Grant us courage
Subtitle: travels along the mainline of American Protestantism
By: Randall Balmer.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: New York; Oxford
Language: eng
Number of pages: 154
Subjects: Liberalism (Religion) -- United States -- History -- 20th century.; Liberalism (Religion) -- Protestant churches -- History -- 20th century.; Protestant churches -- United States -- History -- 20th century.; United States -- Church history -- 20th century.
Other titles: The Christian century.
Description: Balmer crisscrosses America to give us a first-hand look at how Christianity has fared in the last half-century. What emerges is a church challenged by diminished influence, but with signs of hope for the future.

For instance, he takes us to West Hartford, Connecticut, where we learn how a gregarious pastor, Bob Heppenstall, rekindled the spirit of the First Church of Christ Congregational - still housed in its stately, classic New England meetinghouse - that had suffered from inept management until recent years. And in Ames, Iowa, at the Collegiate United Methodist Church, we watch George White struggle to regain his church's once dominant voice in the religious life of the town, a voice now dimmed by the growth of fundamentalism. Some churches have held steadfastly to long-established roles, such as Washington Prairie Lutheran Church, in Decorah, Iowa, which has been a model of continuity, serving its Norwegian-American community in much the same way since it was founded in 1851.

And Balmer also visits some thriving churches, such as Hollywood's First Presbyterian Church, led by the great preacher John Lloyd Ogilvie, who was recently appointed chaplain of the U.S. Senate. In Minneapolis, Balmer encounters Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, a congregation that has not only increased its membership, but can now call itself the biggest Lutheran church in the world.
Notes: Originally published in: The Christian century.

Includes bibliographical references and index.