On the whole, this is a valuable contribution to the growing field of congregational studies that places congregations and their agency on the table as one important element to understanding the changing American metropolis. One need not have any background in any of the religions represented to appreciate the work. Those working in urban studies should welcome this readable elaboration on religious ecology theory and congregational studies.
* Journal of Urban Affairs *
With the tremendous variety of religious groups and religious places in the New York Metropolitan Area, this book is an excellent example of religious scholarship that could be further expanded and explored.
* Review of Religious Research *
[T]his book offers nine essays focusing on religious institutions of New York City as they have been impacted by the social dynamics of gentrification, immigration, and entrepreneurial innovation . . . Recommended.Jan 2014
* Choice *
[This book] is largely the result of research from the Ecologies of Learning Project, founded by urban religion scholar Lowell Livezey, who led the way in studying how congregations are affected by neighborhood change, yet also exercise a degree of agency in these urban processes.Jan-Feb 2013
* Religion Watch *
[This book is] a solid resource for addressing entanglements of religion and urbanism. The case studies have significant richness, and the organizing decision to focus on three structural processes is effective. Scholars in congregational studies, the sociology of religion, and the inter-disciplinary study of urbanism will find value in the empirical and analytical observations2.3
* Critical Research on Religion *
Overall, this is a well-developed collection of essays that does an effective job of exploring the breadth of the ecological interaction between religious institutions and their environments in New York City. . . . [T]he editors delineate a careful study of religious institutions within a contested environment, an outstanding contribution that will be used for many years as a reference for students and scholars interested in religious institutions in an urban context.
* Sociology of Religion *
