Pillars of Faith: American Congregations and Their PartnersAt the close of the twentieth century the United States was, by all accounts, among the most religious of modern Western nations. Pillars of Faith describes the diversity of tradition and the commonality of organizational strategy that characterize the more than 300,000 congregations in the United States, arguing that they provide the social bonds, spiritual traditions, and community connections that are vital to an increasingly diverse society. Nancy Tatom Ammerman follows several traditions--Mainline Protestant, Conservative Protestant, African American Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox, Jewish, Sectarian, and other religions--as they establish discernible patterns of congregational life that fit their own history, tradition, and relationship to American society. Her methodologically sophisticated study balances survey research with interviews conducted with people from ninety-one different religious traditions and ethnographic observations that yield new information on many dimensions of American congregational life. Her book is the first to depict the complex resource base supporting American congregations, the enormous web of partners with whom congregations work, and the range of institutional patterns they exhibit. Contrary to many gloomy forecasts, Pillars of Faith: American Congregations and Their Partners argues that organized religion in the United States is robust and vigorous--and that it can handle the increasing demands of escalating diversity and mobility the future is sure to bring. |
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Page vii
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Contents
CHAPTER ONE | 1 |
CHAPTER TWO | 23 |
CHAPTER THREE | 51 |
CHAPTER FOUR | 69 |
All | 73 |
CHAPTER FIVE | 115 |
CHAPTER SIX | 158 |
CHAPTER SEVEN | 206 |
We observed at the beginning of this book the remarkably | 254 |
APPENDIX TWO | 266 |
NOTES | 266 |
APPENDIX ONE | 279 |
APPENDIX TWO | 283 |
NOTES | 287 |
APPENDIX ONE | 310 |
All Christian | 216 |
Other editions - View all
Pillars of Faith: American Congregations and Their Partners Nancy Tatom Ammerman Limited preview - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
activities adults African American churches agencies American congregations American religious Ammerman ANOVA Assemblies of God Bible black churches Catholic and Orthodox Catholic parishes Chaves Chicago choirs Christ clergy congre congregation's Congregations in Different connections Conservative Protestant churches cultural denominational identity denominationally Different Religious Traditions diverse Episcopal ethnic evangelism faith fellowship gather gious goals gregations Hispanic hymnal identified individual interviewed Jehovah's Witnesses Jewish leaders least less Lutheran Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Mainline churches Mainline Protestant megachurch Methodist ministry mission missionary Nashville National Baptist National Baptist Convention nondenominational nonprofit organizational organizations Orthodox parishes outreach parachurch participation partnerships pastor patterns Pentecostal percent political Presbyterian priority programs Promise Keepers Protestantism regional religion religious education reported Roozen rural Seattle Sectarian secular social sort spiritual stories structure Sunday school surveyed synagogues talked tional tions United Methodist Church urban volunteers white Protestant women worship youth