In addition to being a religious country--over ninety percent of Americans believe in God--the United States is also home to more immigrants than ever before. Churches and Charity in the Immigrant City focuses on the intersection of religion and civic engagement among Miami's immigrant and minority groups. The contributors examine the role of religious organizations in developing social relationships and how these relationships affect the broader civic world. Essays, for example, consider the role of leadership in the promotion and creation of "civic social capital" in a Haitian Catholic church, transnational ties between Cuban Catholics in Miami and Havana, and several African American congregations that serve as key comparisons of civic engagement among minorities. This book is important not only for its theoretical contributions to the sociology of religion, but also because it gives us a unique glimpse into immigrants' civic and religious lives in urban America.
Acknowledgments
1. Religion, Immigration, and Civic Engagement
Part One. Charismatic Leaders and Linking Civic Social Capital
2. So Close and Yet So Far Away: Comparing Civic Social Capital in Two Cuban Congregations
3. Refugee Catholicism in Little Haiti: Miami's Notre Dame d'Haiti Catholic Church
4. Politics and Prayer in West Perrine: Civic Engagement in the Black Church
Part Two: Service and Volunteerism and Bridging Civic Social Capital
5. Unidos en la Fe: Transnational Civic Social Engagement between Two Cuban Catholic Parishes
6. La Catedral del Exilio: A Nicaraguan Congregation in a Cuban Church
7. Black Churches and the Environment in Miami
Part Three. Religious and Spiritual Activities and Bonding Social Capital
8. Youth and Charity in a Sweetwater Parish: Our Lady of Divine Providence Church
9. Faith in the Fields: Mexican Marianism in Miami-Dade County
10. The Struggle for Civic Social Capital in West Indian Churches
11. Religious Practice and Civic Social Capital among Miami Youth
12. Conclusions: Religious Leadership and Civic Social Capital
Contributors
Index
