Places of Faith: A Road Trip across America's Religious Landscape

by Christopher P. Scheitle, Roger Finke

Lavishly illustrated with over 100 color photographs, Places of Faith takes readers on a fascinating religious road trip. Christopher Scheitle and Roger Finke have crisscrossed America, visiting churches in small towns and rural areas, as well as the mega-churches, storefronts, synagogues, Islamic centers, Eastern temples, and other places of faith in major cities. Each stop on their tour provides an opportunity to introduce a particular current of American religion. Memphis serves as a window into the Black Church, a visit to Colorado Springs provides insight into evangelicalism, and a stop in Detroit sheds light on American Muslims. Readers visit Hare Krishnas in San Francisco, the Amish in central Pennsylvania, and a "cowboy church" in Amarillo, Texas. As the authors journey across the country, they retell unique religious histories and touch on local religious profiles and trends. They draw from conversations they had with pastors, imams, bishops, priests, and monks, along
with ordinary believers of all kinds. Most of all, they tell the reader what they saw and heard, putting a human face on America's astounding religious diversity.

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 17, 2012

Reviews

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up when I saw it on a display at the local public library. It sounded right up my alley, and I was correct. Two religion scholars embarked on a road trip to visit and share about places of faith across the United States. Visiting a diversity of religious communities and geographical places, this book gave a taste of faith across America. I appreciated very much the reading lists that gave more opportunities to learn and context for their exploration. Two of my drawbacks for the book - it is written like this is the long-term landscape of faith in the US. In some cases, yes, that is right. But in others, in just 10 years, the organizations and congregations they visited are completely different because of massive social shifts. So it was like reading a history book about what faith has looked like in America in the past, but without acknowledging that particular time and place that was already rapidly changing. And second, while the quick introduction was nice, it left me wanting more depth about the communities they were covering (again, with appreciation for the opportunity to continue reading and researching on my own based on their provided reading lists).

[Ami · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two religion/sociology professors go on a cross-country road trip to look at the "religious geography" of the United States. Each chapter focuses on a different city, with a type of congregation/denomination/sect/religion that's found there. At the end of each chapter is a smaller section of a completely different place, maybe one on which they didn't have enough material for a whole chapter. I was a bit irked by two of the photos in the chapter on Judaism which appeared to be stealth photos of Hasidic men from the back. It was kind of, "Hey, honey, look, a Hasidic man!" But other than that, a pretty interesting glance at Mormons in Utah, megachurches in Texas, "parachurch" organizations in Colorado Springs, the diversity between San Franciso's Chinese- and Japanese-American Buddhist temples, the Hare Krishnas, Detroit's largest mosque in America, and more.

[Joey Dye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good overview of religion in America. This isn't a book for pithy insights into doctrine or theology. But if you are interested in the relationship between immigration, migration, and religion then this is an excellent book. Some stops in the book are obvious: Salt Lake City (Mormons) and New York (Judaism). Others stops are a bit surprising: Detroit.
For people looking for demographic/historical information about America's religious landscape, this is a great book to start with.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable enough as far as it goes. It would have been nice to have a little more analysis or a broader selection. What's here is fine, but it feels like there was much left out. See more comments at: Sects and Violence in the Ancient World.

[David Corleto-Bales · Rating 5 out of 5]

A highly interesting book about "centers of faith" nationwide, from Islamic mosques, Evangelical churches, Buddhist temples and the Mormons in Utah. Great photographs and background information, very readable.