Shopping for Faith

Shopping for Faith is as good as it gets in assessing the U.S. religion scene at millennium's end. Cimino and Lattin present a picture of multiple trends headed in often contradictory directions.
—Robert Ellwood, emeritus professor of religion, University of Southern California

American religion flourishes in a consumer culture, and presents us with a bewildering array of choices as we navigate the shopping mall of faith.

The authors identify dozens of trends which will shape American religion in the next century and bring together the latest research and intimate portraits of Americans describing their beliefs, their religious heritage, and their spiritual search.

With warmth and style the authors document how consumerism shapes religious practice -- from conservative evangelical worship to the most esoteric New Age workshop.

Preface

Introduction: Belief in America 1

Part 1 Searching for Self and Spirit

1 The Divorce Between Spirituality and Religion 9

2 Varieties of Spirituality 17

3 Bringing Spirit to Life 31

Postscript: American Spirituality - Mystical and Practical 49

Part 2 Searching for Community

4 Congregations and Consumers 55

5 Congregations on the Cutting Edge 76

6 Religion in the Post-Denominational Era 95

Postscript: Evangelism - Not Just for Evangelicals 124

Part 3 Searching for Common Culture

7 The Politics of Faith 131

8 Culture Wars, Social Peace 143

9 Emerging Social Issues 158

Postscript: Personal Faith, Public Life 183

Afterword 187

Notes 191

Bibliography 205

List of Link Page Headings 215

Index 217

RICHARD CIMINO is editor and publisher of the much-quoted newsletter, Religion Watch (http://www.religionwatch.com), which monitors trAnds and research in contemporary religion. He has worked extensively as a researcher and freelance writer for various publications, including Christian Century and Religion News Service. He is the author of Against the Stream: The Adoption of Traditional Christian Faiths by Young Adults.

DON LATTIN is the award-winning religion writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Over the past twenty years he has interviewed thousands of Americans about their religious heritage and spiritual search. He was a fellow at the Program in Religious Studies for Journalists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has also taught religion reporting at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley.

In Shopping for Faith: American Religion in the New Millennium, Richard Cimino and Don Lattin identify the trends shaping American religion. They bring together the latest research with intimate portraits of Americans: their beliefs, their religious heritages, and their spiritual searching. From this emerges a fascinating landscape of religious life encompassing individual spirituality, the institutions of religious life, and the interaction between religion and society.