Research Catalog

Title

A church with the soul of a nation : making and remaking the United Church of Canada / Phyllis D. Airhart.

Author

Airhart, Phyllis D., 1953-

Publication

• Montréal & Kingston : McGill-Queen's University Press, [2014]
• ©2014

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xx, 440 pages : illustrations, portraits; 24 cm.

Summary

""As Canadian as the maple leaf" is how one observer summed up the United Church of Canada after its founding in 1925. But was this Canadian-made church flawed in its design, as critics have charged? A Church with the Soul of a Nation explores this question by weaving together the history of the United Church with a provocative analysis of religion and cultural change. The story begins in the aftermath of Confederation, when the prospects of building a Christian nation persuaded a group of Congregationalist, Methodist, and Presbyterian leaders to set aside denominational differences and focus instead on shared beliefs. Phyllis Airhart traces the new church's struggle to save its reputation during a bitter controversy with dissenting Presbyterians who refused to join what they considered a "creedless" church. Surviving the organizational and theological challenges of economic depression and war, the future of the church seemed bright. But the ties between personal faith and civic life that the founders took for granted were soon tattered by the secular cultural storm sweeping through western Christendom. The United Church's remaking came with the realization that creating a Christian social order in Canada was unlikely - perhaps even undesirable - in a pluralistic world. A Church with the Soul of a Nation sheds light on the United Church's past controversies and present dilemmas by showing how its founding vision both laid the groundwork for its accomplishments and complicated its adaptation to the new world taking shape."--Back cover.

Series Statement

McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion. Series two ; 67

Uniform Title

McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion. Series two ; 67.

Subjects

• Canada > Church history > 20th century
• Canada > Histoire religieuse > 20e siècle
• United Church of Canada History > 20th century
• Église unie du Canada Histoire > 20e siècle

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-418) and index.

Additional Formats (note)

• Issued also in electronic format.

Contents

Prologue -- "Friendly Service" to the Nation -- Controversy and the Construction of Identity -- The Mission and the "Machinery" -- The Search for a Faith for Sociable Souls -- Christian Canada in a "New World Order" -- Calling Postwar Canada to Christ -- Uncoupling Christianity and Culture in Canada -- Listening to the World -- Reconceiving the United Church -- Epilogue.

Call Number

JFE 15-5146

ISBN

• 9780773542488 (bound)
• 0773542485 (bound)
• 9780773542495 (pbk.)
• 0773542493 (pbk.)
• 9780773589292 (ePDF)
• 0773589295 (ePDF)
• 9780773589308 (ePUB)
• 0773589309 (ePUB)

LCCN

2014431485

OCLC

843859560

Author

Airhart, Phyllis D., 1953- author.

Title

A church with the soul of a nation : making and remaking the United Church of Canada / Phyllis D. Airhart.

Publisher

Montréal & Kingston : McGill-Queen's University Press, [2014]

Copyright Date

©2014

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion. Series two ; 67

McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion. Series two ; 67.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-418) and index.

Additional Formats

Issued also in electronic format.

Other Form:

Airhart, Phyllis D. (Phyllis Diane), 1953-, author. Church with the soul of a nation. McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion. Series two McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion. Series two ; (CaOONL)20139058443

Research Call Number

JFE 15-5146