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 We, the Male and Female

Monica Najar

in Evangelizing the South: A Social History of Church and State in Early America

This chapter argues that during the 1760s and 1770s, distinctly evangelical visions of manhood and womanhood emerged which became structured into early church membership. In the late colonial era, ... More

This chapter argues that during the 1760s and 1770s, distinctly evangelical visions of manhood and womanhood emerged which became structured into early church membership. In the late colonial era, Baptist ministers and converts to the faith found the South a hostile and often dangerous place. Colonial authorities attacked and imprisoned preachers; Anglican ministers denounced Baptists from their pulpits; mobs disrupted Baptist services and dragged ministers from their congregations. This era of conflict acted as a defining moment for the Baptists and helped them to construct an identity for themselves as a heroic and martyred people. Baptist ministers began to write and collect firsthand accounts of persecution and new conversions in the 1770s. The stories that Baptists told about the disputes centered on gender, and gender became an integral part of the conflicts between dissenting sects and the established church. In particular, embracing new gender norms became a chief strategy for countering opposition and spreading the faith. Women and men were constantly praised for discarding conventional gender roles and assuming new behaviors to serve the evangelical cause. Not only did the Baptists explore distinctly evangelical visions of manhood and womanhood, but they structured them into church membership.Less

 Conversion

Crawford Gribben

in God's Irishmen: Theological Debates in Cromwellian Ireland

This chapter documents Irish Cromwellian debates about conversion–one of the most elemental components of protestant theology. Surprisingly, Irish Cromwellians could not agree whether conversion ... More

This chapter documents Irish Cromwellian debates about conversion–one of the most elemental components of protestant theology. Surprisingly, Irish Cromwellians could not agree whether conversion should be the basis or the goal of church membership and an individual's participation in the sacraments. Protestants in mid‐seventeenth century Ireland were prepared to accuse each other of preaching a false gospel, and of promoting an unbalanced mysticism in the search for religious assurance.Less

The Rites of Christian Initiation

Karen B. Westerfield Tucker

in American Methodist Worship

Tensions occur when a church practices infant baptism but also expects personal faith or even an experience of conversion from its members. Methodists in America struggled theologically with the ... More

Tensions occur when a church practices infant baptism but also expects personal faith or even an experience of conversion from its members. Methodists in America struggled theologically with the meaning and purpose of baptism for both infants and adults, especially regarding the issues of original sin, baptismal regeneration, and the connection between baptism and church membership. The theological positions reached on the sacrament were often honed from controversies with other Christians, who pressed the Methodists regarding the subjects and modes of baptism. Methodist baptismal rites saw significant alterations, and new rites related to Christian initiation developed for membership, confirmation, and baptismal renewal.Less

Baptism

Andrew R. Holmes

in The Shaping of Ulster Presbyterian Belief and Practice, 1770-1840

This chapter explores the official and popular understandings of baptism and its importance to the life of communities, whether in terms of the church or local society.

Identifying the Saints

Baird Tipson

in Hartford Puritanism: Thomas Hooker, Samuel Stone, and Their Terrifying God

In Hartford, the godly community could restrict church membership to itself. The ecclesiola could become the ecclesia. How was this achieved in practice? Hooker adapted his English and Dutch ... More

In Hartford, the godly community could restrict church membership to itself. The ecclesiola could become the ecclesia. How was this achieved in practice? Hooker adapted his English and Dutch experience to create church membership standards remarkably similar to those in Augustine’s Hippo Regius. Both Hooker and Stone remained skeptical of “liminal” conversion experiences and consciously rejected requiring prospective members to “relate” them. Rather than extraordinary experiences of God’s favor, it was godly behavior over a period of time, vetted by the “judgment of charity,” that qualified a prospective member for participation in the Lord’s Supper. Since one participated in the Lord’s Supper because one belonged to a carefully selected group of those deemed worthy to receive Christ’s body and blood in the bread and wine by faith; group acceptance would reinforce the conviction that a member was one of God’s chosen.Less

For What America? Two Visions

Tracy B. Strong

in Learning One's Native Tongue: Citizenship, Contestation, and Conflict in America

Early settlers thought the land given to them by God; Native Americans being a nuisance. It was in New England that they hoped to build a Godly perfected society. Two visions of this conflicted – ... More

Early settlers thought the land given to them by God; Native Americans being a nuisance. It was in New England that they hoped to build a Godly perfected society. Two visions of this conflicted – that of Winthrop and that of Williams. Despite the general preference for Williams as a proponent of tolerance; the book argues for the superiority of Winthrop’s vision.Less

Belonging—Denominations and Faiths

Clive D. Field

in Secularization in the Long 1960s: Numerating Religion in Britain

The size of individual denominations and faiths is documented, from their own returns of ‘membership’ or constituency, occasionally supplemented by external estimates. There were per capita falls in ... More

The size of individual denominations and faiths is documented, from their own returns of ‘membership’ or constituency, occasionally supplemented by external estimates. There were per capita falls in Anglican communicants and electoral rolls, but the most serious decline was in confirmands. The Roman Catholic Church advanced, although the pace slowed from the early 1960s, partly as a consequence of lapsation. Orthodox Churches expanded, notably in the 1970s, principally through immigration. Among the traditional Free Churches, the Congregational and Reformed cluster and Welsh Nonconformity suffered most losses. Strong countervailing (but only partially offsetting) growth was recorded especially by Pentecostal and Holiness Churches, House Churches, and New Churches (all Trinitarian) and Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses (non-Trinitarian). Muslims overtook Jews as Britain’s largest non-Christian community, through migration, which also led to big increases in Hindus and Sikhs. Paradoxically, despite an alleged religious crisis, the societies comprising organized irreligion were a weakening force.Less

1880–1901—The fin de siècle: Allegiance

Clive D. Field

in Periodizing Secularization: Religious Allegiance and Attendance in Britain, 1880-1945

Since at least the 1970s, historians have traced the origins of the decline of organized religion in Britain to the 1880s and 1890s, some even suggesting there was a ‘religious crisis’. Hitherto, ... More

Since at least the 1970s, historians have traced the origins of the decline of organized religion in Britain to the 1880s and 1890s, some even suggesting there was a ‘religious crisis’. Hitherto, there has been no systematic study of the fin de siècle from a secularization perspective. This chapter investigates religious allegiance, the next churchgoing. There is no strong evidence of a ‘crisis’ in allegiance. Notwithstanding the absence of an official census of religious profession, it does not appear there were dramatic changes during the fin de siècle, and the number failing to identify with a religion remained negligible. However, there were early signs of relative decline among the Free Church and Presbyterian constituencies in terms of both profession and membership, while Episcopalian communicants were reasonably flat. Sunday school growth rates also began to slow, although seven-tenths of children were still enrolled. The Roman Catholic community advanced relative to population.Less

1918–39—The Depression Years

Clive D. Field

in Periodizing Secularization: Religious Allegiance and Attendance in Britain, 1880-1945

The inter-war years are a comparatively neglected period of British religious history. Yet, on the measure of ‘active church adherence’ used in this book, they emerge as far more significant in ... More

The inter-war years are a comparatively neglected period of British religious history. Yet, on the measure of ‘active church adherence’ used in this book, they emerge as far more significant in Britain’s secularization journey than the intensively studied 1960s. Between 1918 and 1939, there was a marked shift away from religious commitment and participation towards nominalism, especially in the Free Churches. Although Protestant church membership recovered after the First World War, it peaked in England and Wales around 1927 and dropped absolutely thereafter. There was no such post-war recovery in churchgoing, rather an acceleration of decline, partly because people worshipped less regularly. This fall was fuelled by a weakening Sabbatarian culture and competition from Sunday cinema and religious broadcasting. Congregations were also ageing and take-up of Anglican baptismal and marriage services diminishing. A further 2 million Sunday scholars were lost, while the number of religious ‘nones’ rose by 1 million.Less

1901–14—‘The Faith Society’?

Clive D. Field

in Periodizing Secularization: Religious Allegiance and Attendance in Britain, 1880-1945

Most contemporaries and several historians have assessed the religious state of Edwardian Britain pessimistically, but Callum Brown has recently contended it was ‘the faith society’. The picture is ... More

Most contemporaries and several historians have assessed the religious state of Edwardian Britain pessimistically, but Callum Brown has recently contended it was ‘the faith society’. The picture is actually mixed. Relative to population, religious allegiance was reasonably stable, apart from the Free and Presbyterian Churches, which lost ground in terms of both members (whose numbers mostly peaked around 1906) and adherents. Sunday scholars, already in relative decline since the fin de siècle, peaked in 1904–10. Churchgoing also continued its relative decrease and sometimes fell absolutely. This reduction in attendances was across the board, affecting all three home nations, rural districts as well as towns and cities, and all social classes. Adjusting for twicing, weather extremities, and undercounts of Catholic Masses, perhaps one-quarter of adults worshipped weekly and two-fifths at least monthly. Attenders were disproportionately female. Observance of rites of passage remained strong, albeit the minority preference for civil marriage grew.Less

1939–45—Puzzled People?

Clive D. Field

in Periodizing Secularization: Religious Allegiance and Attendance in Britain, 1880-1945

Analysis of the Second World War’s impact on religious allegiance is affected by data gaps and doubts about the accuracy of opinion polling and the rigour of membership roll revision. But the Church ... More

Analysis of the Second World War’s impact on religious allegiance is affected by data gaps and doubts about the accuracy of opinion polling and the rigour of membership roll revision. But the Church of England lost some market share, the Free Churches slid further towards nominalism, and the number of ‘nones’ grew, absolutely and relatively, more than in the First World War. Church membership losses were greatest in 1939–42. There were 1 million fewer Sunday scholars. Unlike the First World War, there was no temporary revival of churchgoing at the start of the Second World War, only continuous decline in Protestantism, with the index of attendance at ordinary services often reduced to ten or less, half of adults never attending or solely for rites of passage. The decrease is partly explained by wartime disruptions but churchgoing also faced competition from Sunday cinema and the BBC’s enhanced portfolio of religious broadcasts.Less

The making of a colonial laity

Joseph Hardwick

in An Anglican British world: The Church of England and the expansion of the settler empire, c. 1790-1860

This chapter charts the emergence of a colonial laity and compares this with the contemporaneous development of the colonial political public. The colonial Church was transformed by the growing ... More

This chapter charts the emergence of a colonial laity and compares this with the contemporaneous development of the colonial political public. The colonial Church was transformed by the growing visibility and significance of a colonial laity that was increasingly being asked to stump up the cash that would facilitate the maintenance and further expansion of the Anglican Communion. The chapter shows that the identity and make-up of the colonial laity was a contested and problematic issue throughout the first half of the nineteenth century. In theory all the inhabitants of the British colonies were defined as members of the empire’s established Anglican Church; in practice, churchmen wanted to limit the right to sit in church vestries and administer Church property to a narrower community of regular communicants. Clergy also found that the growing strength of the laity posed a number of difficult questions: how could clergy articulate their clerical authority when they were dependent on the voluntary subscriptions of their churchgoers? How could a Church maintain centres of authority when much of the responsibility for finding and funding clergy was delegated to networks composed of evangelical lay persons?Less

Partnering with Caesar

in God and Government in the Ghetto: The Politics of Church-State Collaboration in Black America

This chapter examines how activist African American churches in New York City began to employ church- associated community development corporations in the 1980s as their primary vehicles for ... More

This chapter examines how activist African American churches in New York City began to employ church- associated community development corporations in the 1980s as their primary vehicles for collaborating with government, especially the municipal government, to address problems in black neighborhoods. The city's Ten Year Plan permitted activist African American churches to partner with the city government and their partnerships expanded the potential of the churches to receive public funds. The black clergy entered into church–state partnerships because they believed that their involvement with the city government would reaffirm the relevance of their churches and themselves to black civil society, and would enable them to advance black self-initiative and retain or increase church memberships.Less

Becoming a Convert

Melvyn Hammarberg

in The Mormon Quest for Glory: The Religious World of the Latter-Day Saints

The missionary system aims to assure that potential new members will receive a similar set of doctrinal lessons prior to baptism and confirmation. Baptism and confirmation ordinances are the ... More

The missionary system aims to assure that potential new members will receive a similar set of doctrinal lessons prior to baptism and confirmation. Baptism and confirmation ordinances are the “gateway” experiences for entry into Church membership. The letter from the First Presidency gives a time when the new missionary recruit should appear at the MTC so the Church can help prepare its representatives for this undertaking—three weeks to become a “greenie,” two additional weeks to work the Church’s phone banks responding to “call-in’s,” and up to five additional weeks to learn a language other than English for a foreign assignment, including stateside missions in strong, non-English-speaking immigrant communities. This chapter will examine the experience of several persons who had become “seekers,” then “investigators,” and then converts. As missionaries assess “readiness” according to Preach My Gospel, invitations are extended to converts to receive baptism and confirmation.Less

Belonging—Aggregate Measures

Clive D. Field

in Secularization in the Long 1960s: Numerating Religion in Britain

Various aggregate measures of religious belonging are presented, relative to population. The data derive from opinion polls, church sources, and estimates by Peter Brierley. They reveal the extent of ... More

Various aggregate measures of religious belonging are presented, relative to population. The data derive from opinion polls, church sources, and estimates by Peter Brierley. They reveal the extent of religious belonging varied according to the measure used, as well as by demographic factors. Most stable was religious profession, with no major breakthrough for no religionism. Neither did sundry self-rating indicators of the personal saliency of religion exhibit obvious collapse. Church membership figures, hard to evaluate summatively on account of differing denominational criteria, showed some net decrease, but not spectacular and with partially compensating areas of growth beyond mainline Churches. Protestant Sunday schools, by contrast, already in recession before the 1960s, lost even more ground, while in the Free Churches adult adherents reduced at a faster rate than members. The overall religious community, persons in touch with faith bodies, however tenuously, was static in absolute terms but contracted relatively.Less

Unrest in Zion: Southern Churches in Depression and War

Elizabeth Fones-Wolf and Ken Fones-Wolf

in Struggle for the Soul of the Postwar South: White Evangelical Protestants and Operation Dixie

This chapter examines how southern religious institutions responded to economic collapse, social unrest, and a horrific world war. During the 1930s, church membership declined throughout the South as ... More

This chapter examines how southern religious institutions responded to economic collapse, social unrest, and a horrific world war. During the 1930s, church membership declined throughout the South as congregations, ministers, and church fellowships struggled with the hard times and the ensuing migrations. Those declines were not uniform; some Protestant churches responded to the material and psychological needs of its members better than others. Meanwhile, within and across denominations and church groups, debates raged about modernity, threats from an expanding government, and signs of the end times. Across the board, however, the experiences of hundreds of thousands of southern white Protestants forced the region's sacred institutions to reevaluate what they offered to the region's working people.Less

‘Diversity of opinion … no bar to Christian communion’: The Relaxation of Discipline

Michael R. Watts

in The Dissenters Volume III: The Crisis and Conscience of Nonconformity

This chapter discusses how in the second half of the nineteenth century, Nonconformist denominations began to make it easier to join their churches. They also dispensed with the strict rules of ... More

This chapter discusses how in the second half of the nineteenth century, Nonconformist denominations began to make it easier to join their churches. They also dispensed with the strict rules of conduct which had hitherto been used to discipline and exclude members who broke their moral code. However, the Nonconformist practice retained and indeed increased its severity was with regards to alcohol. Nonconformist denominations with the highest proportion of low-paid working-class members — the Primitive Methodists, the Independent Methodists, and the Bible Christians — were the first to embrace the temperance movement and endorse total abstinence.Less

Church Membership and Chapel Attendance: The Consequences of the Crisis

Michael R. Watts

in The Dissenters Volume III: The Crisis and Conscience of Nonconformity

This chapter analyses the adverse impact of the crisis of Dissent on church membership and on chapel attendance in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. It presents statistics collected by the ... More

This chapter analyses the adverse impact of the crisis of Dissent on church membership and on chapel attendance in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. It presents statistics collected by the various Arminian Methodist denominations, by the Baptists (from the 1860s), and by the Calvinistic Methodists in Wales (again from the late 1860s) as well as periodic newspaper surveys of church and chapel attendance published in the four decades before the First World War.Less

‘The future rests with the Free Churches’: Free Church Union and the Welsh Revival

Michael R. Watts

in The Dissenters Volume III: The Crisis and Conscience of Nonconformity

This chapter discusses how faltering church growth led to church union and the successful revival movement in Wales in the early twentieth century. Between 1900 and 1906, the combined membership of ... More

This chapter discusses how faltering church growth led to church union and the successful revival movement in Wales in the early twentieth century. Between 1900 and 1906, the combined membership of the five main Methodist denominations — Wesleyans, New Connexion, Primitive Methodist, Bible Christian, and United Free Methodist — and of the Baptists and Congregationalists rose by 10.6 per cent or 129,475. Total Free Church membership in England and Wales rose by 13.17 per cent from 1,911,924 in 1899 to 2,201,848 in 1906. By that latter date, Free Church membership in England and Wales exceeded the number of Anglican Easter communicants by nearly 100,000.Less