Sociologist and researcher Robert Wuthnow has found that since World War II over 500 special interest religious groups have formed. Some have broken away from a church body or tradition while others have tried to work renewal and reform within religious institutions. All of these groups have had a noticeable impact on American religious life.
In this interesting book, Richard Cimino explores the phenomenon of renewalists and reformists in American religion. As editor of the newsletter Religion Watch and author of Shopping for Faith: American Religion in the New Millennium, he is well suited for the task. He has interviewed more than 100 people in two groups. The first consists of those who focus on spiritual practices and reviving faith; the second includes those proposing and working for change in wider structures and institutions. Both consist of dedicated and inspired people who are what Cimino calls "religious virtuosos-people who are unusually receptive to spiritual things."
Cimino has chosen six case studies that he believes are indicative of the broad range of interest in renewal and reform within Christianity and Judaism. The "Charismatic Catholics" are seeking to renew the church through their emphasis upon ecstasy, speaking in tongues, receiving prophetic messages, and the widespread formation of prayer groups. "Evangelical Renewal" in a mainline Protestant denomination focuses on the efforts of the Biblical Witness Fellowship (BWF) in the United Church of Christ (UCC), a liberal denomination, that has made its own way based on doctrinal disputes. This separatist group was spawned during the culture wars over abortion, gay rights, and feminism.
In a chapter on conservative reform groups Cimino examines the evangelical catholic movement, which teaches that Martin Luther never intended to found Protestantism but only to reassert key doctrines such as justification by faith. One example is the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, a pan-Lutheran renewal organization that regards the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a recent consolidation of Lutheran denominations, as being under the sway of Neopaganism.
"Taize," a monastic ecumenical community for both Protestants and Catholics, seeks to be a reconciling force in Christianity with its emphasis upon prayer, silence, and reflection. "Call to Action" is a radical Catholic group calling for optional celibacy for priests, ordination for women, and freedom of conscience on sexual matters. And finally "Jewish Renewal" examines the activities of Aleph (the Alliance for Jewish Renewal) that runs seminars, programs in mysticism, and social action projects.