Overview

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.

Full Product Details

9780195386219

Table of Contents

Reviews

That the United States has become a religiously plural country is common knowledge. What Paul Numrich illumines is how that plurality is affecting local communities and churches. These case studies give the reader invaluable insights into what religious plurality does, positively and negatively, to religious faith. An important resource. * Dr. Terry C. Muck, Dean and Professor of World Religion, Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky *

That the United States has become a religiously plural country is common knowledge. What Paul Numrich illumines is how that plurality is affecting local communities and churches. These case studies give the reader invaluable insights into what religious plurality does, positively and negatively, to religious faith. An important resource. -Dr. Terry C. Muck, Dean and Professor of World Religion, Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky This book is packed with fascinating stories and insights about how actual church communities are relating to their new neighbors from other religions. It tells about churches that are competitive and defensive but also about others that are open, neighborly, and communicative with these new non-Christian communities of worship. This profound and practical book conveys real portraits of how Christians are engaging this new religious presence in traditionally Christian societies. -Don Browning, Alexander Campbell Professor of Religious Ethics and the Social Sciences, University of Chicago, and author of Equality and the Family

That the United States has become a religiously plural country is common knowledge. What Paul Numrich illumines is how that plurality is affecting local communities and churches. These case studies give the reader invaluable insights into what religious plurality does, positively and negatively, to religious faith. An important resource. Dr. Terry C. Muck, Dean and Professor of World Religion, Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky

<br> That the United States has become a religiously plural country is common knowledge. What Paul Numrich illumines is how that plurality is affecting local communities and churches. These case studies give the reader invaluable insights into what religious plurality does, positively and negatively, to religious faith. An important resource. -Dr. Terry C. Muck, Dean and Professor of World Religion, Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky<br> This book is packed with fascinating stories and insights about how actual church communities are relating to their new neighbors from other religions. It tells about churches that are competitive and defensive but also about others that are open, neighborly, and communicative with these new non-Christian communities of worship. This profound and practical book conveys real portraits of how Christians are engaging this new religious presence in traditionally Christian societies. -Don Browning, Alexander Campbell Professor of Religious Ethic

Author Information

Paul Numrich is a Research Associate Professor at the McNamara Center for the Social Studie of Religion, Loyola University Chicago

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