Journeymen For Jesus

This collection of essays by leading historians offers a close look at the connections between American Protestants and money in the Antebellum period. During the first decades of the new American nation, money was everywhere on the minds of church leaders and many of their followers. Economic questions figured regularly in preaching and pamphleteering, and convictions about money contributed greatly to perceptions of morality both public and private. In fact, money was always a religious question. For this reason, argue the authors of these essays, it is impossible to understand broader cultural developments of the period--including political developments--without considering religion and economics together. In God and Mammon, several essays examine the ways in which the churches raised money after the end of establishment put a stop to state funding, such as the collection of pew rents and lotteries. Free-will offerings only came later and at first were used only for special causes, not operating expenses. Other essays look at the role of money and markets in the rise of Christian voluntary societies. Still others examine inter-denominational strife, documenting frequent accusations that theological error led to the misuse of money and the arrogance of wealth. Taken together, the essays provide essential background to a relationship that continues to loom large and generate controversy in American religious communities.

When industrialization swept through American society in the nineteenth century, it brought with it turmoil for skilled artisans. Changes in technology and work offered unprecedented opportunity for some, but the deskilling of craft and the rise of factory work meant dislocation for others. Journeymen for Jesus explores how the artisan community in one city, Baltimore, responded to these life-changing developments during the years of the early republic. Baltimore in the Jacksonian years (1820s and 1830s) was America's third largest city. Its unions rivaled those of New York and Philadelphia in organization and militancy, and it was also a stronghold of evangelical Methodism. These circumstances created a powerful mix at a time when workers were confronting the negative effects of industrialism. Many of them found within Methodism and its populist spirituality an empowering force that inspired their refusal to accept dependency and second-class citizenship. Historians often portray evangelical Protestantism as either a top-down means of social control or as a bottom-up process that created passive workers. Sutton, however, reveals a populist evangelicalism that undergirded the producer tradition dominant among those supportive of trade union goals. Producers were not socialists or social democrats, but they were anticapitalist and reform-minded. In populist evangelicalism they discovered a potent language and ethic for their discontent. Journeymen for Jesus presents a rich and unromanticized portrait of artisan culture in early America. In the process, it adds to our understanding of the class tensions present in Jacksonian America.

When industrialization swept through American society in the nineteenth century, it brought with it turmoil for skilled artisans. Changes in technology and work offered unprecedented opportunity for some, but the deskilling of craft and the rise of factory work meant dislocation for others. Journeymen for Jesus explores how the artisan community in one city, Baltimore, responded to these life-changing developments during the years of the early republic. Baltimore in the Jacksonian years (1820s and 1830s) was America's third largest city. Its unions rivaled those of New York and Philadelphia in organization and militancy, and it was also a stronghold of evangelical Methodism. These circumstances created a powerful mix at a time when workers were confronting the negative effects of industrialism. Many of them found within Methodism and its populist spirituality an empowering force that inspired their refusal to accept dependency and second-class citizenship. Historians often portray evangelical Protestantism as either a top-down means of social control or as a bottom-up process that created passive workers. Sutton, however, reveals a populist evangelicalism that undergirded the producer tradition dominant among those supportive of trade union goals. Producers were not socialists or social democrats, but they were anticapitalist and reform-minded. In populist evangelicalism they discovered a potent language and ethic for their discontent. Journeymen for Jesus presents a rich and unromanticized portrait of artisan culture in early America. In the process, it adds to our understanding of the class tensions present in Jacksonian America.

A "journeyman" is someone who has learned a trade from a master. In our case, we are learning the trade of life from The Master - Jesus Christ. He has afforded us opportunities, experiences, and the responsibility to share life and our lessons. We are all in pursuit of becoming "journeymen." Ken is a "Journeyman in training." These "thoughts" (essays, poems) come from the process of working out his salvation (Philippians 2: 12) for over 30 years. Ken is a Disciple of Jesus Christ, a husband, a father, and a consultant. He is gifted in music, teaching, and communication. He has served as a Pastor and for over 20 years worked as a consultant to businesses and churches. Any written work (other than God's Word) is a snap shot of a disciple's understanding. While God's Word is unchanging, we, as disciples, are always changing and so is our understanding. Use this book to gain insight, to challenge your thinking, to create a teachable moment between you and The Master. Do not let these "Thoughts" replace God's Word or God's Work in you.

In the fifty years after the Constitution was signed in 1787, New York City grew from a port town of 30,000 to a metropolis of over half a million residents. This rapid development transformed a once tightknit community and its religious experience. These effects were felt by Trinity Episcopal Church, which had presented itself as a uniting influence in New York, that connected all believers in social unity in the late colonial era. As the city grew larger, more impersonal, and socially divided, churches reformed around race and class-based neighborhoods. Trinity’s original vision of uniting the community was no longer possible. In Four Steeples over the City Streets, Kyle T. Bulthuis examines the histories of four famous church congregations in early Republic New York City—Trinity Episcopal, John Street Methodist, Mother Zion African Methodist, and St. Philip’s (African) Episcopal—to uncover the lived experience of these historical subjects, and just how religious experience and social change connected in the dynamic setting of early Republic New York. Drawing on a range of primary sources, Four Steeples over the City Streets reveals how these city churches responded to these transformations from colonial times to the mid-nineteenth century. Bulthuis also adds new dynamics to the stories of well-known New Yorkers such as John Jay, James Harper, and Sojourner Truth. More importantly, Four Steeples over the City Streets connects issues of race, class, and gender, urban studies, and religious experience, revealing how the city shaped these churches, and how their respective religious traditions shaped the way they reacted to the city. (Publisher).

What is Get On The Journey? Several years ago I felt led to start writing men’s devotions. They were primarily written for JourneyMen, men on a journey and walking with Christ. I soon found out that my devotions were not only being read by JourneyMen but also by women on the journey. Daily and “manly” activities end up being themes for devotion. God’s Word can be applied to my life, and in turn to your life, through these devotions. Devotion life topics include fishing, washing the car, cleaning the pool, watching television, Peyton Manning being released, working, sleeping, winning, losing, granite shopping, etc. Each devotional also contains probing questions that can be used for self-examination or for small group study. Get On The Journey contains fifty-two devotions that recap a year of my life and writing but can be read and explored on your journey at your own pace. —David Smith, Journeymen Why should you get on the journey? “Through trials and temptations God will strengthen our faith as we journey in the race of life. It is here I find David’s devotionals an inspiration for each one of us who gather together in the name of Christ. David has a special talent for reflecting life’s circumstances as a tool to help us all join in the race together. Sometimes we laugh, and sometimes we cry. As you read David’s devotionals, meditate on your own life circumstances. Consider how God is shaping and molding you to be a JourneyMan—a man on a journey in life with Jesus as his Savior.” —Pastor Rod Lindemann, Journeymen

Informing current discussions about the growing gap between rich and poor in the United States, The Lost Tradition of Economic Equality in America is surprising and enlightening.