Moral ambition : mobilization and social outreach in evangelical megachurches / Omri Elisha.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Elisha, Omri, 1972-

Series:

Anthropology of Christianity ; 12.

The anthropology of Christianity ; 12

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Big churches.

Church work.

Missions.

Church and social problems.

Evangelicalism--Tennessee.

Evangelicalism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (277 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Mobilization and social outreach in evangelical megachurches

Place of Publication:

Berkeley [Calif.] : University of California Press, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this evocative ethnography, Omri Elisha examines the hopes, frustrations, and activist strategies of American evangelical Christians as they engage socially with local communities. Focusing on two Tennessee megachurches, Moral Ambition reaches beyond political controversies over issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and public prayer to highlight the ways that evangelicals at the grassroots of the Christian Right promote faith-based causes intended to improve the state of social welfare. The book shows how these ministries both help churchgoers embody religious virtues and create provocative new opportunities for evangelism on a public scale. Elisha challenges conventional views of U.S. evangelicalism as narrowly individualistic, elucidating instead the inherent contradictions that activists face in their efforts to reconcile religious conservatism with a renewed interest in compassion, poverty, racial justice, and urban revivalism.

Contents:

Introduction

Awaking sleeping giants

A region in spite of itself

The names of action

The spiritual injuries of class

Compassion accounts

Taking the (inner) city for God

Epilogue.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613278609

9780520950542

0520950542

9781283278607

128327860X

OCLC:

739104379