Elusive Togetherness Church Groups Trying to Bridge America's Divisions. [electronic resource] :
- Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2011.
- 1 online resource (348 p.)
Description based upon print version of record.
Cover; Title; Copyright; Contents; List of Tables and Figures; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Chapter One: In Search of the Social Spiral; Chapter Two: Studying the Social Spiral; Chapter Three: Networkers and Volunteers Reaching Out; Chapter Four: Crying Out: Social Critics; Chapter Five: Christ-like Care: Social Servants; Chapter Six: A Social Spiral Winds Outward: Partners; Chpater Seven: Doing Things with Religion in Local Civic Life; Chapter Eight: Doing Things Together: Lessons from Religious Community Service Groups; Appendices APPENDIX I: Theory and Evidence in a Study of Religious Community Service GroupsAPPENDIX II: Studying Customs; Notes; References; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y;
Many scholars and citizens alike have counted on civic groups to create broad ties that bind society. Some hope that faith-based civic groups will spread their reach as government retreats. Yet few studies ask how, if at all, civic groups reach out to their wider community. Can religious groups--long central in civic America--create broad, empowering social ties in an unequal, diverse society? Over three years, Paul Lichterman studied nine liberal and conservative Protestant-based volunteering and advocacy projects in a mid-sized American city. He listened as these groups tried to create bridg.
Religion and social problems - United States. Social action - United States. Voluntarism - United States. Religion and social problems--United States. Social action--United States. Voluntarism--United States. Associations, institutions, etc.--United States. Small groups--Religious aspects. SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology of Religion