From Piety to Professionalism D and Back?
Transformations of Organized Religious Virtuosity
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Lexington Books
Published:22nd Mar '06
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Only in recent centuries have Catholic and Protestant women begun the practice of creating formal groups for the express purpose of operating schools, hospitals, and the like. Yet, there is evidence that this period of active organizational involvement may already be coming to an end. The resulting effect of denominational groups losing their institutional identities has been greatly overlooked in past research. Wittberg aims to redress this omission in this noteworthy work. From Piety to Professionalism D and Back? argues that the dissolution of institutional ties has greatly affected denominations D especially specific denominational subgroups such as Catholic religious orders, Protestant deaconesses, or women's missionary societies D in profoundly important ways: shifting or obliterating their recruitment bases, altering the backgrounds and expectations of their leaders, and often causing fundamental transformations in the very identity and culture of the groups themselves. Using the theoretical lens of organizational sociology, Wittberg has created an important and engaging work that will appeal to scholars of sociology and religion.
This carefully researched study compares the struggles and accomplishments of Catholic religious, Protestant deaconesses and women's missionary societies, and finds remarkable parallels which might even surprise them. The combined impact of these ministries is yet to be fully recognized or appreciated. -- Barbara E. Campbell, Deaconess, Retired staff of United Methodist Women's Division
...From Piety to Professionalism...provides a rich, well-researched addition to the literature on the dynamic between faith communitites and their nonprofits... [Wittberg's] careful and extensive interweaving of history, secondary sources, other research, and her own work provides an outstanding example for other scholars to follow. -- Jo Anne Schneider * Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Voluntary Sector Quarterly *
This is a particularly apt and thorough contribution to the literature on faith-based social outreach....This is a fascinating insider's account of what it is like to do noble work for the institution Church now, and increasingly, for its own sake. * Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review, December 2008 *
Rarely does a book apply cutting edge theory to real-life organizational challenges with the insights and power of this book. For readers interested in the rise and decline of organizations, it provides vivid case studies of organizations of religious virtuosos that defined the life of their denominations for a time only to face decline in the contemporary era. For those within these organizations who are struggling to chart their future, the book is 'must' reading. -- Helen Rose Ebaugh, University of Houston
ISBN: 9780739113783
Dimensions: 228mm x 158mm x 25mm
Weight: 531g
360 pages