The religious lives of older laywomen : the last active Anglican generation PDF
Preview The religious lives of older laywomen : the last active Anglican generation
THE RELIGIOUS LIVES OF OLDER LAYWOMEN The Religious Lives of Older Laywomen The Last Active Anglican Generation ABBY DAY 1 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OX26DP, UnitedKingdom OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries ©AbbyDay2017 Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted FirstEditionpublishedin2017 Impression:1 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe addressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyOxfordUniversityPress 198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016,UnitedStatesofAmerica BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016949770 ISBN 978–0–19–873958–6 PrintedinGreatBritainby ClaysLtd,StIvesplc LinkstothirdpartywebsitesareprovidedbyOxfordingoodfaithand forinformationonly.Oxforddisclaimsanyresponsibilityforthematerials containedinanythirdpartywebsitereferencedinthiswork. For my mother Preface Thisbookhasbeenseveralyearsinthemaking,fromthetimein2009 thatIfirstproposeditforfunding,throughtothefieldworkonwhich it is based, and the many talks, presentations, and work-in-progress publications.DuringthattimeIhavereceivedhelpfulencouragement and constructive feedback from an enormous variety of people, not least the women I studied. There have been colleagues, conference delegates, editors, friends, family (and thanks to my children, Jake andAlex,fortheirpatienceinbeingdraggedaroundchurcheswherever we happened to be!), and often complete strangers who happened to hear about my work and wanted to talk about it. The wonderful response I received from them kept me energized and enthusiastic. Like me, they realized that there was no in-depth record of this unusual and yet taken-for-granted generation, often known as ‘the backbone of the church’ or ‘the silver ladies’ or ‘the tea-makers’ or the ‘brass polishers’. To begin to thank everyone is a daunting task, as even the small commentortwoataconference,orthetellinganecdoteatasocialevent, haveallenrichedmyunderstanding.Iwilllimitmyselftoonlyahandful ofpeople,andapologizetoanyoneIhavenotincludedbyname. First,toSimonColemanwhoencouragedmefromthebeginning, and reassured me, at the end, that there often is no end because all research based on people is ultimately about relationality; and to Grace Davie, whose enthusiasm and interest never wavered and whounderstood aboutthe complexityofresearch relationships,also gavemeagoodpieceofadvice:becarefulnottolosethedetailofthe ethnographyintheactofcreatingtheory.IhopeIhaveaccomplished that. Jay Demerath cheered me on, and offered advice and wisdom. MatthewEngelkehelpedmeshapetheprojectbyadvisingmetokeep it focused on a single institution. That was excellent advice as I had been tempted to spread the theme across other religions, as I know similardynamicsoccurthere,buttheworkwouldhavelostindepth whatitgainedinbreadth.GordonLynch,whoseadviceanddirection throughouthelped mefocus andnotlosemynerve,was alsoinstru- mental in helping me pull together a fine group of scholars at our symposiuminCanterbury. viii Preface I am grateful to the many professional staff in churches and at Church House who provided key resources, background briefings, and advice, particularly Anne Richards and Bev Botting. Paul Bramadat and colleagues at the Center for Studies in Religion and SocietyattheUniversityofVictoriainCanadaprovidedawarmplace andacreative,stimulatingenvironmentformetovisitasaResearch Fellow in the summer of 2014. And, thanks to Simon Blundell for adviceonhistoricalaspectsandresources. Other colleagues I would like to thank for their time and advice includethosewhoformedtheinitialadvisorygrouptohelpframethe project and its method and were available for advice and ideas as it began: Eileen Barker, Fenella Cannell, Sylvia Collins-Mayo, Helen Cameron,KirkHadaway,TimLing,CharlesKadushin,ArielaKeysar, SarahLloyd,PennyMarler,LindaWoodhead,andDavidVoas.Part- way through the project Gordon Lynch and I organized a two-day symposiumtodiscusstheAnglicanCommunion,includingitswomen, andthosewhoattendedprovidedfascinatingpapersandalsofeedback onmyownwork.Severalpeople whocould not attend latercontrib- utedchapterstooureditedcollection.Foralltheircontributionsthat helpmeputmystudyinthecontextoftheAnglicanCommunionand the wider social context I would like to thank Anna Strhan, Gemma Penny,MichaelKennan,DianeRees,AdrianStringer,AndersonH.M. Jeremiah,JoanneMcKenzie,AndrewMcKinnon,NancyNason-Clark, Leslie Francis, Catherine Holtmann, Martyn Percy, Callum Brown, andBevSkeggs. In2010,severalclosecolleaguesjoinedmeonapanelIorganizedat theannualconferenceoftheSocietyfortheSocialScientificStudyof Religion (SSSR), under the title ‘Exploring the Gender Gap: Why Women May Be More Religious/Spiritual Than Men’. That was the firsttimeItriedoutsomeofmyargumentsconcerningtheapparent imbalance of religiosity, particularly concerning risk theory. I am gratefultotheSSSRforfunding,andtomydearfriendsandcolleagues for participating with me as we moved against the flow: Charles Kadushin,ArielaKeysar,AdamKlin-Oron,andBethamieHorowitz. IthanktheEconomicandSocialResearchCouncilforfundingthe project,anditsanonymousreviewersforprovidingconstructiveand generous feedback. To Oxford University Press, and particularly Commissioning Editor Tom Perridge and Assistant Commissioning EditorKarenRaith:thankyoufortheopportunitytoworkwithyou again and for the close care and attention that is paid to the review, Preface ix editorial, production, and marketing processes. The anonymous reviewers who provided detailed comment have helped make this, Ihope,astrongpublication. To the many Generation A women who shared their time, opin- ions, stories, and skills, I can’t thank you enough or even, as we agreed, name you or your churches publicly. All names and several markersofidentityhavebeenchanged,butyouknowwhoyouare. Finally,andmostimportantly,Idedicatethisbooktomymother, Gwen Day, a consummate woman of Generation A. Like most women of my age, I have not met the high religious standards of hergeneration,butIthankherforbelievinginmeanyway.
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