Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes: Finding Religion in Everyday Life

Nancy Tatom Ammerman examines the stories Americans tell of their everyday lives, from dinner table to office and shopping mall to doctor's office, about the things that matter most to them and the routines they take for granted, and the times and places where the everyday and ordinary meet
the spiritual.

In addition to interviews and observation, Ammerman bases her findings on a photo elicitation exercise and oral diaries, offering a window into the presence and absence of religion and spirituality in ordinary lives and in ordinary physical and social spaces. The stories come from a diverse array of
ninety-five Americans -- both conservative and liberal white Protestants, African American Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Wiccans, and people who claim no religious or spiritual proclivities -- across a range that stretches from committed religious believers to the spiritually neutral.
Ammerman surveys how these people talk about what spirituality is, how they seek and find experiences they deem spiritual, and whether and how religious traditions and institutions are part of their spiritual lives.


Author: Nancy Tatom Ammerman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 09/12/2013
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.10w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780199917365

Review Citation(s):
Choice 03/01/2014
Christian Century 02/04/2015 pg. 30

About the Author

Nancy Ammerman is Professor of Sociology of Religion at Boston University, where she teaches in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Theology. She has written award-winning books on America's conservative religious movements and on the role of religious organizations in community life.

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