People of the dream : multiracial congregations in the United States / Michael O. Emerson with Rodney M. Woo.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Emerson, Michael O., 1965-

Contributor:

Woo, Rodney M., 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Race relations--Religious aspects--Case studies.

Race relations.

Religious institutions--United States--Case studies.

Religious institutions.

United States--Race relations--Case studies.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (276 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 2008, c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

It is sometimes said that the most segregated time of the week in the United States is Sunday morning. Even as workplaces and public institutions such as the military have become racially integrated, racial separation in Christian religious congregations is the norm. And yet some congregations remain stubbornly, racially mixed. People of the Dream is the most complete study of this phenomenon ever undertaken. Author Michael Emerson explores such questions as: how do racially mixed congregations come together? How are they sustained? Who attends them, how did they get there, and what are their experiences? Engagingly written, the book enters the worlds of these congregations through national surveys and in-depth studies of those attending racially mixed churches. Data for the book was collected over seven years by the author and his research team. It includes more than 2,500 telephone interviews, hundreds of written surveys, and extensive visits to mixed-race congregations throughout the United States. People of the Dream argues that multiracial congregations are bridge organizations that gather and facilitate cross-racial friendships, disproportionately housing people who have substantially more racially diverse social networks than do other Americans. The book concludes that multiracial congregations and the people in them may be harbingers of racial change to come in the United States.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Prelude. Decision

Chapter One. Dreams

Chapter Two. Distinctive

Chapter Three. Paths

Chapter Four. Folk

Chapter Five. Attractions

Chapter Six. Shadows

Chapter Seven. Momentum

Appendix A. Shifting Visions

Appendix B. Statistical Tables

Appendix C. Methodology

Appendix D. Instruments

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [245]-255) and index.

ISBN:

9786612964824

9781400837700

1400837707

9781282964822

1282964828

OCLC:

707067721