Women in the Church of God in Christ by Anthea D Butler

Women in the Church of God in Christ by Anthea D Butler

The Church of God in Christ (COGIC), an African American Pentecostal denomination founded in 1896, has become the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States today. In this first major study of the church, Anthea Butler examines the religious and social lives of the women in the COGIC Women's Department from its founding in 1911 through the mid-1960s. She finds that the sanctification, or spiritual purity, that these women sought earned them social power both in the church and in the black community. Offering rich, lively accounts of the activities of the Women's Department founders and other members, Butler shows that the COGIC women of the early decades were able to challenge gender roles and to transcend the limited responsibilities that otherwise would have been assigned to them both by churchmen and by white-dominated society. The Great Depression, World War II, and the civil rights movement brought increased social and political involvement, and the Women's Department worked to make the ""sanctified world"" of the church interact with the broader American society. More than just a community of church mothers, says Butler, COGIC women utilized their spiritual authority, power, and agency to further their contestation and negotiation of gender roles in the church and beyond.

ANTHEA D. BUTLER is assistant professor of religion at the University of Rochester.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780807858080
ISBN 10	0807858080
Title	Women in the Church of God in Christ
Author	Anthea D Butler
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	The University of North Carolina Press
Year published	2007-09-30
Number of pages	224
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable