Description
Millennials in the U.S. have been characterized as uninterested in religion, as defectors from religious institutions, and as agnostic about the role of religious identity in their culture. Amid the rise of so-called "nones," though, there has also been a countervailing trend: an increase in religious piety among some millennial Catholics. The Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), which began evangelizing college students on American university campuses in 1998, hires recent college graduates to evangelize college students and promote an attractive and culturally savvy Catholicism. These millennial Catholics have personal relationships with Jesus, attend Mass daily, and know and defend papal teachings, while also being immersed in U.S. popular culture. With their skinny jeans, devotional tattoos, and large-framed glasses, FOCUS missionaries embody a hip, attractive style of Catholicism. They promote a faith that interweaves distinctly Catholic identity with outreach methods of twentieth-century evangelical Protestants and the anxieties of middle-class emerging adulthood. Though this new generation of missionaries lives according to strict gender essentialism prescribed by papal teachings-including the notions that men lead while women follow and that biology dictates gender roles-they also support stay-at-home fatherhood and women earning MBAs. Millennial Missionaries examines how these young people navigate their Catholic and American identities in the twenty-first century. Illuminating the ways missionaries are reshaping American Catholic identity, Katherine Dugan explores the contemporary U.S. religious landscape from the perspective of millennials who proudly proclaim "I am Catholic"-and devote years of their lives to convincing others to do the same.
About the Author
Katherine Dugan is Assistant Professor of Religion at Springfield College, where she teaches courses on religion in the U.S., world religions, and global Catholicism. She holds a PhD in Religious Studies from Northwestern University and an MTS from Harvard Divinity School. Her work is on American Religions with a specialization in contemporary Catholicism.
Reviews
a very interesting study of a Catholic organisation (FOCUS), well developed and written. * Jose Pereira Coutinho, Horizonte *
Amid deep social and scholarly interest in the "nones" and the "spiritual but not religious," Katherine Dugan's compelling ethnography, Millennial Missionaries: How a Group of Young Catholics Are Trying to Make Catholicism Cool, reminds readers of the continued resonance of denominational differences for some young Catholics... Millennial Missionaries, deepens our understanding of contemporary American Catholicism, youth and religion, and American religion more broadly. I highly recommend it. * Susan B. Ridgley, University of Wisconsin-Madison, American Catholic Studies *
Millennial Missionaries is an important first book by a promising scholar. It should be essential reading for insight into millennial religiosity and for anyone involved in youth ministry, catechetics, or religious education...As a detailed and insightful ethnographic contribution, Dugan's study is also a significant contribution that extends the contemporary understanding of young adult Catholic culture beyond quantitative data on which much of the social science research on this age cohort has been based. * William D. Dinges, The Catholic University of America, International Journal of Evangelization and Catechetics *
A rich ethnographic study... This book carries great value for any reader interested in the landscape of American religiosity and generational shifts in Catholic identity. * Reading Religion *
This book carries great value for any reader interested in the landscape of American religiosity and generational shifts in Catholic identity. * Mary Kate Holman, Reading Religion *
Dugan excels in letting her subjects speak for themselves about their religious experiences and genuine beliefs ... While its primary audience may be scholars of Catholicism in the United States, Millennial Missionaries is a well-executed piece of ethnography that may be of interest to scholars of religion among young Americans and of the postevangelical American religious landscape. * Flora X. Tang, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion *
Katherine Dugan fills out the picture considerably, showing how this group has fused evangelical practices and fervor with orthodox Catholicism * Religion Watch *
Book Information
ISBN 9780190875961
Author Katherine Dugan
Format Hardback
Page Count 240
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 454g
Dimensions(mm) 163mm * 241mm * 20mm
About the Author
Katherine Dugan is Assistant Professor of Religion at Springfield College, where she teaches courses on religion in the U.S., world religions, and global Catholicism. She holds a PhD in Religious Studies from Northwestern University and an MTS from Harvard Divinity School. Her work is on American Religions with a specialization in contemporary Catholicism.
Reviews
a very interesting study of a Catholic organisation (FOCUS), well developed and written. * Jose Pereira Coutinho, Horizonte *
Amid deep social and scholarly interest in the "nones" and the "spiritual but not religious," Katherine Dugan's compelling ethnography, Millennial Missionaries: How a Group of Young Catholics Are Trying to Make Catholicism Cool, reminds readers of the continued resonance of denominational differences for some young Catholics... Millennial Missionaries, deepens our understanding of contemporary American Catholicism, youth and religion, and American religion more broadly. I highly recommend it. * Susan B. Ridgley, University of Wisconsin-Madison, American Catholic Studies *
Millennial Missionaries is an important first book by a promising scholar. It should be essential reading for insight into millennial religiosity and for anyone involved in youth ministry, catechetics, or religious education...As a detailed and insightful ethnographic contribution, Dugan's study is also a significant contribution that extends the contemporary understanding of young adult Catholic culture beyond quantitative data on which much of the social science research on this age cohort has been based. * William D. Dinges, The Catholic University of America, International Journal of Evangelization and Catechetics *
A rich ethnographic study... This book carries great value for any reader interested in the landscape of American religiosity and generational shifts in Catholic identity. * Reading Religion *
This book carries great value for any reader interested in the landscape of American religiosity and generational shifts in Catholic identity. * Mary Kate Holman, Reading Religion *
Dugan excels in letting her subjects speak for themselves about their religious experiences and genuine beliefs ... While its primary audience may be scholars of Catholicism in the United States, Millennial Missionaries is a well-executed piece of ethnography that may be of interest to scholars of religion among young Americans and of the postevangelical American religious landscape. * Flora X. Tang, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion *
Katherine Dugan fills out the picture considerably, showing how this group has fused evangelical practices and fervor with orthodox Catholicism * Religion Watch *
Book Information
ISBN 9780190875961
Author Katherine Dugan
Format Hardback
Page Count 240
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 454g
Dimensions(mm) 163mm * 241mm * 20mm
