Congregation & Community

by Ammerman, Nancy Tatom; Farnsley, Arthur Emery

• ISBN13: 9780813523354
• ISBN10: 0813523354
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-02-01
• Publisher: Rutgers Univ Pr

Summary

Change--in population, economy, and culture--is sweeping through American communities. Corner groceries are stocking new foods. New roads are being built and Main Streets abandoned. Schools have come and gone, and old friends move away as strangers arrive. But in every community, no matter how volatile, religious institutions provide for their members places of moral guidance and spiritual nurture, civic participation, and identity. How do congregations react to significant community change? Why do some religious institutions decline in the face of racial integration while others adapt and grow? How do congregations make sense of economic distress? Do they provide havens from community upheaval or vehicles for change? Congregation and Community is the most comprehensive study to date of congregations in the face of community transformation. Nancy Ammerman and her colleagues include stories of over twenty congregations in nine communities from across the nation, communities with new immigrant populations, growing groups of gays and lesbians, rapid suburbanization, and economic dislocations. With almost half of the nation's population attending religious services each week, it is impossible to understand change in American society without a close look at congregations. Congregation and Community will exist as a standard resource for years to come, and clergy, academics, and general readers alike will benefit from its insights.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
Congregation and Community: Introductions	1	(62)
Formulating the Questions	3	(2)
Introducing the Communities	5	(29)
A Caveat	34	(2)
Surveying Local Religious Ecologies	36	(4)
Selecting Focus Congregations	40	(3)
Establishing a Framework for Analysis	43	(20)
Persistence in the Face of Change	63	(44)
St. Catherine's Catholic Parish, Allston: Never Too Old?	65	(9)
Brighton Avenue Baptist Church, Allston: A Remnant of the Past	74	(7)
Gray Friends Meeting, Carmel: Swimming Upstream	81	(5)
Carmel Wesleyan Church, Carmel: Camp Meetings for Suburbia?	86	(7)
Berean Seventh-Day Adventist Church, West Adams: ``Tent'' Revivals for a New Neighborhood	93	(14)
Relocating: New Places, New Identities	107	(54)
Leaving The Old Neighborhood	107	(1)
East Lynn Christian Church, Anderson: The Struggle to Rebuild	108	(6)
First Baptist Church, Anderson: Moving from the Center	114	(8)
South Meridian Church of God, Anderson: Prayer and Praise Through Thick and Thin	122	(8)
Establishing a Niche	130	(1)
Holman United Methodist Church, West Adams: African American Community Leader	131	(14)
Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, Southwest Atlanta: In Search of a ``Signature Ministry''	145	(16)
Adaptation: Integrating Gay and Straight	161	(37)
St. Matthew's Catholic Parish, Long Beach: Gay and Straight Breaking Bread Together	162	(12)
First Congregational Church, Long Beach: Open and Affirming Advocates	174	(11)
First Existentialist Congregation, Candler Park: An Alternative Community	185	(13)
Adaptation: Integrating across Cultures	198	(31)
Brighton Evangelical Congregational Church, Brighton: From Morning Coats to Community Food Pantry	199	(9)
City Baptist Church, Oak Park: Singing New Songs	208	(10)
Hinton Memorial United Methodist Church, Gwinnett County: Small-Town Church Invaded by Suburbia	218	(11)
Adaptation: Creating New Internal Structures	229	(32)
Hope Baptist Church, Southwest Atlanta: Praising God and Serving the Neighborhood	229	(10)
Grace Baptist Church, Anderson: Financial Stability in Uncertain Times	239	(10)
Carmel United Methodist Church, Carmel: Choices and Loyalties in a Pillar of the Community	249	(12)
Innovation: Birth and Rebirth	261	(49)
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Oak Park: Rebirth of a Community Church	263	(11)
Epworth United Methodist Church, Candler Park: Blending Traditional Values and Alternative Life-styles	274	(10)
St. Lawrence Catholic Parish, Gwinnett County: New Catholics in a New Setting	284	(13)
Northview Christian Life Church, Carmel: Joyful Praise in the Stressful Suburbs	297	(13)
How Congregations Change	310	(36)
Shifting Religious Ecologies	310	(11)
Explaining Adaptation	321	(25)
Congregation and Community: Conclusions	346	(25)
Congregations and Modern Community Life	349	(6)
Congregations as Particularistic Spaces of Sociability	355	(5)
Congregations as Connected Communities	360	(2)
Congregations as Generators of Social Capital	362	(5)
The Moral and Spiritual Capital of Congregational Life	367	(4)
Appendix A: Focus Questions	371	(7)
Appendix B: Congregational Survey	378	(3)
Notes	381	(22)
Selected Bibliography	403	(20)
List of Contributors	423	(4)
Index	427