August 5, 2004 | Read Time: 1 minute
Saving America? Faith-Based Services and the Future of Civil Society
by Robert Wuthnow
This book presents data about how congregations and other religious organizations provide social services. Drawing on his own research and other national studies, Robert Wuthnow, a professor of sociology and director of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University, describes how the efforts of these organizations affect civil society. He also discusses how this data can inform the debate about government financing of religious service providers.
Mr. Wuthnow says that congregations often have informal ways of helping needy people — by using sermons to encourage members to assist others, for example. However, he says that generally the work that congregations do best — establishing what he refers to as “caring communities” — cannot be subsidized by government grants.
On the other hand, Mr. Wuthnow says that service organizations with religious connections function as well as secular nonprofit groups and therefore should not be discriminated against in receiving government financing. In a study of social-services clients in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, the author says that secular and religious organizations were rated as similarly effective and trustworthy.
The book also discusses what types of services religious groups provide, how faith is expressed by these organizations, and demographic information about people who seek out social services with a spiritual component.
Publisher: Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, N.J. 08540; (609) 258-4900; http://pup.princeton.edu; 352 pages; $29.95; I.S.B.N. 0-691-11926-0.
