2015 Smith/Wynkoop Book Award presented by the Wesleyan Theological Society
2014 Choice Outstanding Academic Title
During the Progessive Era, a period of unprecedented ingenuity, women evangelists built the old time religion with brick and mortar, uniforms and automobiles, fresh converts and devoted protégés. Across America, entrepreneurial women founded churches, denominations, religious training schools, rescue homes, rescue missions, and evangelistic organizations. Until now, these intrepid women have gone largely unnoticed, though their collective yet unchoreographed decision to build institutions in the service of evangelism marked a seismic shift in American Christianity.
In this ground-breaking study, Priscilla Pope-Levison dusts off the unpublished letters, diaries, sermons, and yearbooks of these pioneers to share their personal tribulations and public achievements. The effect is staggering. With an uncanny eye for essential details and a knack for historical nuance, Pope-Levison breathes life into not just one or two of these women—but two dozen.
Priscilla Pope-Levison is Associate Dean for External Programs at the Perkins School of Theology in Southern Methodist University. Her previous books include Sex, Gender, and Christianity; Turn the Pulpit Loose: Two Centuries of American Women Evangelists; Return to Babel: Global Perspectives on the Bible; Jesus in Global Contexts; and Evangelization in a Liberation Perspective.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments Introduction: Converted, Called, Commissioned: A Phalanx of Institution Builders 1. Tents, Autos, Gospel Grenades: Evangelistic Organizations 2. Mothers, Saints, Bishops: Churches and Denominations 3. Biblical, Practical, Vocational: Religious Training Schools 4. Soap, Soup, Salvation: Rescue Homes and Rescue Missions Conclusion Appendix: Evangelists and Institutions Notes Bibliography Index of Names and Subjects Index of Scripture References About the Author
