Christianity in Appalachia: Profiles in Regional Pluralism

Rating:
Summary: BELIEVERS IN THE HILLS
Review: Into the hills and hollows of Appalachia this book travels to examine the faith of the hill-folk. Written primarily by academics, the contributors are familiar with mountain people and their Christian beliefs. The plurality of the region's faith is emphasized with some contributors searching for a common "mountain religion". From serpent-handlers to double predestinationists, Appalachia is a patchwork quilt, inwhich low church traditions predominate. The low church traditions differ perhaps from other regions of America in that here these traditions are divided up into schisms and sub-schisms. Mainline denominations are included but their relative lack of success with the hill-folk makes their story less interesting. For myself, I found the mountain Baptist and Pentecostal churches by far the most intriquing. In particular the chapters on the Old Time Baptists by Howard Dorgan, Serpent-Handlers by Mary Lee Daughtery, and the Profile of the Church of God by Donald N. Bowdle are worth the price of the book. Some of the other contributors are a bit dry, getting bogged down in denominational minutia and programs rather than describing the people and their faith. In that respect, the book is somewhat like gold mining: a lot of ore, but the nuggets are so worth all the work. As a farmer, I enjoyed the chapter on the "tobacco churches" by Poage. If you love the Southern Appalachians as I do, and are intrigued by its people, you will enjoy this book. The mountain people who are sometimes condescendingly seen as simple, are here portrayed as genuine, sincere zealous seekers of God. With the homogenization of America through mass media(yes, there are satellite dishes in Appalachia), one wonders how much longer the "mountain religion" will remain relatively unchanged. As Samuel S. Hill states in the last chapter, these people are not "frozen in time". But, on an optimistic note, perhaps the mountain people with no quest to be "up to date"(like, for example those in Mainline Protestantism), will continue to remain relatively unchanged, and ironically these premoderns will have something relevant to teach us in the postmodern world.

Rating:
Summary: BELIEVERS IN THE HILLS
Review: Into the hills and hollows of Appalachia this book travels to examine the faith of the hill-folk. Written primarily by academics, the contributors are familiar with mountain people and their Christian beliefs. The plurality of the region's faith is emphasized with some contributors searching for a common "mountain religion". From serpent-handlers to double predestinationists, Appalachia is a patchwork quilt, inwhich low church traditions predominate. The low church traditions differ perhaps from other regions of America in that here these traditions are divided up into schisms and sub-schisms. Mainline denominations are included but their relative lack of success with the hill-folk makes their story less interesting. For myself, I found the mountain Baptist and Pentecostal churches by far the most intriquing. In particular the chapters on the Old Time Baptists by Howard Dorgan, Serpent-Handlers by Mary Lee Daughtery, and the Profile of the Church of God by Donald N. Bowdle are worth the price of the book. Some of the other contributors are a bit dry, getting bogged down in denominational minutia and programs rather than describing the people and their faith. In that respect, the book is somewhat like gold mining: a lot of ore, but the nuggets are so worth all the work. As a farmer, I enjoyed the chapter on the "tobacco churches" by Poage. If you love the Southern Appalachians as I do, and are intrigued by its people, you will enjoy this book. The mountain people who are sometimes condescendingly seen as simple, are here portrayed as genuine, sincere zealous seekers of God. With the homogenization of America through mass media(yes, there are satellite dishes in Appalachia), one wonders how much longer the "mountain religion" will remain relatively unchanged. As Samuel S. Hill states in the last chapter, these people are not "frozen in time". But, on an optimistic note, perhaps the mountain people with no quest to be "up to date"(like, for example those in Mainline Protestantism), will continue to remain relatively unchanged, and ironically these premoderns will have something relevant to teach us in the postmodern world.