SACRED CIRCLES, PUBLIC SQUARES the polis center series on religion and urban culture David J. Bodenhamer and Arthur E. Farnsley II, editors SACRED CIRCLES PUBLIC SQUARES The Multicentering of American Religion Arthur E. Farnsley II, N. J. Demerath III, Etan Diamond, Mary L. Mapes, Elfriede Wedam indiana university press bloomington and indianapolis This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA http://iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail
[email protected] ∫ 2004 by The Polis Center All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sacred circles, public squares : the multicentering of American religion / Arthur E. Farnsley II . . . [et al.]. p. cm. — (The Polis Center series on religion and urban culture) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-253-34472-7 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Indianapolis (Ind.)—Religion. I. Farnsley, Arthur Emery. II. Series. BL2527.I6S23 2004 200%.9772%52—dc22 2004009430 1 2 3 4 5 09 08 07 06 05 04 CONTENTS preface and acknowledgments vii 1. introduction 1 2. the circle city on the plains 15 3. religious civility, civil religion 46 4. religious traditions diversified and domesticated 76 5. types and tensions of congregational life 113 6. back home again: religion in the neighborhoods 150 7. conclusion: religion and urban culture 188 notes 211 bibliography 221 contributors 227 index 229 PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Sacred Circles, Public Squares is the capstone of the Project on Religion and Urban Culture (PRUC), which was housed at The Polis Center on the Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis campus. The PRUC was a multiyear, multimillion-dollar attempt to engage the city of Indianapolis in a public conversation about religion’s role in the city. Along the way, the project produced seven books, four of which are included in this Indiana University Press series. In addition to the present volume, Arthur E. Farnsley II’s Rising Expectations: Urban Congregations, Welfare Reform and Civic Life and Etan Diamond’s Souls of the City: Religion and the Search for Community in Postwar America hav