Souls of the City

by Diamond, Etan

• ISBN13: 9780253342560
• ISBN10: 0253342562
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-06-01
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

Who has time for community in the modern metropolis? The answer may surprise you: apparently lots of us. As this book discusses, religious communities have long been an important way for people in all parts of the modern city to come together. Whether in new suburban subdivisions, in rural areas undergoing change, or in inner-city neighborhoods, people of all social backgrounds, races, and economic means have used their congregations as a way to set down new roots and to hold on to old ones. Focusing on Indianapolis, Indiana, a city in America's geographical and cultural heartland, Souls of the City describes the range of changes to America's cities and American religion during the last decades of the 20th century. In showing the historical ability of religious congregations to become "places" of worship, this book challenges those who lament the soulless nature of modern metropolitan life.

Author Biography

Etan Diamond is a social historian whose research interests lie at the intersection of urban history and the history of religion. He is author of And I Will Dwell in Their Midst: Orthodox Jews in Suburbia.

Table of Contents

PREFACE	ix
I Metropolitan Growth and Religious Change: An Introduction	1	(17)
II "Hi, Neighbor!": Building New Religious Communities in Suburbia	18	(48)
III From Small Town to Mall Town: Rural Communities and Their Congregations	66	(28)
IV What Is "Our" Community? The Dilemma of the Inner City Congregation	94	(42)
V Tying the Metropolis Together	136	(28)
VI Finding Community in the Modern Metropolis	164	(9)
NOTES	173	(14)
BIBLIOGRAPHY	187	(8)
INDEX	195