While others lament the declining attendance of mainline churches and blame it on an out-of-date tradition, Jackson Carroll offers a more hopeful perspective, arguing that they key to future vitality can be found in the same tradition. According to Carroll, the tension between tradition and change has always been part of the Protestant heritage, and he argues that now is a time when being faithful requires adaptation.

This essential work focuses on reclaiming a healthy understanding of authority in the church by reviewing the meaning of clergy authority and examining how this authority has been used and abused. Jackson Carroll asks how a sense of clergy authority might be recovered--one that honors shared ministry among clergy and lay leaders while it appreciates the distinctive tasks of each clergyperson.

This book takes a novel, cultural approach to studying mainline denominations, focusing on the denominations' religious and moral vision--the beliefs, values, symbols, stories, and style that make a denomination distinct. Of special concern are the ways in which denominations passed on their vision and how they maintained plausibility under changing circumstances. Contributors include a variety of authors, historians, sociologists, anthropologists, educators, and liturgists who examine ways in which denominations have sought to transmit their culture with varying degrees of success or...