Living faith
Subtitle: everyday religion and mothers in poverty
By: Susan Crawford Sullivan
Series: Morality and society series; Morality and society
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Chicago; London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9780226781600; 9780226781617
Subjects: Religion and social problems; Religious aspects; Women and religion; Parenting; Religious life; Church work with women; Low-income mothers; Church work with the poor
Description: "Scholars have made urban mothers living in poverty a focus of their research for decades. These women's lives can be difficult as they go about searching for housing and decent jobs and struggling to care for their children while surviving on welfare or working at low-wage service jobs and sometimes facing physical or mental health problems. But until now little attention has been paid to an important force in these women's lives: religion.

"Based on in-depth interviews with women and pastors, Susan Crawford Sullivan presents poor mothers' often overlooked views. Recruited from a variety of social service programs, most of the women do not attend religious services, due to logistical challenges or because they feel stigmatized and unwanted at church. Yet, she discovers, religious faith often plays a strong role in their lives as they contend with and try to make sense of the challenges they face. Supportive religious congregations prove important for women who are involved, she finds, but understanding everyday religion entails exploring beyond formal religious organizations.

"Offering a sophisticated analysis of how faith both motivates and at times constrains poor mothers' actions, Living Faith reveals the ways it serves as a lens through which many view and interpret their worlds."-- Publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Listening to poor mothers about religion; title: Building blocks: theory, religious practices, and churches; title: "God made somebody think of welfare reform": religion, welfare, and work; title: "I send him to church with my mother": religion and parenting; title: "God has a plan": making meaning; title: "I don't get to church anymore": capacity, stigma and exit, and religious; title: Individualism; title: The church in the city: impressions from urban pastors; title: Everyday religion and mothers in poverty.