Alternative Life-Styles Confront the Church

A lucid, provocative account of what the churches are-and are not-doing now that the nuclear family is no longer the fundamen-tal unit in parish life. Most churches have been slow to respond to the special needs of the handicapped, single or divorced persons, unmarried couples, gays, single parents, and mothers who work outside the home, who are now filling the churches, In Alterna-tive Life-Styles Confront the Church Deane Ferm describes a vast array of initiatives by both local and national churches that pro-vides models for church people who want to do more for their neglected members.

The former chaplain at Mount Holyoke College, Deane Wil-liam Ferm now devotes himself to a full-time writing career. He is the author of scores of articles and several books, including his most recent Contemporary American Theologies II: A Book of Readings.