The Growth of Religious Reform Movements

Abstract

Moral Majority, pro-life groups, charismatic renewal, antinuclear coalitions, religious feminist groups—all typify American religion in the 1980s. Neglected in most studies of denominationalism and church-sect dynamics, these reform movements provide the sinews that crosscut denominational boundaries and shape the course of religious organizations. Such movements have deep roots in American history, but evidence indicates that their numbers have grown dramatically during the past quarter century and that millions of Americans are currently involved in them. Reform movements play an important role in revitalizing commitments to the churches, but they also raise the specter of a stultifying bureaucratization of American faith.