Appalachian Churchscapes: The Case of Menifee County, Kentucky

Christian churches form part of the American cultural landscape, and their construction and reconstruction is a circular process. Belief, attitude, and intentionality (behavior) produce the churchscape, or church landscape, an icon, which in turn influences beliefs, attitudes, and intentionality in the next users. The features of this icon vary widely, but evangelical denominational churches, mission churches, and Appalachian Mountain churches tend to follow certain themes or styles. In Menifee County, Kentucky, Appalachian Mountain churches, which have been marginalized in the study of American religion, exist in close proximity to mainstream evangelical denominational and mission churches, exhibiting these contrasts within a small geographical area.