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The Churching of America, 1776-1990: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy
The Churching of America 17761990 Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy Author:Rodney Stark, Roger Finke In The Churching of America, 1776-2005, Roger Finke and Rodney Stark once again revolutionize the way we think about religion. Extending the argument that the nation's religious environment acts as a free market economy, this extensively revised and expanded edition offers new research, statistics, and stories that document increased participati... more »on in religious groups from Independence through the twenty-first century. Adding to the thorough coverage of "mainline" religious groups, new sections chart the remarkable development and growth of African American churches from the early nineteenth century forward. Finke and Stark show how, like other "upstart sects," these churches competed for adherents and demonstrate how American norms of religious freedom allowed African American churches to construct organizational havens with little outside intervention. This edition also includes new sections on the ethnic religious communities of recent immigrants -- stories that echo those told of ethnic religious enclaves in the nineteenth century.« less