Building the Old Time Religion Women Evangelists in the Progressive Era [Hardcover]

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In this ground-breaking study, Priscilla Pope-Levison dusts off the unpublished letters, diaries, sermons, and yearbooks of these pioneers to share their personal tribulations and public achievements.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-Levisons lively account takes our understanding of gender and American religion to the next level, demonstrating the permanent impact of women on the institutional shape of twentieth-century Christianity. She introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters, high-profile female evangelists and lesser-known toilers who founded schools, hospitals, and even denominations on a shoe-string. The women Pope-Levison brings to life are a colorfuland essentialpiece of the larger story of religion in the United States. Priscilla Pope-Levisons (Seattle Pacific University) new book Building The Old Time Religion: Women Evangelists in the Progressive Era is the most significant contribution to the collective memory of women evangelists in the United States since Janette Hasseys 1986 No Time for Silence. There are so few bookslc4