Faith on the Avenue

Abstract

Faith on the Avenue looks at just one street in one city—Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia—and the 80-90 communities of faith that are present on it. Sociologist Katie Day draws from her findings of a seven year study to argue that these religious communities are active agents in their local urban contexts, both shaping and being shaped by it. Far from being a benign presence, these congregations are engaging, and contributing to, the urban ecology in myriad ways and to varying degrees. Their agency, analyzed by this study, is captured in vivid images by photographer Edd Conboy. Through both quantitative and ethnographic research, Day analyzes the religious presence of historic churches, small independent Latino and African American congregations, mosques, mega churches and syncretized religious groups within the urban context with a critical clarity, insight and appreciation. For over 300 years, communities of faith along Germantown Avenue have provided spatial and cultural anchors to their neighborhoods, formal and informal human services, subtle contributions to safety and quality of life, bases of social boundary transcendence, and acted as vehicles for establishing identity for new arrivals to the city. This book can change the way faith communities in urban areas are seen by policy makers, students and researchers of cities, and religious institutions themselves.

Photo Elicitation and the Visual Sociology of Religion

“…The absence of these methods is curious given the visual and material nature of religion and spirituality in the contemporary world. Houses of worship, for example, of all types dot the social landscape (Vergara 2005; Richter 2007; Krieger 2011; Day 2014). The visual permeates religious culture (Morgan and Promey 2001) and images of religion are present throughout popular culture (Nardella 2012).…”

Converted Structures: Exploring Material Expressions of the Sacred and Secular

“…It is important to note that this is not the first time that some types of conversions articulated in this study have been identified; some have already been the focal point of much of the extant research on converted structures. For example, the storefront church (secular form, mixed function) has been extensively explored and documented by Vergara (2005), Day (2014), Krieger (2011), and many others. So, too, the luxury loft (mixed form, secular function) has captured the attention of Mian (2008), Hackworth and Gullikson (2013), Lynch (2014; 2016), and more.…”

“…Scholarly work on sacred-to-secular and secular-to-sacred building conversions has, thus far, focused on case studies of isolated conversions and sets of conversions in a particular city (Day 2014; Krause 2008; Krieger 2011; Lynch 2016; Mian 2008). As a result, we know that this phenomenon is occurring, but nobody knows the prevalence or the locations of these conversions.…”

“…Secular spaces may also be perceived as “spiritually neutral,” and, in Wilford's (2012) words, “liturgically lite”—in other words, these are flexible spaces free from former religious practices seen as incongruent with the congregations’ own. As Day (2014) notes, the people and their practices make the space sacred—not objects or architecture. At the same time, secular forces influence congregations choosing to convert a secular site.…”