ROCK BENEATH THE SAND by Lois E. Myers, Rebecca Sharpless, Clark Baker (Photos) ( 9781585442508 )

Item Details

Title:

ROCK BENEATH THE SAND
COUNTRY CHURCHES IN TEXAS

By:

Lois E. Myers, Rebecca Sharpless, Clark Baker (Photos)

Format:

Hardback

List price:	£36.95
We currently do not stock this item, please contact the publisher directly for further information.

ISBN 10:

158544250X

ISBN 13:

9781585442508

Publisher:

TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY PRESS

Pub. date:

31 October, 2003

Series:

Sam Rayburn Series on Rural Life No.5

Pages:

160

Description:

Cotton has disappeared from the land of Texas and only the churches remain of the communities that grew around it. This title set out to understand the staying power of these rural churches, which remain while the surrounding communities have given way to larger towns and cities nearby.

Synopsis:

At the crossroads of Central Texas, cotton once ruled as king. Around this demanding monarch, numerous communities grew up and thrived. From the distant horizon, the communities were marked by church steeples stretching skyward. Today, cotton has disappeared from the land, and the communities too are largely gone. Only the churches remain--the rock beneath the sands of time. This powerfully illustrated book seeks to explain the staying power of these rural churches and to introduce the people who keep them alive while the surrounding communities have given way to the larger towns and cities nearby. Beyond the power of religion itself, the authors have uncovered the roles of geography, race, ethnicity, and family in giving life to these small churches. Authors Lois Myers and Rebecca Sharpless enhance our understanding of the interplay of religion and culture, the qualities of late twentieth-century rural life, and the continuing draw of the open country churches and their members in vivid black and white photographs. Churches featured in the volume include the oldest Norwegian Lutheran church in Texas, four African American Baptist churches organized soon after emancipation, white Southern Baptist churches, Protestant and Catholic churches founded by European and Mexican immigrants, and one union church that for most of the past century accommodated both Methodists and Baptists. Drawing on memories of longtime members, church minutes and histories, baptism records, and family histories, the authors collapse decades of tradition into the enchanting and informative pages of this book.

Illustrations:

66 duotone photographs, 1 map, bibliography, index

Publication:

Imprint:

Texas A & M University Press

Returns:

Returnable

Some other items by this author:

COOKING IN OTHER WOMEN'S KITCHENS (HB)

COOKING IN OTHER WOMEN'S KITCHENS (PB)

DETHRONING THE DECEITFUL PORK CHOP (PB)

FERTILE GROUND, NARROW CHOICES