The religious landscape of the United States has changed dramatically in recent decades. How are Christians relating to their Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and other new religious neighbors? Using local examples, The Faith Next Door covers the gamut of Christian responses to America's multireligious reality. The book also examines how the events of September 11, 2001 have shaped Christian approaches to believers from other faiths, from engaging in dialogue to hoping for conversion. Here Christian theology meets the multireligious real world, with multiple results suggestive of national trends. The Faith Next Door will appeal to Christians from all denominations and perspectives who seek models for relationships in the diverse contemporary context. It will also inform non-Christian readers and general observers of trends in American religion about the variety of local Christian responses to other religions.

Paul Numrich is a Research Associate Professor at the McNamara Center for the Social Studie of Religion, Loyola University Chicago

• Acknowledgements [iii]


• Foreword, Fred Kniss [vi]


• Introduction: America's New Religious Diversity [1]


• Chapter 1:: A Hindu Temple Comes to Town [19]


• Chapter 2:: Evangelizing Fellow Immigrants: South Asian Christians [33]


• Chapter 3:: Resettling for Christ: Evangelical Churches of DuPage County [49]


• Chapter 4:: Hosting Muslim Neighbors: Calvary Episcopal Church [66]


• Chapter 5:: Struggling to Reach Out: St. Silas Lutheran Church [80]


• Chapter 6:: Gathering around the Table of Fellowship: Lake Street Church [95]


• Chapter 7:: Bridges to Understanding: St. Lambert Roman Catholic Church [109]


• Chapter 8:: Unity in Spirituality: The Focolare Movement [123]


• Chapter 9:: Solidarity in the African American Experience: Churches and the Nation of Islam [138]


• Chapter 10:: Looking Back, Ahead, and into the Eyes of Others: The Orthodox Christian Experience [153]


• Chapter 11:: More Hindus and Others Come to Town [167]


• Conclusion: Local Christians Face America's New Religious Diversity [183]


• Index