Becker, Penny Edgell. 1999. Congregations in Conflict: Cultural Models of Local Religious Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dodson, Jualynne E., and Cheryl Townsend Gilkes. 1995. “There’s Nothing Like Church Food.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 63:519-538.

Loveland, Anne C., and Otis B. Wheeler. 2003. From Meetinghouse to Megachurch: A Material and Cultural History. Columbia, Mo.: University of Missouri Press.

Pattillo-McCoy, Mary. 1998. “Church Culture as a Strategy of Action in the Black Community.” American Sociological Review 63:767-784.

Warner, R. Stephen. 1997. “Religion, Boundaries, and Bridges.” Sociology of Religion 58:217-238.

A.    The Role of Ritual & Worship

Ducey, Michael. 1977. Sunday Morning: Aspects of Urban Ritual. New York: Free Press.

Marini, Stephen A. 2003. Sacred Song in America: Religion, Music, and Public Culture. Champaign, IL.: University of Illinois Press.

Nelson, Timothy J. 1996. “Sacrifice of Praise: Emotion and Collective Participation in an African-American Worship Service.” Sociology of Religion 57:379-396.

Scharen, Christian. 2004. Public Worship and Public Work: Character and commitment in Local Congregational Life. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.

Wuthnow, Robert. 2003. All in Sync: How Music and Art are Revitalizing American Religion. Berkeley, Cal.: University of California Press.

B.    Theology in and on the Congregation

Arbuckle, Gerald A. S. M. 1990. Earthing the Gospel: An Inculturation Handbook: Orbis.

Browning, Donald S. 1991. A Fundamental Practical Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress.

Gustafson, James M. 1961. Treasure in Earthen Vessels. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Nieman, James. 2002. “Attending Locally: Theologies in Congregations.” International Journal of Practical Theology 6.

Percy, Martyn. 2001. The Salt of the Earth: Religious Resilience in a Secular Age. London: Sheffield Academic Press.

Schreiter, Robert J. 1985. Constructing Local Theologies. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis.

C.    Internal Cultural Diversity

1.     Race and Ethnicity

Day, Katie. 2001. Difficult Conversations: Taking Risks, Acting with Integrity. Silver Spring, Md.: The Alban Institute.

DeYoung, Curtiss, Michael O. Emerson, George Yancey, and Karen J. Chai. 2003. United by Faith: Multiracial Congregations as a Response to the Racial Divide. New York: Oxford University Press.

Emerson, Michael O., and Christian Smith. 2000. Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America. New York: Oxford University Press.

Foster, Charles R., and Theodore Brelsford. 1996. We Are the Church Together: Cultural Diversity in Congregational Life. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International.

Hawn, C. Michael. 2003. One Bread, One Body: Exploring Cultural Diversity in Worship. Bethesda, Md.: The Alban Institute.

Marti, Gerardo. 2005. A Mosaic of Believers. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Wood, Richard L. 2002. Faith in Action: Religion, Race, and Democratic Organizing in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

2.     Gender

Ammerman, Nancy Tatom, and Wade Clark Roof (Eds.). 1995. Work, Family, and Religion in Contemporary Society. New York: Routledge.

Davie, Jodie Shapiro. 1995. Women in the presence : constructing community and seeking spirituality in mainline Protestantism. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Gilkes, Cheryl Townsend. 2001. “If It Wasn’t for the Women…”: Black Women’s Experience and Womanist Culture in Church and Community. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books.

Gillespie, Joanna Bowen. 1995. Women Speak: Of God, Congregations and Change. Valley Forge, Penn.: Trinity Press International.

Winter, Miriam Therese, Adair Lummis, and Allison Stokes. 1994. Defecting in Place: Women Claiming Responsibility for their own Spiritual Lives. New York: Crossroad.

3.     Social Class

Niebuhr, H. Richard. 1929. The Social Sources of Denominationalism. New York: World Publishing.

Pope, Liston. 1942. Millhands and Preachers. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Sample, Tex. 1996. White Soul: Country Music, the Church and Working Americans. Nashville: Abingdon.

Wuthnow, Robert. 2002. “Religious Involvement and Status-Bridging Social Capital.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 41:669-684.

4.     Sexuality

Hartman, Keith. 1998. Congregations in Conflict: The Battle Over Homosexuality. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Moon, Dawne. 2004. God, Sex, and Politics: Homosexuality and Everyday Theologies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Wilcox, Melissa M. 2003. Coming Out in Christianity: Religion, Identity, and Community. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press.