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Growing God’s Family: The Global Orphan Care Movement and the Limits of Evangelical Activism Paperback – June 13, 2017

by Samuel L. Perry (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 10 ratings
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Illustrates the hidden challenges embedded within the evangelical adoption movement.

For over a decade, prominent leaders and organizations among American Evangelicals have spent a substantial amount of time and money in an effort to address what they believe to be the “Orphan Crisis” of the United States. Yet, despite an expansive commitment of resources, there is no reliable evidence that these efforts have been successful. Adoptions are declining across the board, and both foster parenting and foster-adoptions remain steady. Why have evangelical mobilization efforts been so ineffective?

To answer this question, Samuel L. Perry draws on interviews with over 220 movement leaders and grassroots families, as well as national data on adoption and fostering, to show that the problem goes beyond orphan care. Perry argues that evangelical social engagement is fundamentally self-limiting and difficult to sustain because their subcultural commitments lock them into an approach that does not work on a practical level.

Growing God’s Family ultimately reveals this peculiar irony within American evangelicalism by exposing how certain aspects of the evangelical subculture may stimulate activism to address social problems, even while these same subcultural characteristics undermine their own strategic effectiveness. It provides the most recent analysis of dominant elements within the evangelical subculture and how that subculture shapes the engagement strategies of evangelicals as a group.

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  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    June 13, 2017
  4. Dimensions
    6 x 0.78 x 9 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1479803057
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1479803057
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Perrys book is significant because it is one of the first to offer a clear window into evangelical activism from a rich sociological perspective. Perry is extraordinarily balanced in his analysis of both the strengths and weaknesses of evangelicals dominant approach to social engagement." ― American Journal of Sociology

"This books central tenet about the saliency of branding a church that is attractive to racially diverse professional millennials leads to interesting research questions about the effectiveness of such strategies in other Chicago churches and churches around the nation... this book serves as a useful guide for how churches may approach attracting new members in a period of increasing racial diversity and declining worship attendance." ― The Review of Religious Research

"Growing Gods Familyis about America as much as it is about evangelicals. Were do-gooders. We adopt orphans. We do other good things. And yet, our excessive individualism too often gets in the way. The result: we rush into rash ill-prepared activism. Growing Gods Family is marvelously well-researched and deeply disturbing." -- Robert Wuthnow,Princeton University

"This fascinating case study deftly captures the authentic spirit of so many American evangelical 'movements' for change, explaining with empathetic and fair but brutally honest criticism why and how religiously motivated people and activism can prove in the end to be ironically self-undermining and ineffective. A valuable contribution to our sociological understanding of American evangelicalism and religious movements and culture." -- Christian Smith,University of Notre Dame

"Growing Gods Familyis a strong, well-researched book, worthy of a wide academic and non-academic audience." ― Sociology of Religion

About the Author

Samuel L. Perry is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Religious Studies at the University of Oklahoma. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago. He also holds a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary. His research explores the changing dynamics of religion and family life in the United States.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ NYU Press (June 13, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1479803057
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1479803057
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.04 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.78 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 10 ratings

About the author

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Samuel L. Perry

Samuel L. Perry

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Samuel L. Perry (Ph.D., Chicago) is a sociologist of American religion, race, politics, sexuality, and families. He is the author or co-author of four books: Growing God’s Family (2017); Addicted to Lust (2019); Taking America Back For God (2020); and The Flag and The Cross (2022). He teaches at the University of Oklahoma.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
10 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Texas DJ
5.0 out of 5 stars Professor Perry has done an excellent job answering and analyzing a conundrum for those of ...
Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2017
Verified Purchase
Samuel Perry’s book is an in depth looks at the orphan care movement championed by a host of conservative congregations the last two decades and the network of other Para-church or non-profit agencies that have grown up to support it’s growth. Professor Perry has done an excellent job answering and analyzing a conundrum for those of us in evangelical leadership: How could we be devoting so much time and emphasis on an issue of such importance: a vast and vulnerable population of orphaned, abused, or abandoned children, and have made so little measurable impact, except to change the vocabulary and language we use in our churches to have our conversations and discussions. I’ve served over 40 years leading ministries alongside the church and for the last 18 years as a lead pastor in an evangelical congregation and Dr. Perry has his thumb on the pulse of evangelical values and essential theology, especially as pertains to his subject. The findings and conclusions of his research expose the soft underbelly of evangelicalism and our response to significant social issues. This is an important book and a essential read for those of us who care for the orphan care movement, but care also about other key societal issues that the church needs to address with a clear plan of action and response. Professor Perry calls us down from our orthodox ivory towers and offers us an opportunity to get real and hopefully even get our hands dirty. I highly recommend this read!
4 people found this helpful
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Kenneth Ethan Frantz
5.0 out of 5 stars "Growing God's Family" by Samuel L. Perry
Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2017
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In Samuel L. Perry’s book “Growing God’s Family”, he uses the tools of Sociological theory to examine why the Christian Orphan Care Movement has been ineffective. The author’s arguments are well organized and he defines his terms clearly. This means lay people can glean notable ideas from the book even though it’s intended for an academic audience. Thus, Professors of the Sociology of Religion/Sociology of Social Movements will find this to be a good supplementary text to assign to their students. Evangelical pastors and activists who are interested in engaging in these types of social movements will find this book useful in telling them what pitfalls to avoid. Perry has written a well-researched and informative book that will prove to be a necessary read for many different types of people.
4 people found this helpful
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BDKendrick
3.0 out of 5 stars Would have appreciated more constructive direction from the secular movement (?), Perry imagines to be capable of the task.
Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2018
Verified Purchase
After being interviewed for this book and reading through it, I was curious about Samuel's conclusions. I thought many of his conclusions were both fair and informed until a scenario he plays out in his next to last chapter "What Will A Mature Evangelical Movement Look Like?" revealed either a bias or blindspot that left me wondering if this work has really contributed anything to the conversation that is helpful for moving forward. In short, Perry's idea in this scenario is "pietistic idealism" equates ineffectiveness, and therefore Christians must abandon their orthodox views to be effective in addressing social issues. He then connects that idea to a religious liberty issue and assumes the two are one and the same because Christians were/are unwilling to forfeit their 1st Amendment rights. That aside, Perry doesn't seem to explore the possibility or provide an alternative to any social issue's past or current outcomes if Christians weren't involved nor does he explore the reality that metaphysics are always involved in our motivations or measure why secular movements involved in orphan care have failed to produce better outcomes. He could have done more good by highlighting the efforts of Wendy's Wonderful Kids or either of the Casey programs but gets stuck on "pietistic idealism" and fails to venture too far away from it. It was also curious that while Perry focused much of his attention on couples adopting due to infertility, he generalized other couples' motivations throughout that were not tied to infertility. It's quite possible that our experience with families which is more balanced between motivations between infertility and "pietistic idealism" is the exception, but I'm still curious how this compares to the secular population of adoptive or foster families. Overall, the message seems to be - Christians could do more if they'd abandon the centrality of the Gospel and acknowledge same-sex marriage and promote single-parent families. Maybe, but this is an oversimplified and lacking direction for what is a complex issue that requires anyone who is going to give of their family to address major barriers indicative of our culture and humanity (i.e. materialism, risk and conflict aversion, distrust of government, etc.). I'm glad I read this as there were insights I benefitted from and helped me critically weigh my experiences, but I would have appreciated more constructive direction from the secular movement (?), Perry imagines to be capable of the task at hand.

- Bruce Kendrick
3 people found this helpful
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Dallas Banks
5.0 out of 5 stars This is an important issue and Dr. Perry has tackled the global orphan crisis with a great deal of insight and knowledge.
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2017
Verified Purchase
I am uncertain the one-star reviewer read the book. What I discovered is that Dr. Perry has offered a fair and balanced view of the orphan crisis. Further, he provides real insight into​ possible solutions. This book would be a welcomed addition to the libraries of pastors, academics, and anyone seeking to further their knowledge on foster care, adoption, and orphan care. I have gifted this book a few times and will continue to so. Well done!
4 people found this helpful
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