American Congregations

by Wind, James P.; Lewis, James W.

• ISBN13: 9780226901893
• ISBN10: 0226901890
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-06-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

American Congregations, Volume 2:New Perspectives in the Study of Congregationsbuilds upon the empirical foundation provided by the historical studies in volume 1 of the Congregational History Project. Volume 2 addresses three crucial questions: Where is the congregation located on the broader map of American cultural and religious life? What are the distinctive qualities, tasks, and roles of the congregation or parish in American culture? And, what patterns of leadership characterize American congregations? Published simultaneously, these two volumes combine engaging historical studies with incisive scholarsly analysis to focus attention on the central role of congregational studies in research and teaching of American religion. "This two volume study of American congregations is of compelling importance to anyone interested in civil society, community, and belief in contemporary America. . . . Extraordinarily rich in detail."--Association for Research on Non-profit Organizations and Voluntary Action News "[An] informative and stimulating study."--John A. Saliba,Journal of Contemporary Religion "These congregational histories are important pieces of both social and religious history. They tell us much about the convictions and experience of a great variety of people, different styles of leadership and of how these distinctive local cultures both bear and shape the larger traditions they represent."--Gordon Harland,Studies in Religion "Both volumes of American Congregations resulted from pioneering efforts, and they are timely and useful. They should force American religious historians to ask new questions. . . . Any American religious historian who fails to take this two-volume work seriously in the future will find his or her own scholarship terribly deficient."--Lewis V. Baldwin,Journal of American History

Author Biography

James P. Wind is president of the Alban Institute. James W. Lewis is executive director of the Louisville Institute. Together they directed the Congregational History Project which was based at the University of Chicago's Divinity School from 1987-1990.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Introduction	1	(22)
James P. Wind
James W. Lewis
PART ONE: CONGREGATIONS IN CONTEXT	23	(146)
1. Toward a History of American Congregations	23	(31)
E. Brooks Holifield
2. The Place of the Congregation in the Contemporary American Religious Configuration	54	(46)
R. Stephen Warner
3. The Christian Congregation as a Religious Community	100	(33)
Langdon Gilkey
4. Public and Private: Congregation as Meeting Place	133	(36)
Martin E. Marty
PART TWO: CONGREGATIONS AND TRADITIONS	169	(56)
5. Congregations and the Bearing of Traditions	169	(23)
Dorothy C. Bass
6. Congregational Studies as Practical Theology	192	(33)
Don S. Browning
PART THREE: CONGREGATIONS AND LEADERSHIP	225	(60)
7. Patterns of Leadership in the Congregation	225	(32)
Jay P. Dolan
8. The Safest Place on Earth: The Culture of Black Congregations	257	(28)
Robert Michael Franklin
Afterword	285	(2)
Contributors	287	(2)
Index	289