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This chapter describes how immigrant religion generally has become a more significant social divide, a greater challenge to integration, and a more common source of conflict with mainstream institutions and practices in Western Europe than in the United States. There are three main reasons for this. Of paramount importance are basic demographic facts. The religious backgrounds of immigrants in Western Europe and the United States are different, mostly Christian in the United States as compared to Western Europe, where a large proportion is Muslim. Muslims of immigrant origin in Western Europe also have a lower socioeconomic profile than those in the United States. Moreover, Western European native majorities have more trouble recognizing claims based on religion because they are more secular than religiously involved Americans.

Chicago: traditional churches in a modern culture. The churches built in Chicago between the great fire of 1871 and the First World War were almost all built in revival styles: the Gothic revival was accepted as the norm in many denominations, while Roman Catholics also built in Romanesque, Renaissance, and other revival styles. Within Roman Catholicism, these styles served as markers of ethnic distinction, but then American Colonial style could be used to counteract the ethnicity of specific national churches. While classic sacramental design was taken for granted in Roman Catholic circles, the altar rail served as a strong boundary between clerical and lay space, and churches were used less for procession than for intercession. In Protestant circles, auditorium churches closely resembling contemporary theaters became prominent, serving for worship in which proclamation was of paramount importance. The high church movement in the Episcopal Church led to churches with extended chancels (in which choirs with choir stalls were placed between the congregation in the nave and the priest at the altar); other denominations sometimes borrowed this design. Orthodox immigrants built in a manner long established in their home countries, with large icon-screens that clearly limited visibility of the altar and served a form of worship largely centered on mediation.

This chapter examines the link between immigrant religion and immigrant integration into society. More specifically, it considers whether religion is a help or hindrance in the way immigrants adjust to their new environment. It considers whether religious immigrants are doing better psychologically (in terms of mental health) and economically (in terms of employment and occupation) than nonreligious immigrants and how religion prepares immigrants to become full citizens of the destination society. It shows that immigrant faith is intricately connected to the way immigrants adjust or integrate into their new countries, but the role of religion in immigrant adjustment is dependent on many things, including the type of adjustment and whether immigrants belong to the Christian majority or a religious minority.

This chapter examines the changing contours of immigrant religion from home to new society, and in particular how moving changes an immigrant's faith. It considers whether immigrants with no religion become religious and those with religion become more religious after migration. It also explores the religious patterns adopted by immigrants in their daily lives once the initial years of settlement are over, whether immigrants switch religions from one world religion to a completely different world religion, and whether some immigrants drop their religion altogether and become atheist or agnostic. Finally, it discusses the impact of being a minority versus a majority religion in the new society. The chapter shows that immigrant faith is constantly evolving, along with everything else in an immigrant's life, from relationships and career to health and citizenship.

This book examines the religion of immigrants living in the West from a life-course perspective, from the point of migration and the migratory journey itself through the religious lives of immigrant children in their adult years. Drawing on a number of data sources, the book explores general patterns of immigrant religion in Canada, Western Europe, and the United States. It considers the influence of religion in the decisions and destinations of international migrants and among second-generation immigrants, the extent to which religion helps or hinders immigrants, and whether immigrant faith is really transferred to the next generation. Several vignettes are presented to illustrate the book's main points.

This book concludes by recapping the broad patterns of immigrants' religious adaptation. It first considers religious identity (religious affiliation with a particular religious group) and religious practice (frequency of religious attendance at religious services) to describe some aspects of immigrant faith, from migration through to the role of religion for second-generation immigrants. It then examines the ways that immigrant religion is practiced within religious organizations and goes on to discuss how the context of reception can affect who moves where, how immigrants adapt their religion to their new surroundings, and how religion can help or hinder immigrant integration. It also outlines the differences between religious minorities and religious majorities in terms of experiences in their new destinations and concludes with an assessment of future religious trends in the flow of migrants to and from almost anywhere in the world.

This chapter discusses the differences in the models of Christianity embraced by first- and second-generation Indian Americans, and the influence of American evangelicalism and megachurches on the second generation. It examines the struggles and dilemmas of Mar Thoma Christians in the process of establishing themselves and their church in the North American context. Theoretical frameworks of religion in motion and religion and immigrant incorporation which are used in the book are explained. The chapter also provides a quick background to the Mar Thoma church and its history, as well as the global out-migration from Kerala state in India. The multisited research design is described. It concludes with an overview of the plan of the book and brief chapter summaries.

The global encounter continues apace. Not only are American evangelicals fanning out throughout the world, but immigrants are moving into the United States. Some come with hopes of revitalizing the American church. Though underreported because of its origin among nonwhite populations, New England has been the home of a spiritual awakening called the “quiet revival.” Tightened borders and persistent racial separation limit immigrant influence at present. But the synergy of the Immigration Act of 1965, the Evangelical Immigration Roundtable, and the southernization of global Christianity is accelerating the global reflex as 2045, the year the United States may become a minority-majority nation, approaches.