Living Faith

“When people think about religion and the poor, they imagine soup kitchens run by a church or members of a congregation visiting a down-and-out family. Talking directly with poor mothers on welfare about their religious ideas and experiences allows Susan Crawford Sullivan to set the record straight. Most poor mothers pray and think about God in their lives and the lives of their children, but many do not feel welcome at church and rarely attend. In Sullivan’s wonderfully detailed and empathetic interviews we see ‘everyday religion’ as it really is and glimpse the tough and resilient lives of impoverished mothers. This book has many valuable lessons for social scientists and leaders of religious and community institutions—and it challenges the assumptions of public policy makers hoping to reach and assist the poor.”

“Over the past quarter century, much of the debate about poverty and social welfare has been framed by two groups: writers on the right who argued that faith-based compassion could help the poor much better than government programs, and writers on the left who completely ignored religion, perhaps for fear of seeming to favor the other side. Living Faith is a brilliant, thoroughly researched, engagingly written study that offers a more balanced treatment of the issues. Drawing on first-hand interviews with women in poverty, it shows the significance—both positive and negative—that religion and religious interpretations play in their lives.”