1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910813178503321

Autore

Elisha Omri <1972->

Titolo

Moral ambition [[electronic resource] ] : mobilization and social outreach in evangelical megachurches / / Omri Elisha

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley [Calif.], : University of California Press, 2011

ISBN

0-520-95054-2

1-283-27860-X

9786613278609

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (277 p.)

Collana

The anthropology of Christianity ; ; 12

Disciplina

253.09768/09045

Soggetti

Big churches

Church work

Missions

Church and social problems

Evangelicalism - Tennessee

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- Awaking sleeping giants -- A region in spite of itself -- The names of action -- The spiritual injuries of class -- Compassion accounts -- Taking the (inner) city for God -- Epilogue.

Sommario/riassunto

In this evocative ethnography, Omri Elisha examines the hopes, frustrations, and activist strategies of American evangelical Christians as they engage socially with local communities. Focusing on two Tennessee megachurches, Moral Ambition reaches beyond political controversies over issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and public prayer to highlight the ways that evangelicals at the grassroots of the Christian Right promote faith-based causes intended to improve the state of social welfare. The book shows how these ministries both help churchgoers embody religious virtues and create provocative new opportunities for evangelism on a public scale. Elisha challenges conventional views of U.S. evangelicalism as narrowly individualistic, elucidating instead the inherent contradictions that activists face in their efforts to reconcile religious conservatism with a renewed interest in compassion, poverty, racial justice, and urban revivalism.