Description: In the conflicted world that is today's Episcopal Church, the diocese of Pittsburgh stands both as a symbol of dissent and schism to the liberal majority within the American Church and as a beacon of light and hope to conservative Anglicans across the United States. Set in the unlikely surroundings of America's Rust Belt, Pittsburgh's Episcopalians have over the past half century undergone a dramatic reordering of priorities to embrace a novel--though hardly unprecedented--vision of Anglican confessionalism. Called out of Darkness into Marvelous Light traces the development of an...

The early 1960s were a heady time for Catholic laypeople. Pope Pius XII's assurance "You do not belong to the Church. You are the Church" emboldened the laity to challenge Church authority in ways previously considered unthinkable. Empowering the People of God offers a fresh look at the Catholic laity and its relationship with the hierarchy in the period immediately preceding the Second Vatican Council and in the turbulent era that followed. This collection of essays explores a diverse assortment of manifestations of Catholic action, ranging from genteel reform to radical activism, and an...