Getting to Church
Exploring Narratives of Gender and Joining
Sally K. Gallagher
Reviews and Awards
"Highly accessible for a lay or novice audience. In particular, I can imagine pastors and other church leaders would find her insights into how members perceive churches, their reasons for joining, and even their reasons for leaving to be incredibly helpful in church planning. Additionally, this book would make a nice addition to an undergraduate sociology of religion class because of its in-depth consideration of religious communities." -- Courtney Ann Irby, Sociology of Religion
"Gallagher's convincing demonstrations and statistical observations provide ample space for theologians and gender theorists to pick up the conversation ... Overall, this book has a crucial role to play within Christian gender debates. Its purpose lies within debunking myths about religious identity and gender that some religious scholars and lay people still uphold. The claim that women are more religious than men or that Christianity is somehow a 'woman's religion' can no longer be reasonably accepted given Gallagher's observations." --Sarah Dannemiller, Reading Religion
"Including a helpful bibliography, this volume will interest both sociologists and religious studies scholars and practitioners Recommended."--CHOICE
"Sally Gallagher's thoughtful and well-researched analysis gives us new insight into how gender shapes the ways that people experience and enact religious commitment, and how they choose to join or to leave religious communities. This nuanced account takes into account a wide range of contemporary American religious communities and helps us to move beyond tired stereotypes about women's-and men's-religiosity."--Penny Edgell, Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean for Social Sciences, University of Minnesota
