Religion and Community in the New Urban America examines the interrelated transformations of cities and urban congregations over the past several decades. The authors ask how the new metropolis affects local religious communities, and what the role of those local religious communities is in creating the new metropolis. Through an in-depth study of fifteen Chicago congregations-Catholic parishes, Protestant churches, Jewish synagogues, Muslim mosques, and a Hindu temple, city and suburban, neighborhood-based and commuter-this book describes the lives of their members and measures the influences of those congregations on urban environments. Paul D. Numrich and Elfriede Wedam challenge the view held by many urban studies scholars that religion plays a small role-if any-in shaping postindustrial cities and that religious communities merely adapt to urban structures in a passive fashion. Taking into account the spatial distribution of constituents, internal traits, and external actions, each congregation's urban impact is plotted on a continuum of weak, to moderate, to strong, thus providing a nuanced understanding of the significance of religion in the contemporary urban context. Providing a thoughtful analysis that includes several original maps illustrating such things as membership distribution for each congregation, the authors offer an insightful look into urban community life today, from congregations to the social-geographic places in which they are embedded.

In 1993, 8000 representatives of the religions of the world gathered in Chicago, on the centennial of the historical 1893 World's Parliament of Religions. The objectives were to "promote understanding and cooperation among religious communities and institutions" and "encourage the spirit of harmony and celebrate, with openness and mutual respect, the rich diversity of religions.'" The Parliament also raised a pressing question: How do local Christians respond when they discover that the religions of the world now reside in their town? Most of the non-Christian representatives to the first Parliament came from outside the U.S. In 1993, however, when the organizers invited the religious communities of Chicago to form host committees for the event, more than half turned out to be non-Christian: Baha'i, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Zoroastrian. In this book, Paul Numrich presents eleven case studies of local Chicago-area Christian responses to America's changing religious landscape. Offering a broad, balanced, and sympathetic sampling, he wants to enable readers to make informed decisions about their own attitudes and strategies regarding their non-Christian neighbors. Included are Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Christian cases, cases from immigrant and African-American communities, and perspectives ranging from conservative to liberal, from evangelical to pluralist. His study will be of great interest to scholars of American religious pluralism but is also designed to be usable by adult congregational study groups and church leaders at all points on the theological spectrum and from every denominational background.

Space sharing by groups and organizations is widespread in the United States, from commercial partnerships, to government and private sector joint use agreements, to the use of public facilities and commons, and more. Drawing upon a variety of historical examples and contemporary cases, The Religious Dimensions of Shared Spaces offers a focused and systematic analysis of space sharing involving religious groups or organizations. All space-sharing arrangements are similar in most respects, so what difference does it make when religious groups or organizations are involved? How do they invest meaning in the spaces they use and share, including "sacred space"? When and why do they enter into space-sharing arrangements with other parties, religious and/or secular? How do religious space sharers structure and maintain their arrangements, including handling tensions that arise? What can secular space sharers learn from their religious counterparts, and vice versa? The book also teases out when religion does not matter in space sharing, even when religious groups or organizations are involved. Case studies include internal congregational groups that negotiate the use of shared facilities, arrangements between congregations and external groups or organizations, multifaith partnerships, and shared spaces in secular venues.

Religion and Community in the New Urban America examines the interrelated transformations of cities and urban congregations over the past several decades. The authors ask how the new metropolis affects local religious communities, and what the role of those local religious communities is in creating the new metropolis. Through an in-depth study of fifteen Chicago congregations-Catholic parishes, Protestant churches, Jewish synagogues, Muslim mosques, and a Hindu temple, city and suburban, neighborhood-based and commuter-this book describes the lives of their members and measures the influences of those congregations on urban environments. Paul D. Numrich and Elfriede Wedam challenge the view held by many urban studies scholars that religion plays a small role-if any-in shaping postindustrial cities and that religious communities merely adapt to urban structures in a passive fashion. Taking into account the spatial distribution of constituents, internal traits, and external actions, each congregation's urban impact is plotted on a continuum of weak, to moderate, to strong, thus providing a nuanced understanding of the significance of religion in the contemporary urban context. Providing a thoughtful analysis that includes several original maps illustrating such things as membership distribution for each congregation, the authors offer an insightful look into urban community life today, from congregations to the social-geographic places in which they are embedded.

What do we know about reality? What can we know at all? This is the question that the essays on religion (especially Buddhism and Christianity) and natural science in this volume address. Instead of getting lost in theoretical constructs and dogmatic discussions, the contributors focus on the philosophical issues that span the world. How do Buddhism, Christianity and science deal with the boundaries between what man can know and what he cannot know? How is that defined that cannot be known? How does ignorance relate to the human striving to fully grasp its surrounding reality? Scientists and religious figures discuss these questions and try to integrate the other side of the understanding of reality into their approach. This creates a fertile ground for the dialogue between science and religion, which makes it possible to think together about the limits of understanding.