 plain 2018-12-14T13:14:21+00:00

  Religion and spirituality are one of the major aspects of human belief and culture. The many different beliefs and practices have formed into full-formed religions. Each religion had found their way of identifying a location of prayer, meditation, and worship. Although arguably spirituality can occur anywhere people have associated religious traditions in places of worship like churches, mosques, and temples. For most people, these religious spaces hold a deep importance and create a physical place to a concept that most consider intangible.

  When looking at Glassboro in particular religion reveals many aspects of life and history. One major aspect the churches reveal is the idea of migration and movement. Before any of the European settlers came to New Jersey it was inhabited by different indigenous people. It is likely that the Lenape tribe was located around the general region. These people held spiritual traditions focused on the ideas of spirit and the connectivity of life. In terms of location, there was a lack of distinct places of worship. In contrast when migration began settlers often desired churches to be built. This likely came from the European Christian tradition of having buildings of worship to perform various rituals and traditions.

   

  These migrants from Europe often came in ethnoreligious groups such as Germans Protestants, Irish Catholics, and Swedish Protestants. In addition to being part of a religious community, they also had their own ethnic traditions and practices. These made these new found places of worship have an inherently ethnic aspect to them. Additionally, the major reasons that people migrated to Glassboro are for work. The glassworks became a center for work for many groups. When moving to find work they often distanced themselves from their original church. The lack of reliable and fast transportation forced people to create their own churches in Glassboro. Soon many of these churches became centers of both spirituality and socialization. After time passed in Glassboro, many of the churches became a growing and almost all of them had to build an new church to accommodate the growing membership. When choosing a location for the new church many picked a more central location on North Main Street and moved closer to the glassworks.

  In the modern era of Glassboro, the advances in transportation and the increase of migration have led to a new landscape of people and religion. Many churches now have a diversified group of parishioners with many coming from much farther away due to the space-time compression. Others also have adapted their spaces to accommodate with changing ideas about religion such as adding features like a coffee room. As more people came to Glassboro number of churches has increased dramatically with different denominations, beliefs, and forms of worship. In addition to churches, there is also a mosque and Moorish Science Temple. These new religious spaces show the evolving demographics of Glassboro and the diversity of religion. As Glassboro continues to grow, these religious spaces are a fundamental part of the town's identity.