"A much-needed corrective of post-Revolutionary congregational evangelism."--Choice
"Rather than superseding a historiographical tradition, Rohrer's study adds substantially to our growing understanding of religious institutions in the early national era."--The Journal of American History
"It is a fascinating entree on a subject which has elicited few works and has been neglected and virtually ignored too long by professional historians. The work is incisive and beautifully written with the author displaying careful scholarship and exhaustive research."--Ohio History
"This excellent study of the Connecticut Missionary Society (CMS) challenges recent interpretations to account for the precipitous decline of New England Congregationalism in the early republic....Keepers of the Covenant is convincing in nearly every way."--The Journal of Religion
"I admire many things about this tightly focused, clearly argued, and well-written book, not the least of which are Rohrer's sensitivity to the theological context within which CMS evangelists labored and his insistence on understanding them within the context of their own era."--William and Mary Quarterly
"A much-needed corrective of post-Revolutionary congregational evangelism."--Choice
"Rather than superseding a historiographical tradition, Rohrer's study adds substantially to our growing understanding of religious institutions in the early national era."--The Journal of American History
"It is a fascinating entree on a subject which has elicited few works and has been neglected and virtually ignored too long by professional historians. The work is incisive and beautifully written with the author displaying careful scholarship and exhaustive research."--Ohio History
"This excellent study of the Connecticut Missionary Society (CMS) challenges recent interpretations to account for the precipitous decline of New England Congregationalism in the early republic....Keepers of the Covenant is convincing in nearly every way."--The Journal of Religion
"I admire many things about this tightly focused, clearly argued, and well-written book, not the least of which are Rohrer's sensitivity to the theological context within which CMS evangelists labored and his insistence on understanding them within the context of their own era."--William and Mary Quarterly
From the Back Cover
In 1774 the Congregationalists were the largest religious group in America; by 1830 they ranked only fourth. Scholars have advanced various explanations for this decline. Most commonly, they have blamed an elite, reactionary clergy unable to adapt themselves to the democratizing culture of the western migration. This book challenges the reductiveness of that traditional interpretation. With hundreds of letters, diaries, field reports, and sermons at his disposal, James Rohrer examines the background and evangelistic style of the frontier missionaries to show that Congregational missionaries took the frontier seriously, adapting themselves to its requirements. They failed to flourish numerically, Rohrer argues, in part because they were too demanding in their ideal of the pure church. This finding flies in the face of the currently fashionable theory that strict, sectarian groups thrive precisely because they are stricter and more sectarian. As the first full-length treatment of the Congregationalist response to frontier democracy, Keepers of the Covenant will interest church historians and students of early republican America, as well as sociologists and anyone concerned with the decline of the Protestant mainline.
About the Author
James R. Rohrer currently teaches at Presbyterian Bible College in Taiwan.
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