Overview

Based in the idea that social phenomena are best studied through the lens of different disciplinary perspectives, Empty Churches studies the growing number of individuals who no longer affiliate with a religious tradition. Coeditors Jan Stets, a social psychologist, and James Heft, a historian of theology, bring together leading scholars in the fields of sociology, developmental psychology, gerontology, political science, history, philosophy, and pastoral theology. The scholars in this volume explore the phenomenon by drawing from each other's work to understand better the multi-faceted nature of non-affiliation today. They explore the complex impact that non-affiliation has on individuals and the wider society, and what the future looks like for religion in America. The book also features insightful perspectives from parents of young adults and interviews with pastors struggling with this issue who address how we might address this trend. Empty Churches provides a rich and thoughtful analysis on non-affiliation in American society from multiple scholarly perspectives. The increasing growth of non-affiliation threatens the vitality and long-term stability of religious institutions, and this book offers guidance on maintaining the commitment and community at the heart of these institutions.

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Peter Lerman is a narrator from the heart of New York City: Brooklyn born and raised. Manhattan and Brooklyn were suffused with the flavors and sounds of the entire world. He tasted it all and heard it all. When you come of age in NYC, nothing is foreign. When you hear a low grumble in his voice on occasion, it is authentic. His first wife told him that he loved her not nearly as much as he loved the sound of his own voice. This made him wonder if other people might love the sound of his voice as well. And so, a narrator was born. Also, an amateur thespian, a trade show presenter, a lecturer, an off-key cabaret singer, and an inveterate teller of jokes one does not tell in mixed company. Peter has been a professional photographer in New York City, owned a model and talent management company, and knocked around from Brooklyn to Manhattan and back again only to wind up in Connecticut. His breath control is fabulous because he is also a board certified respiratory therapist. He has appeared onstage as Horace Vandergelder in Hello Dolly, Gangster #2 in Kiss Me Kate, Bobby Gould in Speed-the-Plow, the Governor of Texas in Best Little Whorehouse . . ., Jonathan Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace, and Lenny in Rumors. The voice is deep and resonant. Sometimes formal, sometimes not. Never stale. Always eminently listenable. Jan E. Stets is professor and director of the Social Psychology Research Laboratory at the University of California, Riverside. She is the former director of the Sociology Program at the National Science Foundation, and a former coeditor of Social Psychology Quarterly. James L. Heft served as professor and chair of the Theology Department at the University of Dayton for six years, provost for eight years, and chancellor and professor of faith and culture for ten years, before moving to the University of Southern California in 2006 as the Alton Brooks Professor of Religion and now the founder and president emeritus of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies. He is the author, editor, or coeditor of fourteen books, including Catholicism and Interreligious Dialogue and Catholic High Schools: Facing the New Realities.

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