|
Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social groups & communities > Religious groups
|
Buy Now
The Urban Church Imagined - Religion, Race, and Authenticity in the City (Paperback)
Loot Price: R770
Discovery Miles 7 700
|
|
|
The Urban Church Imagined - Religion, Race, and Authenticity in the City (Paperback)
Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days
|
Explores the role of race and consumer culture in attracting urban
congregants to an evangelical church The Urban Church Imagined
illuminates the dynamics surrounding white urban evangelical
congregations' approaches to organizational vitality and
diversifying membership. Many evangelical churches are moving to
urban, downtown areas to build their congregations and attract
younger, millennial members. The urban environment fosters two
expectations. First, a deep familiarity and reverence for popular
consumer culture, and second, the presence of racial diversity.
Church leaders use these ideas when they imagine what a "city
church" should look like, but they must balance that with what it
actually takes to make this happen. In part, racial diversity is
seen as key to urban churches presenting themselves as "in touch"
and "authentic." Yet, in an effort to seduce religious consumers,
church leaders often and inadvertently end up reproducing racial
and economic inequality, an unexpected contradiction to their goal
of inclusivity. Drawing on several years of research, Jessica M.
Barron and Rhys H. Williams explore the cultural contours of one
such church in downtown Chicago. They show that church leaders and
congregants' understandings of the connections between race,
consumer culture, and the city is a motivating factor for many
members who value interracial interactions as a part of their
worship experience. But these explorations often unintentionally
exclude members along racial and classed lines. Indeed, religious
organizations' efforts to engage urban environments and foster
integrated congregations produce complex and dynamic relationships
between their racially diverse memberships and the cultivation of a
safe haven in which white, middle-class leaders can feel as though
they are being a positive force in the fight for religious vitality
and racial diversity. The book adds to the growing constellation of
studies on urban religious organizations, as well as emerging
scholarship on intersectionality and congregational characteristics
in American religious life. In so doing, it offers important
insights into racially diverse congregations in urban areas, a
growing trend among evangelical churches. This work is an important
case study on the challenges faced by modern churches and urban
institutions in general.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
|
You might also like..
|
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
