All in Sync: How Music and Art Are Revitalizing American Religion

Contents

Contents List of Tables xi Preface xiii 1. A Puzzle: The Question of Religious Vitality 1 Explaining Religious Vitality 8 Rethinking the Conventional Wisdom 12 Are the Arts a Factor? 16 2. Contemporary Spirituality: Seeking the Sacred in an Era of Uncertainty 21 The Search for Spirituality 23 Practices with Roots 27 Involvement in a Religious Community 32 Devotion to a Tradition 39 Effort Devoted to Spiritual Growth 43 Practices with Results 47 Evangelicals, Mainliners, and Catholics 49 Summing Up 52 3. A Blending of Cultures: The Arts and Spirituality 56 Childhood Exposure to the Arts 59 Adult Participation in the Arts 60 Expressing Creativity 64 Self-Definition and Valuing the Arts 65 A Summary Measure 66 The Arts and Spirituality 68 Social Factors 72 Making the Connections 75 4. Personal Spirituality: Art and the Practice of Spiritual Discipline 79 Rediscovering Prayer 83 Spiritual Direction 93 Art and Discipline 103 Times of Trial 109 The Role of Groups 113 From Self to Service 122 The Arts and Devotional Life 130 5. The Joy of Worship: Expression and Tradition in Congregational Life 134 The Artistic Involvement of Church Members 137 What Churches Are Doing 142 Contemporary Worship 151 Liturgical Renewal 168 The Difference It Makes 179 6. Redeeming the Imagination: The Arts and Spiritual Virtue 183 What Americans Try to Imagine 185 Changing Meanings of the Imagination 189 The Imagination and Faith 192 The Imagination and Hope 198 The Imagination and Community 203 Encouraging the Imagination 209 7. The Morality Problem: Why Churches and Artists Disagree 213 Public Perceptions of the Arts 214 What Arts Leaders Think 224 Church Leaders’ Views 228 Evangelicals Talk about the Arts 230 Working Together? 234 8. The Artist in Everyone: Faithful Living in a Spiritual Democracy 236 The Arts as a Resource 236 A Spiritual Democracy? 238 Spiritual Formation 240 The Role of Leadership 244 Appendix: Methodology 249 Notes 261 Index 279 This page intentionally left blank ...