A church with the soul of a nation : making and remaking the United Church of Canada /
Airhart, Phyllis D. 1953-
A church with the soul of a nation : making and remaking the United Church of Canada / Making and remaking the United Church of Canada Phyllis D. Airhart. - 1 online resource (xx, 440 pages) : illustrations, portraits - McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion. Series two ; no. 67 . - McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion. Series two ; no. 67. .
Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-418) and index.
Cover; McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion; Copyright; Contents; Figures and Tables; Abbreviations; Prologue; 1 -- "Friendly Service" to the Nation; 2 -- Controversy and the Construction of Identity; 3 -- The Mission and the "Machinery"; 4 -- The Search for a Faith for Sociable Souls; 5 -- Christian Canada in a "New World Order"; 6 -- Calling Postwar Canada to Christ; 7 -- Uncoupling Christianity and Culture in Canada; 8 -- Listening to the World; 9 -- Reconceiving the United Church; Epilogue; Acknowledgments; Notes; Index.
""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.
English.
9780773589292 0773589295 9780773589308 0773589309
10.1515/9780773589292 doi
DF17455C-3A0F-47A1-92B6-6C460C2D96EC OverDrive, Inc. http://www.overdrive.com 22573/ctt31knjm JSTOR
2014431485
20139058435 016536962 Uk
United Church of Canada--History--20th century.
United Church of Canada
1900-1999
RELIGION--Christianity--Methodist.
RELIGION--History.
Canada--Church history--20th century.
Canada--Histoire religieuse--20e siècle.
Canada
Electronic books.
Church history
History
BX9881 / .A47 2014eb
287.9/20904
A church with the soul of a nation : making and remaking the United Church of Canada / Making and remaking the United Church of Canada Phyllis D. Airhart. - 1 online resource (xx, 440 pages) : illustrations, portraits - McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion. Series two ; no. 67 . - McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion. Series two ; no. 67. .
Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-418) and index.
Cover; McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion; Copyright; Contents; Figures and Tables; Abbreviations; Prologue; 1 -- "Friendly Service" to the Nation; 2 -- Controversy and the Construction of Identity; 3 -- The Mission and the "Machinery"; 4 -- The Search for a Faith for Sociable Souls; 5 -- Christian Canada in a "New World Order"; 6 -- Calling Postwar Canada to Christ; 7 -- Uncoupling Christianity and Culture in Canada; 8 -- Listening to the World; 9 -- Reconceiving the United Church; Epilogue; Acknowledgments; Notes; Index.
""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.
English.
9780773589292 0773589295 9780773589308 0773589309
10.1515/9780773589292 doi
DF17455C-3A0F-47A1-92B6-6C460C2D96EC OverDrive, Inc. http://www.overdrive.com 22573/ctt31knjm JSTOR
2014431485
20139058435 016536962 Uk
United Church of Canada--History--20th century.
United Church of Canada
1900-1999
RELIGION--Christianity--Methodist.
RELIGION--History.
Canada--Church history--20th century.
Canada--Histoire religieuse--20e siècle.
Canada
Electronic books.
Church history
History
BX9881 / .A47 2014eb
287.9/20904