Steven M. Tipton

Since the 2000 presidential election, debate over the role of religion in public life has followed a narrow course as pundits and politicians alike have focused on the influence wielded by conservative Christians. But what about more mainstream Christians? Here, Steven M. Tipton examines the political activities of Methodists and mainline churches in this groundbreaking investigation into a generation of denominational strife among church officials, lobbyists, and activists. The result is an unusually detailed and thoughtful account that upends common stereotypes while asking searching questions about the contested relationship between church and state. Documenting a wide range of reactions to two radically different events - the invasion of Iraq and the creation of the faith-based initiatives program - Tipton charts the new terrain of religious and moral argument under the Bush administration from Pat Robertson to Jim Wallis. He then turns to the case of the United Methodist Church, of which President Bush is a member, to uncover the twentieth-century history of their political advocacy, culminating in current threats to split the Church between liberal peace-and-justice activists and crusaders for evangelical renewal. "Public Pulpits" balances the firsthand drama of this internal account with a meditative exploration of the wider social impact that mainline churches have had in a time of diverging fortunes and diminished dreams of progress. An eminently fair-minded and ethically astute analysis of how churches keep moral issues alive in politics, "Public Pulpits" delves deep into mainline Protestant efforts to enlarge civic conscience and cast clearer light on the commonweal and offers a masterly overview of public religion in America.

Why are so many Americans leaving church? Half no longer belong to a congregation. A quarter now say they are unchurched, up from one in six a decade ago and one in twelve a generation ago, led by more than a third of young adults. Where have they gone, and what are they doing instead? What moves them? What should we make of it? What can we learn as well from those who have stayed or returned, and from congregations that have sparked their continuing commitment or renewed participation?After decades of drift and several long years of grievous pandemic that shut church doors and crowded the internet, the time has come to weigh these questions more closely and answer them more carefully. We need to open a keener moral inquiry into the arc of spiritual change in America. We need to probe a thicker cultural account of intergenerational religious influence and inspiration that we practice today in forms of ritual action, sacred expression, and moral community that reach far beyond the pews.In and Out of Church tackles these tasks. It’s a book voiced by spiritually attuned, morally articulate young adults adrift from the churches and temples of their childhood yet immersed in currents of spiritual practice and imagination now shifting the shape and course of American religion. In heartfelt dialogue with their baby-boom parents these Millennials ponder how and why they got here in terms that open up and deepen the “spiritual but not religious” story sketched by surveys of “religious nones.” This book brings these numbers to life and makes moral sense of this story of individuals leaving church by setting it within the larger cultural drama of modern multiplex society and quicksilver selfhood in search of authentic fulfillment in caring community. It takes the reader inside a mushrooming megachurch in Silicon Valley and three thriving mainline congregations in Atlanta to see how they reach out to unchurched young adults and hold onto their own as they come of age by “putting belonging before believing and behaving.” They lift up spiritual experience above creed and code, and they challenge conventions of “organized religion” in ways that many “spiritual and religious” churchgoers have now come to embrace.

Why are so many Americans leaving church? Half no longer belong to a congregation. A quarter now say they are unchurched, up from one in six a decade ago and one in twelve a generation ago, led by more than a third of young adults. Where have they gone, and what are they doing instead? What moves them? What should we make of it? What can we learn as well from those who have stayed or returned, and from congregations that have sparked their continuing commitment or renewed participation?After decades of drift and several long years of grievous pandemic that shut church doors and crowded the internet, the time has come to weigh these questions more closely and answer them more carefully. We need to open a keener moral inquiry into the arc of spiritual change in America. We need to probe a thicker cultural account of intergenerational religious influence and inspiration that we practice today in forms of ritual action, sacred expression, and moral community that reach far beyond the pews.In and Out of Church tackles these tasks. It’s a book voiced by spiritually attuned, morally articulate young adults adrift from the churches and temples of their childhood yet immersed in currents of spiritual practice and imagination now shifting the shape and course of American religion. In heartfelt dialogue with their baby-boom parents these Millennials ponder how and why they got here in terms that open up and deepen the “spiritual but not religious” story sketched by surveys of “religious nones.” This book brings these numbers to life and makes moral sense of this story of individuals leaving church by setting it within the larger cultural drama of modern multiplex society and quicksilver selfhood in search of authentic fulfillment in caring community. It takes the reader inside a mushrooming megachurch in Silicon Valley and three thriving mainline congregations in Atlanta to see how they reach out to unchurched young adults and hold onto their own as they come of age by “putting belonging before believing and behaving.” They lift up spiritual experience above creed and code, and they challenge conventions of “organized religion” in ways that many “spiritual and religious” churchgoers have now come to embrace.

What must we do to make our dreams come true? What can we do together to keep the promise of the American Dream? What should we do when so many of us have saved so little? Retirement not only offers a time to rest from our labors and relax with family and friends--to travel, play, and have fun--but it beckons us to find our true calling in action, peace of mind in reflection, the spirit moving in the moment of each day, and the grace of God in prayer and love of neighbor.The Life to Come: Re-Creating Retirement is sure to engage anyone who reads it... see how carefully Tipton avoids the impersonal and clich versions of advice-giving. Whoever reads this book will be introduced or reintroduced to experts, whose work bears on reflecting on "the life to come," including how to address and master many of the arts of living in retirement...This book is not about the "care of the very aged," but about facing and growing into retirement...readers will be better prepared for waking up to tomorrow, which means "living that life worth living." --from the foreword by Martin E. Marty

First published in 1985, "Habits of the Heart" continues to be one of the most discussed interpretations of modern American society, a quest for a democratic community that draws on our diverse civic and religious traditions. In a new preface the authors relate the arguments of the book both to the current realities of American society and to the growing debate about the country's future. With this new edition one of the most influential books of recent times takes on a new immediacy.