A Ministry of Presence

One of the most important voices in the contemporary study of law and religion, Sullivan shows how the chaplain has come to occupy a key role in the negotiation of law, politics, and religion in contemporary America. With subtlety and erudition, Sullivan brings her reader to the illuminating realization that the chaplain is a figure that sits at the complicated confluence of church and state, an emblem not only of contemporary constitutionalism, but also of modern economic and political life in the United States. --Benjamin L. Berger, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University An important contribution to ongoing scholarly discussions in religious studies, American history, politics, and legal studies. . . . Sullivan has contributed much to our understanding of the many ways religion continues to influence 'secular' legal trajectories, and vice versa. --Religion Bulletin Winnifred Sullivan's study is an important read, one not to be missed by anyone who wishes to understand the reality of chaplaincy in the modern world. --Calvin Theological Journal Fantastic and provocative. Sullivan takes readers into new territory where we can consider American religion and social life from a new angle. Her strong authorial voice keeps the many moving parts together and makes A Ministry of Presence a pleasure to read. --Courtney Bender, Columbia University Excellent. . . . Highly recommended. --Catholic Library World A dazzling, meticulous study of the interdependence of law and religion. . . . This book is an analytical feat of rare and beautiful complexity. No other scholarship on the topic of chaplaincies explores their legal significance with the intensity or range that Sullivan's 'legal anthropology of religion' exhibits. --Journal of the American Academy of Religion In this elegantly written and closely argued work, Sullivan shows that chaplains of all faiths in prisons, hospitals, and the military today find themselves at the nexus of forces that aim to make them into 'priests of the secular, ' whose role it is to insure spiritually healthy and well adjusted prisoners, patients, and soldiers--as spiritual well-being is determined by the state and circumscribed by the courts. A Ministry of Presence is essential for understanding what has become--and what is becoming--of 'religion' in the United States today. --Robert Orsi, author of Between Heaven and Earth: The Religious Worlds People Make and the Scholars Who Study Them [A] cogent, well-researched volume. . . . Recommended. --Choice Thought-provoking. . . . Contemporary chaplaincy programs demonstrate that practices termed 'spiritual' are not unique to the political left or right, and chaplains from a wide variety of institutional backgrounds are grappling with how to provide this 'spiritual care.' A Ministry of Presence makes clear that this grappling has a particular history, and in so doing makes a valuable contribution to the study of American religion. --Michael Graziano Religion in American History