The Churching Of America, 1776-2005

Praise for the first edition:

"If Roger Finke and Rodney Stark are right, the current understanding of American religious history ought to be turned upside down . . . A pugnacious book."--New York Times

"Essential reading."--Kirkus Reviews

"Impressive . . . Bound to generate lively discussion--and not a little controversy--within the nation's church community."—U.S. Catholic

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 participation 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.

Bringing together timely new information and evidence, this provocative book insists, more than ever, on a major reevaluation of established ideas about American religious institutions. Written with lively prose, it will stir debate within church and academic communities, as well as among laypersons interested in the history of religion.