Between individual Catholics and a global institution, thousands of local parishes remake Catholicism each day. With fresh data and sociological methods, this book shows how parishes are shaped by community, geography, and authority; how parishes respond to diversity and change; and how parishes worship and educate for the future of Catholicism.

Gary J. Adler, Jr. (Edited By)
Gary J. Adler, Jr. is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Pennsylvania State University.
Tricia C. Bruce (Edited By)
Tricia C. Bruce is Associate Professor of Sociology at Maryville College and the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Brian Starks (Edited By)
Brian Starks is Associate Professor of Sociology at Kennesaw State University.

Introduction: What Is a Parish? Why Look at Catholic Parishes?
Gary J. Adler Jr., Tricia C. Bruce, and Brian Starks | 1
Part I : Seeing Parishes Through a Sociological Lens
1. A Brief History of the Sociology of Parishes in the United States
Tricia C. Bruce | 25
2. Studying Parishes: Lessons and New Directions from the Study of Congregations
Nancy T. Ammerman | 47
Part II: Parish Trends
3. The Shifting Landscape of US Catholic Parishes, 1998-2012
Gary J. Adler Jr. | 69
4. Stable Transformation: Catholic Parishioners in the United States
Mark M. Gray | 95
Part III: Race, Class, and Diversity in Parish Life
5. Power in the Parish
Brett C. Hoover | 111
6. Liturgy as Identity Work in Predominantly African American Parishes
Tia Noelle Pratt | 132
7. A House Divided
Mary Jo Bane | 153
Part IV: Young Catholics In (and Out) of Parishes
8. Parishes as Homes and Hubs
Kathleen Garces-Foley | 173
9. Preparing to Say "I Do"
Courtney Ann Irby | 196
Part V : The Practice and Future of a Sociology of Catholic Parishes
10. A Sociologist Looks at His Own Parish: A Conversation with John A. Coleman, SJ
John A. Coleman, SJ, with editors Gary J. Adler Jr., Tricia C. Bruce, and Brian Starks | 217
Conclusion: Parishes as the Embedded Middle of American Catholicism
Gary J. Adler Jr., Tricia C. Bruce, and Brian Starks | 231
Acknowledgments | 247
List of Contributors | 249
Index | 253