Overview
America's clergy are not just religious leaders. Their influence extends far beyond church doors. Houses of worship stand at the center of American civic life-one of the few spheres in which relatively diverse individuals gather together regularly. And the moral authority granted to pastors means that they are uniquely positioned to play a role in public debates.Based on data gathered through national surveys of clergy across four mainline Protestant (the Disciples of Christ; the Presbyterian Church, USA; the Reformed Church in America; and the United Methodist Church) and three evangelical Protestant denominations (the Assemblies of God; the Christian Reformed Church; and, the Southern Baptist Convention), Pastors and Public Life examines the changing sociological, theological, and political characteristics of American Protestant clergy over the past twenty-plus years. Smidt focuses on the relationship between clergy and politics-clergy positions on issues of American public policy, norms on what is appropriate for clergy to do politically, as well as the clergy's political cue-giving, their pronouncements on public policy, and political activism-and the impact these changes have on congregations and on American society as a whole.Pastors and Public Life is the first book to systematically examine such changes and continuity over time. It will be invaluable to scholars, students, pastors, and churchgoers.
Full Product Details
Author: Corwin E. Smidt (Senior Fellow, Senior Fellow, Calvin College)
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:
Width: 23.90cm
, Height: 2.00cm
, Length: 15.20cm
Weight: 0.576kg
ISBN: 9780190455491
ISBN 10: 0190455497
Pages: 264
Publication Date: 14 April 2016
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
General/trade
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
Pastors and Public Life authoritatively documents continuity and change in the political attitudes and behaviors of clergy in seven Protestant denominations. Written by a leading analyst of religion and politics in America, this informative and sometimes surprising book should be read by anyone wanting to know more about clergy political views, and their political activities both within congregations and beyond the church walls. --Mark Chaves, Professor of Sociology, Religious Studies, and Divinity, Duke University
Pastors and Public Life is a valuable contribution in its own right, and will provide resources for continuing the conversation about the role of Protestantism in American social and political life. Ted G. Jelen, Sociology of Religion
Author Information
Corwin E. Smidt is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Calvin College, where he also served as the director of the Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics for fifteen years. He is now a research fellow with the Henry Institute and currently serves as President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.
