The Eastern Church in the spiritual marketplace : American conversions to Orthodox Christianity / Amy Slagle.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Slagle, Amy.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Orthodox Eastern converts--United States.

Orthodox Eastern converts.

United States--Religious life and customs.

United States.

Physical Description:

207 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

DeKalb : Northern Illinois University Press, [2011]

Summary:

Like many Americans, the Eastern Orthodox converts in this study are participants in what scholars today refer to as the "spiritual marketplace" or quest culture of expanding religious diversity and individual choice- making that marks the post-World War II American religious landscape. In this highly readable ethnographic study, Slagle explores the ways in which converts, clerics, and lifelong church members use marketplace metaphors in describing and enacting their religious lives. Slagle conducted participant observation and formal semi-structured interviews in Orthodox churches in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Jackson, Mississippi. Known among Orthodox Christians as the "Holy Land" of North American Orthodoxy, Pittsburgh offers an important context for exploring the interplay of Orthodox Christianity with the mainstreams of American religious life. Slagle's second round of research in Jackson sheds light on the American Bible Belt where over the past thirty years the Orthodox Church in America has marshaled significant resources to build mission parishes. Relatively few ethnographic studies have examined Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the United States, and Slagle's book fills a significant gap. This lucidly written book is an ideal selection for courses in the sociology and anthropology of religion, contemporary Christianity, and religious change. Scholars of Orthodox Christianity, as well as clerical and lay people interested in Eastern Orthodoxy, will find this book to be of great appeal.

Contents:

Introduction to the Eastern Orthodox world

Eastern Orthodox conversions in a pluralistic context

Processes of catechesis and socialization for Orthodox converts

Meanings of and motivations for conversions to Orthodox Christianity

Convert perspectives on Eastern Orthodox ritual

"The other side of the veil" : convert responses to ethnicity

Orthodox Christianity in Mississippi.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780875806709

0875806708

OCLC:

720899350