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November/December 2007 |
A book review
UIndy professor writes unique history on Indiana Methodism's influence on the rise of the middle class
By Daniel R. Gangler
According to University of Indianapolis history professor Kevin Corn, Methodism was largely responsible for bringing middle class culture to Indiana.
In his recently released book, Forward Be Our Watchword: Indiana Methodism and the Modern Middle Class (2008 University of Indianapolis Press), Corn argues that the experience of Methodism opens a window into the larger transformation of American culture, particularly the development of a new nexus of institutions that would become known as the social mainstream. He shows how forces of upward social mobility, evangelistic religion and optimism for progress converged in these Midwestern Methodists with darker forces such as racism, nativism and a grim commitment to the use of legal coercion.
The result was that Methodism stopped being a religious movement aimed at the mass of Americans and ended up becoming one molded to the sensibilities of America's new managerial middle class. It is in this transformation that contemporary Methodism has its deepest roots.
I found this book to be compelling in an understanding of where The United Methodist Church in Indiana is today on the verge of a major change in the restructure and unity of its annual conferences. Its appendix on the history of annual conferences in Indiana is a must read for the Imagine Indiana Planning Team and those who wish to reform the United Methodist Church for the 21st century.
Active United Methodist laywoman Jan Shipp, professor emeritus of religious studies and history at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, says, "this meticulous study of Indiana Methodism is much more significant than most studies of religion in a single state. Corn's work describes the transformation during the so-called "Gilded Age" and the Progressive Period (1880 to 1930) which changed Methodism from being the religion of everyday folks into being the religion of the middle class."
As a Jew and active member of the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation, Corn does not bring a Methodist bias to his work, but the view of an outsider historian looking in. He is a historian of American religious movements teaching in the department of Philosophy and Religion at the United Methodist-related University of Indianapolis.
For order information, fax 317-788-3480.
Last updated on 13 May 2008