- Description
- 1 online resource (xx, 440 pages) : illustrations.
- 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 ; no. 67
- Uniform Title
- Church with the soul of a nation (Online)
- Alternative Title
- Church with the soul of a nation (Online)
- Subject
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-418) and index.
- Access (note)
- Access restricted to authorized users.
- 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.
- LCCN
- 2014431485
- OCLC
- ssj0001150854
- Author
Airhart, Phyllis D., 1953-
- Title
A church with the soul of a nation [electronic resource] : making and remaking the United Church of Canada / Phyllis D. Airhart.
- Imprint
Montréal & Kingston ; London ; Ithaca : McGill-Queen's University Press, [2014]
- Series
McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion. Series two ; no. 67
- Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-418) and index.
- Access
Access restricted to authorized users.
- Additional Formats
Issued also in electronic format.
- Connect to:
- Chronological Term
1900 - 1999
- 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