We Shall Not Be Moved: Methodists Debate Race, Gender, and Homosexuality

Nickell, Jane Ellen (Author)

ISBN 10: 1498227430 / ISBN 13: 9781498227438

Published by Pickwick Publications, 2014

About this Item

218 pages. 6.00x0.56x9.00 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # x-1498227430

Bibliographic Details

• Title: We Shall Not Be Moved: Methodists Debate Race, Gender, and Homosexuality
• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1498227430
• ISBN 13: 9781498227438
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.46 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

As Protestant denominations are fracturing over whether to ordain gays and lesbians, this work looks at The United Methodist Church's conversations about the issue, in light of Methodism's historic contests over the leadership of African Americans and women, to see what can be learned from these earlier periods of change. Using the uniform context of the Methodist General Conference, where denominational policy is set, the book analyzes transcripts of floor debates in key years of these struggles, letting those who argued for and against the changes speak for themselves. Those arguments are read through the lens of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, whose theory offers a sophisticated model that goes deeper than simple "resistance to change" in articulating a dialectic between social structures and agents that predisposes both to reproduce existing power relationships. This interdisciplinary, historical study seeks to move beyond conscious motivations for the exclusion of these three groups and uncover deeply embedded, misrecognized social dynamics. In exploring these groups' stories, this book examines who holds power in Methodist churches, how changes in authority structures occur, and why it is such a long and painful process.

About the Author

Jane Ellen Nickell teaches religious studies and serves as chaplain at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania.