|
Reinventing American Protestantism: Christianity in the New Millennium | 
 enlarge | Author: Donald E. Miller
Publisher: University of California Press
Category: Book
Buy New: $23.95
New (12) Used (21) Collectible (2) from $4.99
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 354199
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 262
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 0520218116
Dewey Decimal Number: 284
EAN: 9780520218116
ASIN: 0520218116
Publication Date: October 25, 1999
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
During the past thirty years the American religious landscape has undergone a dramatic change. More and more churches meet in converted warehouses, many have ministers who've never attended a seminary, and congregations are singing songs whose melodies might be heard in bars or nightclubs. Donald E. Miller's provocative examination of these "new paradigm churches"--sometimes called megachurches or postdenominational churches shows how they are reinventing the way Christianity is experienced in the United States today.
Drawing on over five years of research and hundreds of interviews, Miller explores three of the movements that have created new paradigm churches: Calvary Chapel, Vineyard Christian Fellowship, and Hope Chapel. Together, these groups have over one thousand congregations and are growing rapidly, attracting large numbers of worshipers who have felt alienated from institutional religion. While attempting to reconnect with first-century Christianity, these churches meet in nonreligious structures and use the medium of contemporary twentieth-century America to spread their message through contemporary forms of worship, Christian rock music, and a variety of support and interest groups.
In the first book to examine postdenominational churches in depth, Miller argues that these churches are involved in a second Reformation, one that challenges the bureaucracy and rigidity of mainstream Christianity. The religion of the new millennium, says Miller, will connect people to the sacred by reinventing traditional worship and redefining the institutional forms associated with denominational Christian churches. Nothing less than a transformation of religion in the United States may be taking place, and Miller convincingly demonstrates how "postmodern traditionalists" are at the forefront of this change.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Excellent Introduction to New Directions in American Christianity October 28, 2005
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
An excellent introduction to some of the most interesting contemporary developments within American Christianity. For those with experience in traditional, mainline churches, what the book describes will seem strange but a growing number of new believers only know this type of church as what "church" is supposed to be. Since many new paradigm churches have large attendance, they are able to financially support the start of other new paradigm churches. Indeed, new paradigm churches may well become the new normal of church life in America.
For two in-depth case studies of a new paradigm church, see Gerardo Marti's A Mosaic of Believers: Diversity and Innovation in a Multiethnic Church and also his book Hollywood Faith: Holiness, Prosperity, and Ambition in a Los Angeles Church.
 New Paradigm Churches October 18, 2002
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is an insightful exploration of the so-called third wave or new paradigm churches from a scholar who presents the information in a readable fashion. The author is an outsider, yet he provides a favorable account of these rapidly-growing, Pentecostal-type congregations that all originated in California. It is a great book for anyone who is interested in the contemporary Christian scene. It is filled with stories, keen observations, balanced analyses, and surveys on the movement.
Excellent Study of CalvaryChapels & Vineyards November 7, 1997
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
CalvaryChapels has been an "underground" church for over 25 years now - an alternative for the typical lifeless church down the street. Now someone has studied this phenomenon to see why it continues to grow and attract more people (often from non-religious backgrounds). The same for Vineyards & HopeChapels (which both have intersecting histories with CalvaryChapel). The personal stories are touching and fascinating, The research is exhaustive if not exhausting. The author belongs to a mainline church and periodically shows his amazement at these new church movements. They were all built on simplicity of faith, by those whose lives were radically changed by Jesus Christ (often people who would be the last ones you would expect). A little too much psychology & sociology throughout but the author is a professor and the book is published by a university press.
|
|
|
|
Powered by CBN AssociateStore
| |
