A Faithful Journey: Following a Married Couple’s Religious Trajectory over the Adult Lifespan

Abstract

This article addresses the question of how religious narrative identity and subjective religiosity change over the course of 15 years. The cases portrayed are deconverts who have changed their religious affiliations multiple times. It was carved out what led to their deconversion and what remains as a core of their faith after they have turned away from organized religion for good. Interviews were conducted at three time points and were analyzed using content analysis. It became clear that the needs and expectations of the two individuals differ highly, as well as the reasons for turning away from a religious community; yet, what could be identified as a common core in this joint faithful journey is their need to live their religiosity, now in a private setting.

Keywords

• qualitative analysis
• deconversion
• case study
• Faith Development Interview
• subjective religiosity
• narrative identity