View the Table of Contents.
Read the Chapter One.

"Breaks new ground by offering us a much better understanding of the operation of both religious congregations and race relations in the U.S. The research is impressive, the analysis smart, and the insights and implications important. This is a unique and significant book."
--Christian Smith, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"Draws on six case studies to propose a nuanced theory of the dynamics associated with the success or failure of multicultural congregations. This book honestly confronts the issues related to taking part in or pastoring an integrated congregation."
--Donald E. Miller, Executive Director, Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern California

Religious institutions are among the most segregated organizations in American society. This segregation has long been a troubling issue among scholars and religious leaders alike.

Despite attempts to address this racial divide, integrated churches are very difficult to maintain over time. Why is this so? How can organizations incorporate separate racial, ethnic, and cultural groups? Should they? And what are the costs and rewards for people and groups in such organizations?

Following up on Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith's award-winning "Divided by Faith," Against All Odds breaks new ground by exploring the beliefs, practices, and structures which allow integrated religious organizations to survive and thrive despite their difficulties. Based on six in-depth ethnographies of churches and other Christian organizations, this engaging work draws on numerous interviews, so that readers can hear first-hand the joys andfrustrations which arise from actually experiencing racial integration. The book gives an inside, visceral sense of what it is like to be part of a multiracial religious organization as well as a theoretical understanding of these experiences.

Why, when traditionally organized religious groups are seeing declining membership and participation, are networks of independent churches growing so explosively? Drawing on in-depth interviews with leaders and participants, The Rise of Network Christianity explains the social forces behind the fastest growing form of Christianity in the U.S., which Brad Christerson and Richard Flory have labeled "Independent Network Christianity" (INC). This form of Christianity emphasizes aggressive engagement with the supernatural, including healing, direct prophecies from God, engaging in "spiritual warfare" against demonic spirits, and social transformation. Christerson and Flory argue that large-scale social changes since the 1970s, including globalization and the digital revolution have given competitive advantages to religious groups organized by networks rather than traditionally organized congregations and denominations. Network forms of church governance allow for experimentation with controversial supernatural practices, innovative finances and marketing, and a highly participatory, unorthodox, and experiential faith, which is attractive in today's unstable religious marketplace. Christerson and Flory argue that as more religious groups imitate this type of governance, religious belief and practice will become more experimental, more oriented around practice than belief, more shaped by the individual religious "consumer" and that authority will become more highly concentrated in the hands of individuals rather than institutions.

Explores the power of faith to drive resistance to anti-immigration policies in the United States God’s Resistance chronicles the work of faith-based activists who have mobilized to counter the effects of mass detention and deportation. Focusing on Southern California, home to a large undocumented population, the authors examine which strategies have been most effective, as well as the obstacles that faith presents to organizing effectively. In-depth interviews with over forty activists, leaders of congregations, lay participants, and immigrants allow us to hear at first hand the challenges and occasional triumphs of this work. The authors show how faith-based organizations have a distinctive set of advantages to leverage in social movements that are often overlooked and underappreciated by secular activist organizations, but they also face particular challenges that can hinder their effectiveness. The volume offers insights into how these advantages can be maximized, and how the obstacles can be overcome. The powerful testimony from asylum seekers and detained immigrants found in these pages, along with the concrete examples of effective strategies, are indispensable for anyone invested in the fight to recognize the humanity of one of the nation’s most vulnerable populations.

View the Table of Contents.
Read the Chapter One.

"Breaks new ground by offering us a much better understanding of the operation of both religious congregations and race relations in the U.S. The research is impressive, the analysis smart, and the insights and implications important. This is a unique and significant book."
--Christian Smith, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"Draws on six case studies to propose a nuanced theory of the dynamics associated with the success or failure of multicultural congregations. This book honestly confronts the issues related to taking part in or pastoring an integrated congregation."
--Donald E. Miller, Executive Director, Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern California

Religious institutions are among the most segregated organizations in American society. This segregation has long been a troubling issue among scholars and religious leaders alike.

Despite attempts to address this racial divide, integrated churches are very difficult to maintain over time. Why is this so? How can organizations incorporate separate racial, ethnic, and cultural groups? Should they? And what are the costs and rewards for people and groups in such organizations?

Following up on Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith's award-winning "Divided by Faith," Against All Odds breaks new ground by exploring the beliefs, practices, and structures which allow integrated religious organizations to survive and thrive despite their difficulties. Based on six in-depth ethnographies of churches and other Christian organizations, this engaging work draws on numerous interviews, so that readers can hear first-hand the joys andfrustrations which arise from actually experiencing racial integration. The book gives an inside, visceral sense of what it is like to be part of a multiracial religious organization as well as a theoretical understanding of these experiences.

People's experiences of racial inequality in adulthood are well documented, but less attention is given to the racial inequalities that children and adolescents face. "Growing Up in America" provides a rich, first-hand account of the different social worlds that teens of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds experience. In their own words, these American teens describe, conflicts with parents, pressures from other teens, school experiences, and religious beliefs that drive their various understandings of the world.
As the book reveals, teens' unequal experiences have a significant impact on their adult lives and their potential for social mobility. Directly confronting the constellation of advantages and disadvantages white, black, Hispanic, and Asian teens face today, this work provides a framework for understanding the relationship between socialization in adolescence and social inequality in adulthood. By uncovering the role racial and ethnic differences play early on, we can better understand the sources of inequality in American life.

Explores the power of faith to drive resistance to anti-immigration policies in the United States God’s Resistance chronicles the work of faith-based activists who have mobilized to counter the effects of mass detention and deportation. Focusing on Southern California, home to a large undocumented population, the authors examine which strategies have been most effective, as well as the obstacles that faith presents to organizing effectively. In-depth interviews with over forty activists, leaders of congregations, lay participants, and immigrants allow us to hear at first hand the challenges and occasional triumphs of this work. The authors show how faith-based organizations have a distinctive set of advantages to leverage in social movements that are often overlooked and underappreciated by secular activist organizations, but they also face particular challenges that can hinder their effectiveness. The volume offers insights into how these advantages can be maximized, and how the obstacles can be overcome. The powerful testimony from asylum seekers and detained immigrants found in these pages, along with the concrete examples of effective strategies, are indispensable for anyone invested in the fight to recognize the humanity of one of the nation’s most vulnerable populations.

People's experiences of racial inequality in adulthood are well documented, but less attention is given to the racial inequalities that children and adolescents face. "Growing Up in America" provides a rich, first-hand account of the different social worlds that teens of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds experience. In their own words, these American teens describe, conflicts with parents, pressures from other teens, school experiences, and religious beliefs that drive their various understandings of the world.
As the book reveals, teens' unequal experiences have a significant impact on their adult lives and their potential for social mobility. Directly confronting the constellation of advantages and disadvantages white, black, Hispanic, and Asian teens face today, this work provides a framework for understanding the relationship between socialization in adolescence and social inequality in adulthood. By uncovering the role racial and ethnic differences play early on, we can better understand the sources of inequality in American life.