Popular calls to transform our current welfare system and
supplant it with effective and inexpensive faith-based providers
are gaining political support and engendering heated debate about
the separation of church and state. Yet we lack concrete
information from which to anticipate how such initiatives might
actually work if adopted.
Despite the assumption that congregations can help many needy
people in our society, it remains to be seen how extensive they
wish their involvement to be, or if they have the necessary tools
to become significant providers in the social service arena.
Moreover, how will such practices, which will move faith-based
organizations towards professionalization, ultimately affect the
spirit of volunteerism now prevalent in America's religious
institutions?
We lack sufficient knowledge about congregational life and its
ability to play a key role in social service provision. The
Invisible Caring Hand attempts to fill that void. Based on in-depth
interviews with clergy and lay leaders in 251 congregations
nationwide, it reveals the many ways in which congregations are
already working, beneath the radar, to care for people in need.
This ground-breaking volume will provide much-sought empirical data
to social scientists, religious studies scholars, and those
involved in the debates over the role of faith-based organizations
in faith-based services, as well as to clergy and congregation
members themselves.
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