Presents a study of the rise of American Methodism and its social and cultural impact, focusing on Methodist religious practice. This work shows how the forms of Methodist social religion laid the foundation for the adoption by many white middle-class Christians of an ideology of evangelical domesticity.

He describes how Methodism replaced a model of family based on the sovereignty of the patriarch with a model based on a sacred circle of affection, thus influencing the place of women in society. His book is a deeply rewarding analysis that connects the inner life of a major religious group to an important aspect of American culture.

Foreword by Catherine L. Albanese and Stephen J. Stein
Preface
Introduction: The Rise of Methodism and Domesticity
1. Patriarchy and the Culture of Honor
2. Republicanism and Reform
3. Migration: Persistence and Change
4. Experimental Religion and the Way of the Cross
5. The Salvation Machine and the Subversion of Patriarchy
6. Discipline and the Rhetoric of Separation
7. Fellowship and the Rhetoric of Testimony
8. Methodist Identity: The Way of the Cross versus the Culture of Honor
9. The Family of God
10. Ritualizing Families for God
11. The Christian Home in the Republic
12. Icons of Holiness and Instruments of Morality: Women in Their Sphere and Beyond It
13. The Family of God Gives Ground to the Salvation Machine
Notes
Bibliography
Index