Description
Book Synopsis A powerful, poignant, and visually arresting portrait, How the Other Half Worships stands as a stark witness to how churches are being rebuilt in the dilapidated streets of America’s cities and how religion is being reinvented by the nation’s poor.
Trade Review"How the Other Half Worships is a remarkable, one-of-a kind study that bears close and repeated attention. In light of this body of work, Vergara must certainly be considered one of America's most important urban observers and social commentators."
* Books & Culture *
We have come to expect great things from Camilo JosT Vergara, and How the Other Half Worships does not disappoint. In it, Vergara helps us step into the world of the lived religion of the American poor, while at the same time giving us keen insights and stunning visuals that make us step back in awe. -- Paul C. Gutjahr * Indiana University *
For a quarter of a century I have been suggesting that Camilo Jose Vergara is the Jacob Riis of our time. How the Other Half Worships is further proof of that assertion as it brings to life the deep religious feelings of the least affluent among us. -- Kenneth T. Jackson * Columbia University *
How the Other Half Worships is a poignant look at the material and spiritual survival strategies of the urban poor. It offers remarkable testimony to cultural resilience in the face of great disadvantage. -- John Beardsley * Harvard Design School *
Our picture of American religion-and I use the word picture advisedly-would be radically incomplete without the extraordinary record that Camilo JosT Vergara has captured on film. -- Jack Miles * author of God: A Biography *
"A lively account of poor, inner-city churches in America. . . . In chapters that range in focus from architecture to theology, Vergara's photographs document the strange beauty of spiritual oases in tough neighborhoods. . . . Leaves readers with much greater awareness of the religious poor.
" * Publishers Weekly *
"How the Other Half Worships is a remarkable, one-of-a kind study that bears close and repeated attention. In light of this body of work, Vergara must certainly be considered one of America's most important urban observers and social commentators."
* Books & Culture *
Table of ContentsReligion, transcendence, and denial among America's urban poor
Church stories
Architecture, design, and urbanism
I am here to preach the truth to you : church leaders
Dealing in hope : pastor, preacher, apostle, minister, elder, congregant
Theology
Churches : the public face
Christian supplies : creating an atmosphere of reverence and devotion
