American Parishes: Remaking Local Catholicism

Parishes are the missing middle in studies of American Catholicism. Between individual Catholics and a global institution, the thousands of local parishes are where Catholicism gets remade. American Parishes showcases what social forces shape parishes, what parishes do, how they do it, and what this says about the future of Catholicism in the United States. Expounding an embedded field approach, this book displays the numerous forces currently reshaping American parishes. It draws from sociology of religion, culture, organizations, and race to illuminate basic parish processes, like leadership and education, and ongoing parish struggles like conflict and multiculturalism.

American Parishes brings together contemporary data, methods, and questions to establish a sociological re-engagement with Catholic parishes and a Catholic re-engagement with sociological analysis. Contributions by leading social scientists highlight how community, geography, and authority intersect within parishes. It illuminates and analyzes how growing racial diversity, an aging religious population, and neighborhood change affect the inner workings of parishes.

Contributors: Gary J. Adler Jr., Nancy Ammerman, Mary Jo Bane, Tricia C. Bruce, John A. Coleman, S.J., Kathleen Garces-Foley, Mary Gray, Brett Hoover, Courtney Ann Irby, Tia Noelle Pratt, and Brian Starks

Author: Gary J. Adler
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Published: 07/02/2019
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.91lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.63d
ISBN: 9780823284344

Review Citation(s):
Choice 01/01/2020

About the Author
Gary J. Adler, Jr. (Edited By)
Gary J. Adler, Jr. is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Pennsylvania State University.

Tricia C. Bruce (Edited By)
Tricia C. Bruce is Associate Professor of Sociology at Maryville College and the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Brian Starks (Edited By)
Brian Starks is Associate Professor of Sociology at Kennesaw State University.