Proposal Summary
Faith on the Avenue
Katie Day
The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
Summary
“Faith on the Avenue” is a research project, being conducted by Dr. Katie Day at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, which looks at 92 congregations on one historic street in Philadelphia—Germantown Avenue. The study, begun in 2004, will culminate in 2010. By exploring the role of religious communities within the urban ecology this research will provide insight on how congregations are impacting and being shaped by their context. Through a variety of methods—historic, ethnographic and quantitative analysis of demographic change (GIS mapping)—the study will examine how congregations create sacred space from commercial buildings; recreate a sense of home for new immigrants and offer social services to the community; and, learn to transcend differences of race, class, and religion to share urban space. Both the rich history of Germantown Avenue as well as more recent demographic changes will be looked at to understand the ways they contribute to congregational identities and trends. Findings from this study will be widely disseminated through classroom lecture, public presentations, a published scholarly book, and a photographic exhibition.
Related Publications
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