Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life

University Of Chicago Press, 2008
ISBN 9780226804743
$35.00

This important new book by Steven Tipton, Professor of Sociology and Religion at Emory University and the Candler School of Theology, is critical reading for anyone interested in not only the public witness of the UMC, but in the role mainline Protestant churches play in shaping the social fabric of public moral discourse in American democracy. Tipton’s careful scholarship is both faithful and dispassionate. It calls for a renewed commitment to church as a place where Christians are formed as individuals and as a community to have voice in public discourse about public policy and in policy formation. And, having interviewed a wide range of “players” across ideological divides, Tipton’s broad perspective shines light on the current acrimonious, internecine warfare that is so unbecoming to the gospel message and injurious to its participants.

Public Pulpits is not primarily about preaching as the title might imply. Instead, the role of preaching is addressed within the larger context of how mainline Protestant churches—Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran and United Church of Christ—serve as “public church,” living out and embodying their faith “in public.” From President Bush’s speeches on the war in Iraq to issues of joblessness, health care, civil liberties, faith-based initiatives, tax policy, and so on, Tipton documents the church’s varied voices in the roles of conscience, prophetic witness, social advocate, service provider, by-stander, and would-be major player. Readers will greatly benefit from his behind-the-scenes interviews about the work of the denominations’ national agencies, as well as ecumenical bodies such as the NCCC and the Interfaith Alliance. Advocacy groups formed to counter the prophetic witness of the agencies, such as the Good News movement and the Institute on Religion and Democracy, are also examined.

Public Pulpits focuses on these issues within the life of the UMC, placing it first in a historical and cultural frame spanning the Founding Fathers, the Social Gospel movement, and the cultural disestablishment of American Protestantism in favor of new religious pluralism and wider communities of faith. Tipton examines the role of religious lobbies, efforts to mobilize church members, national advocacy and community organizing.

Tipton’s lines of inquiry are multi-layered: how do religious and political institutions shape the ways we think about ourselves and our society? How do these institutions shape our own moral experience and judgment? How do agencies develop and teach their social policy positions? How do the practices of not only national agencies but Sunday school and worship form the public perspective and voice of individuals, families, and congregations?

This brief review cannot do justice to the scope, depth and detail of Tipton’s work. Hopefully it will introduce this work to a wide-range of readers who care deeply about the public voice and witness of the church as well as the potentialities and limitations of its structures to carry out the task. This book will also engage readers who care passionately about critical issues of war and peace, economic justice, health, racial equality, and environmental stewardship and long for their church to be a voice of justice and compassion. It will be of interest to church historians and to all those who, as staff and volunteers, have been part of the shaping of the public face and voice of the church. And it should be required reading for Christian educators and preachers at the local level who carry both the privilege and the responsibility for the inward and outward formation of faithful disciples of every age.