A Spiritual Home: Life in British and American Reformed Congregations, 1830-1915

by Charles D. Cashdollar

Overview

A Spiritual Home explores congregational life inside British and American Reformed churches between 1830 and 1915. At a time when scholars have become interested in the day-to-day experience of local congregations, this book reaches back into the nineteenth century, a critically formative period in Anglo-American religious life, to examine the historical roots of congregational life.Taking the perspective of the laity, Cashdollar ranges widely from worship and music to fund-raising and administration, from pastoral care to social work, from prayer meetings to strawberry festivals, from the sanctuary to the kitchen. Firmly rooted in broader currents of gender, class, notions of middle-class respectability, increasing expectations for personal privacy, and patterns of professionalization, he finds that there was a gradual shift in emphasis during these years from piety to fellowship. Based on records, publications, and memorabilia from about 150 congregations representing eight denominations, A Spiritual Home gives us a comprehensive, composite portrait of religious life in Victorian Britain and America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780271073347
Publisher:	Penn State University Press
Publication date:	07/25/2000
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	709 KB

About the Author

Charles D. Cashdollar is a Professor of History at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. His previous book, The Transformation of Theology, 1830-1890: Positivism and Protestant Thought in Britain and America, was published by Princeton University Press in 1989. His articles have been published in Church History, Harvard Theological Review, Journal of Presbyterian History, Journal of the History of Ideas, and Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography.

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
	Acknowledgments	xiii
Part I	The Context for Worship and Work
1	Introduction: From the Perspective of the Pew	3
2	Leadership, Power, Governance	13
Part II	Worship Together
3	The Lord's Day	35
4	"Without Ceasing": Prayer Meetings and Occasional Services	58
5	"A New Song": The Cultivation of Middle-Class Taste	74
Part III	Life Together
6	Becoming a Member: Procedures and Expectations	101
7	Caring for Each Other: Nurture and Discipline	124
8	The Business of the Congregation: The Pursuit of Efficiency and Financial Stability	151
9	Caring for Others: Social Christianity and the Local Congregation	180
10	Good Friends and Companions: Social, Recreational, and Fellowship Activities	207
11	Church Buildings: Setting and Symbol	222
	Epilogue: From Piety to Fellowship	240
	Notes	245
	Bibliography	303
	Index	327

Editorial Reviews

Cashdollar (history, Indiana U.) seeks to understand life inside British and American Reformed congregations of the period by looking at ordinary people's experiences in church and their motivations and expectations for worship and common life. He describes how they interacted with one another and how they organized themselves to manage their own affairs and affect the larger society. The study also explores how religious life changed during this age of industrial and urban growth. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

A wonderful book on a neglected subject. Cashdollar provides a richly textured picture, offering insight into the workings of Protestant congregational life. He makes his case in a uniquely thorough and altogether engaging manner.”

—Anne C. Rose, The Pennsylvania State University

“Cashdollar’s survey of congregational life manages to be both systematic and engaging, providing an impressive weight of evidence for his generalizations without burying the reader in a surfeit of detail.”

—A. Gregory Schneider, Journal of American History

“Cashdollar wisely retains the transatlantic focus of his previous work, showing how Reformed Christians traversed national boundaries while keeping their religious identities intact. For nineteenth-century religious history at the congregational level, A Spiritual Home is an essential starting point.”

—Religious Studies Review

“Charles Cashdollar has written a fascinating book from a refreshingly different perspective.

Cashdollar’s book is a clearly written and impressively researched contribution to the literature on Anglo-American religious life in the Victorian era.”

—Gillis J. Harp, Ecclesiastical History

“In particular, Cashdollar is to be praised for documenting and exploring significant changes such as from church discipline to pastoral counseling and from piety to fellowship.”

—Timothy Larsen, Journal of Religious History

From the Publisher