The most distinguishing feature of American religion in the 1940s was its revival. Church membership, in decline before the war, skyrocketed in the latter half of the decade. Postwar prosperity renewed the economic base of many American churches, which expanded rapidly. New churches were built in the burgeoning postwar suburbs; established urban ministries were renewed. Most importantly, the economic prosperity of the postwar years made churchgoing into something of a status symbol, a badge of upward mobility. While there were theological and spiritual reasons for the return to the churches, most notably the impact of World War II, millions of prosperous working-class families aspiring to the ranks of the middle class saw churchgoing as a definitively ail-American activity. Church membership in the late 1940s was both a product and a symbol of American affluence.
Most American denominations had declined in membership and revenues during the Depression. The.....
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