Balmer (Religion/Barnard Coll.) compares the state of American
Protestantism today with its boom in the '50s and suggests that a
return to its antiestablishment and evangelical roots is needed. In
1950, Christian Century magazine ran a nationwide survey that
resulted in 12 congregations being designated "great churches" and
becoming the focus of a remarkable series of articles. Balmer
offers us an account of his recent visits to these communities,
devoting a chapter to each. He takes us to First Community Church,
Columbus, Ohio, where he finds "a kind of
Jesus-helps-me-feel-good-about myself" ethic and an easy alliance
between middle-class life and mainline Protestantism. We visit
First United Methodist, Orlando, Fla., where there has been both a
decline in membership and an increase in staff. At Bellevue
Baptist, Cordova, Tenn., the author is shown a video of the
church's annual Celebrate America extravaganza, during which lines
from the Declaration of Independence were interspersed with
readings from the Bible; "at the finale, red, white, and blue
balloons descended from the rafters, the 'worship center' looked
for all the world like the National Republican Convention." In many
cases, Balmer notices that "diversity" really means a lack of any
clear beliefs, whereas a much-lauded sense of community turns out
to signify ethnic homogeneity and a shared conservative outlook.
Although he finds plenty to praise in these congregations, which
have soldiered on through the vicissitudes of the post-'50s
decades, Balmer (who is himself an evangelical) believes that a
reversal of the general decline requires the mainline Protestants
to learn from the evangelicals, distance themselves from the
centers of power, and decide what they stand for. From the author
of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory (1989) and host of the PBS series
of the same title, another incisive critique of the US religious
scene. (Kirkus Reviews)
In 1950, Christian Century ran a series of articles on twelve
churches, some large, some small, each representing a strand of
American mainline Protestantism. Now, nearly fifty years later,
Randall Balmer--author and host of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory,
the acclaimed book and PBS series on American evangelicism--has
revisited each of these twelve churches to take the pulse of
Protestantism today. The result is a remarkable narrative, graced
with touches of local color and memorable portraits of the people
involved, and filled with deft observations and carefully nuanced
insights about Protestantism at century's end.
Much as he did in Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, Balmer
crisscrosses America to give us a first-hand look at how
Christianity has fared in the last half-century. What emerges is a
church challenged by diminished influence, but with signs of hope
for the future. For instance, he takes us to West Hartford,
Connecticut, where we learn how a gregarious pastor, Bob
Heppenstall, rekindled the spirit of the First Church of Christ
Congregational--still housed in its stately, classic New England
meetinghouse--that had suffered from inept management until recent
years. And in Ames, Iowa, at the Collegiate United Methodist
Church, we watch George White struggle to regain his church's once
dominant voice in the religious life of the town, a voice now
dimmed by the growth of fundamentalism. Some churches have held
steadfastly to long-established roles, such as the Washington
Prairie Lutheran Church, in Decorah, Iowa, which has been a model
of continuity, serving its Norwegian-American community in much the
same way since it was founded in 1851. And Balmer also visits some
thriving churches, such as Hollywood's First Presbyterian Church,
led by the great preacher John Lloyd Ogilvie, who was recently
appointed chaplain of the U.S. Senate. In Minneapolis, Balmer
encounters Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, a congregation that has
not only increased its membership, but can now call itself the
biggest Lutheran church in the world.
In Grant Us Courage, one of our most thoughtful chroniclers of the
American scene offers an intimate look at mainline Protestantism at
the close of the century. We come away with the feeling of having
been there, of having listened to the voices of an important
segment of Christian life, and of having found a deeper
understanding of religious life in America today.
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