Grant us courage travels along the mainline of American Protestantism - Balmer, Randall Herbert (Oxford University Press, 1996)
Includes bibliographical references and index
The sum of its parts : First Community Church -- Against the odds : Washington Prairie Lutheran Church -- By the numbers : First United Methodist Church -- The burden of history : First Church of Christ Congregational -- Urban lighthouse : First Presbyterian Church -- Holding true : Trinity Lutheran Church -- "Creek bank" theology : Bellevue Baptist Church -- Campus life : Collegiate United Methodist Church -- Birthright church : First United Church of Christ -- Coming home : Olive Chapel Baptist Church -- Road to recovery : First Presbyterian Church -- Some kind of magic : Mount Olivet Lutheran Church
A sequel to the author's successful Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory (OUP 1989), this book consists of twelve profiles of "great" mainline churches. Commissioned by The Christian Century magazine over a period of four years, the profiles show that not everything is as bad in mainline Protestantism as some have argued. Balmer's vivid and absorbing depictions of these congregations raise hope for the future of the mainline while still pointing to its grave and persistent troubles