Christianity in Appalachia: Profiles in Regional Pluralism

Christianity in Appalachia: Profiles in Regional Pluralism. Edited by Bill J. Leonard. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1999. xxxii, 328 pp. $35.00 (cloth). ISBN 1-57233-039-2. $17.50 (paper). ISBN 1-57233-040-6.

Ask someone to divulge what terms come to mind when the words Christianity and Appalachia are used together in the same sentence, and more than likely the inquirer will hear "holy rollers," "snake handlers," or "tongue speakers." All too often such pejorative phrases permeate our minds when we contemplate Christianity and its role in Appalachian culture. But Christianity in the region involves more than just church members shouting, handling snakes, or speaking in a "heavenly" language. To help set the record straight, Bill Leonard gathered nineteen experts in the field of Appalachian Christianity, comprising academics, pastors, community activists, and various lay leaders. The task before them was simple: dispel the myths and show the rich diversity and theological complexity of "religious life within the segment of Appalachia known as the Southern Highlands.... an area composed of seven to nine states... stretching from Virginia to Alabama" (p. xvi). The results are incorporated in this revealing and well-written volume.

The book is divided into three main sections. The introduction and first five chapters provide a broad overview of the region's numerous variations of Christianity, as well as the economy that helps sustain the faithful. Bill Leonard's introduction reminds us that a plethora of religious organizations dwell in Appalachia: mainline denominations, Pentecostal churches, and numerous evangelical and independent congregations. In their respective chapters Barbara Smith and Bennett Poage draw attention to the economic problems that have affected the region's men and women of faith. (For example, what does the decline of tobacco, the area's major cash crop, mean for Appalachia?) Professor Charles Lippy's discussion of popular religiosity encourages his audience to look beyond theology when studying Appalachian religion. Christians there who embrace glossolalia, faith healing, and other gifts of the Holy Spirit do so, Lippy suggests, because the power demonstrated by those acts is a visible sign of the wonderful power of God in the practitioners' lives.

The second segment surveys the various branches of Christianity peculiar to Appalachia, such as Calvinistic Baptist congregations, snake handlers, and Pentecostals. Loyal Jones addresses the importance of "mountain religion" churches, which tend not to have any official connection with mainline denominations yet often share a similar theology and worship practices. Bivocational men and women often pastor these churches, in which the King James Version of the Bible is used almost exclusively. Debra McCauley urges scholars to investigate more closely the function of independent Holiness churches in the region.

The last section scrutinizes the role played by some of the major denominations in Appalachia. Essays on Southern Baptists, Presbyterians, churches of the Stone-Campbell tradition, and even Roman Catholicism are included. Although the authors tout the contributions these denominations make toward improving the religious and economic lives of the people they touch, several wonder if the success will continue. Because the region is being slowly drained of population and economic opportunities, the future of the area's mainline churches, most of which are saddled with formal procedures and unbending hierarchies, is uncertain. Sam Hill ends the book with an essay on the uniqueness of Appalachian Christianity.

Several minor problems surface in this anthology. Discussions of mainline Methodist churches and of African American traditions are omitted (although the editor did attempt to include them). The chapter dealing with the role of church-affiliated colleges in Appalachia contains a few errors. Presbyterians established Covenant College in 1955, not 1995, and the Methodist Church founded more than three colleges in the region during the postbellum period (p. 76). In his discussion of the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), Donald Bowdle asserts that glossolalia appeared first in Camp Creek, North Carolina, at a revival in 1896. The traditional argument has been that speaking in tongues first appeared at a revival in California in 1906.

These quibbles aside, Leonard and his authors have produced an informative and well-written study of Christianity in Appalachia. Those wishing to broaden their knowledge of this subject would do well to read this fine collection of essays. College and seminary students studying American religion will undoubtedly find this anthology on their required reading lists.

ROBERT J. VEJNAR II Emory & Henry College

Copyright University of Alabama Press Jul 2001
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