The Invisible Caring Hand : : American Congregations and the Provision of Welfare / / Ram Cnaan.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter New York University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Cnaan, Ram,
• MitwirkendeR: Cnaan, Ram A.,; DiIulio, John J.,
• TeilnehmendeR: DiIulio, John.
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [2002]; ©2002
• Year of Publication: 2002
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

Popular calls to transform our current welfare system and supplant it with effective and inexpensive faith-based providers are gaining political support and engendering heated debate about the separation of church and state. Yet we lack concrete information from which to anticipate how such initiatives might actually work if adopted. Despite the assumption that congregations can help many needy people in our society, it remains to be seen how extensive they wish their involvement to be, or if they have the necessary tools to become significant providers in the social service arena. Moreover, how will such practices, which will move faith-based organizations towards professionalization, ultimately affect the spirit of volunteerism now prevalent in America's religious institutions? We lack sufficient knowledge about congregational life and its ability to play a key role in social service provision. The Invisible Caring Hand attempts to fill that void. Based on in-depth interviews with clergy and lay leaders in 251 congregations nationwide, it reveals the many ways in which congregations are already working, beneath the radar, to care for people in need. This ground-breaking volume will provide much-sought empirical data to social scientists, religious studies scholars, and those involved in the debates over the role of faith-based organizations in faith-based services, as well as to clergy and congregation members themselves.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- I. An Overview of Congregations -- 1 Congregations in Society -- 2 The Historical Development of American Congregations -- II Congregations Involvement: Empirical Findings -- 3 The Congregations in Our Study -- 4 Congregational Involvement I: Areas of Involvement -- 5 Congregational Involvement II: Characteristics of Service and Financial Value -- 6 Which Congregations Tend to Get Involved -- 7 Comparing Neighbors: Canada and the U.S.A. -- III Congregations for Society: Additional Studies -- 8 Small-Town Congregations: The Case of Council Grove, Kansas -- 9 Mediating Structures: The Greater New Orleans Federation of Churches -- 10 Social Ministry in the Community: The Case of St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church and Urban Bridges -- IV Concluding Remarks -- 11 Volunteerism and Organized Religion -- 12 Why and How Congregations Get Involved in Service Delivery -- 13 The Congregational Norm of Community Involvement -- 14 The Broader Perspective: Congregations for Society and Beyond -- Appendix: Methodological Notes -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author