Every day of the week in contemporary America (and especially on Sundays) people raise money for their religious enterprises--for clergy, educators, buildings, charity, youth-oriented work, and more. In a fascinating look into the economics of American Protestantism, James Hudnut-Beumler examines how churches have raised and spent money from colonial times to the present and considers what these practices say about both religion and American culture.
"Calls for the reassessment of long-held assumptions about the immateriality of faith and the immateriality of finance. . . . Exceptional. . . . Successfully demystifies the religious economy. . . . In shedding light on its important and overlooked topic, [the book] prepares us to hazard . . . provocative questions."
— H-Net
"Informative history."
— CHRISTIAN CENTURY
"A unique and valuable addition to the historiography of American religion."
— American Historical Review
"An overdue study of a neglected aspect of religion in America, of particular interest to theological and graduate students, and also to laypersons and church professionals. Recommended."
— CHOICE
"Readers seeking a history of church fundraising will find the volume extremely helpful. . . . We can certainly profit from the numerous insights that are provided."
— Journal of American History
"Recommend[ed] this book to anyone interested in church organization and finances. It is an excellent book for ministers and churches wanting historial context for giving and tithing, and is valuable reading for seminary ministry classes by framing a conversation about a subject that all ministers face regularly."
— Stone-Campbell Journal
This is an extraordinarily useful, informative, and imaginative book.
E. Brooks Holifield, Emory University
James Hudnut-Beumler's elegant and insightful book makes a significant contribution to scholarship in American religious history.
Diane H. Winston, University of Southern California
In a fascinating look into the economics of American Protestantism, Hudnut-Beumler examines how churches have raised and spent money from colonial times to the present and considers what these practices say about both religion and American culture. He contends that paying for earthly good works done in the name of God has proved highly compatible with American ideas of enterprise, materialism, and individualism. The financial choices Protestants have made throughout history—how money was given, expended, or even withheld—have reflected changing conceptions of what the religious enterprise is all about.
James Hudnut-Beumler is dean of the divinity school and Anne Potter Wilson Distinguished Professor of American Religious History at Vanderbilt University. He is author or coauthor of three other books, including Looking for God in the Suburbs: The Religion of the American Dream and Its Critics, 1945@-1965.
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Distributor: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication Date: 03-05-2007
Pages: 288
Measurements: 9.5in X 6.38in
