A foremost historian of religion chronicles the arrival of Christianity in the New World, tracing the turning points in the development of the immigrant church which have led to today's distinctly American faith.

A Country Strange and Far considers how and why the Methodist Church failed in the Pacific Northwest and how place can affect religious transplantation and growth.

The Catholic Church in the United States has always been an immigrant church, from the earliest arrivals of the Spanish and English, to the influx of Irish, Germans, Italians, and other Europeans in the nineteenth century, to the most recent arrivals from the Philippines and Vietnam. Over two centuries countless laymen and laywomen worked with priests and religious to build and support churches and schools, laying the foundation for the Catholic Church in the United States. The wealth of original documents and photographs in Keeping Faith provides as no other source does a thorough and compelling portrait of these immigrants and their impact on the American Catholic institutions and American Catholic experience.

Meet people who have fled their homelands. Hagar. Joseph. Ruth. Jesus. Here is a riveting story of seeking safety in another land. Here is a gripping journey of loss, alienation, and belonging. In The God Who Sees, immigration advocate Karen Gonzalez recounts her family’s migration from the instability of Guatemala to making a new life in Los Angeles and the suburbs of south Florida. In the midst of language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, and the tremendous pressure to assimilate, Gonzalez encounters Christ through a campus ministry program and begins to follow him. Here, too, is the sweeping epic of immigrants and refugees in Scripture. Abraham, Hagar, Joseph, Ruth: these intrepid heroes of the faith cross borders and seek refuge. As witnesses to God’s liberating power, they name the God they see at work, and they become grafted onto God’s family tree. Find resources for welcoming immigrants in your community and speaking out about an outdated immigration system. Find the power of Jesus, a refugee Savior who calls us to become citizens in a country not of this world.

*A history of the American Catholic Churchs policy toward rural issues in the past century*

Beginning in the late 1970s and early 1980s, significant numbers of Haitian immigrants began to arrive and settle in Miami. Overcoming some of the most foreboding obstacles ever to face immigrants in America, they have diversified socioeconomically. Together, they have made South Florida home to the largest population of native-born Haitians and diasporic Haitians outside of the Caribbean and one of the most significant Caribbean immigrant communities in the world. Religion has played a central role in making all of this happen. Crossing the Water and Keeping the Faith is a historical and ethnographic study of Haitian religion in immigrant communities, based on fieldwork in both Miami and Haiti, as well as extensive archival research. Where many studies of Haitian religion limit themselves to one faith, Rey and Stepick explore Catholicism, Protestantism, and Vodou in conversation with one another, suggesting that despite the differences between these practices, the three faiths ultimately create a sense of unity, fulfillment, and self-worth in Haitian communities. This meticulously researched and vibrantly written book contributes to the growing body of literature on religion among new immigrants. Terry Rey is Associate Professor of Religion at Temple University. He is the coeditor (with Alex Stepick and Sarah Mahler) of Churches and Charity in the Immigrant City: Religion, Immigration, and Civic Engagement in Miami. Alex Stepick is Professor of Sociology at Portland State University and Professor of Global and Sociocultural Studies at Florida International University. He is coauthor (with Alejandro Portes) of City on the Edge: The Transformation of Miami. In the North American Religions series