Related to, and often influenced by, the folk-society model are many folklorists’ studies
of the religion of people who might be said to “look like folk.” This would include the
rural and urban poor, as well as groups isolated from the mainstream by geography, culture, class, or preference. What makes a group of people “look folk” can vary from
time to time, situation to situation, and folklorist to folklorist, but generally speaking any
religious group or practice that seems nonmainstream, exotic, or marginal (from the
folklorist’s point of view) might well be labeled folk religion. Good examples include
groups that maintain an older lifestyle, such as the Old Order Amish or the Pennsylvania
Dutch; groups that are marginal in their society, such as Pentecostals; and groups made
up of ethnic or racial minorities with their own distinctive practices, such as Black
Baptists and Latino Catholics.
William M.Clements’ discussion of the “folk church” in American society also fits in
this category (Clements 1978). Clements defines as “folk churches” Protestant groups
that exist apart from mainline denominations and on the margins of mainstream society.