Steeples and Stacks is a study of the religion-based community group that formed in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1977 in response to the proposed shutdown of a portion of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube's steelworks. The closing was one of the most dramatic of the plant closings that have come to symbolise American deindustrialisation. Church leaders and steelworkers joined together in Youngstown to form a powerful ecumenical political coalition, establishing links with Washington lobbyists and proposing eventually to buy the plant and run it as a community industry. Though the proposal ultimately failed, the story of the coalition provides an illuminating view of the growing interaction between religious and public affairs in American life. The book also provides an original analysis of the dynamics of intergovernmental, corporate and community relations at the local level. The author, who became involved in the coalition as a participant-observer, focuses on the pivotal role of religious leaders that distinguished the Youngstown case from so many other plant closings across the nation.

Liberalism and Catholicism are two of the most important forces shaping the contemporary political culture of the United States. This book explores what is at stake as they encounter each other in new contexts today and what a fresh conversation between them promises for the future of American public life. It is based on the conviction that both traditions continue to have much to learn from each other and that both would contribute more constructively to the resolution of the problems facing the nation if they were to do so. It is thus an invitation to the dialogue that could produce such mutual learning, and is a collaborative effort that brings together the work of scholars from a variety of disciplines. Though the book gives particular attention to the United States, it has relevance to debates about the future of liberalism and Catholicism in many other parts of the world.

Utilizing a wide variety of sources--laws, court cases, church records, sermons, political tracts, diaries, newspapers, and government records--Frost traces the development of religious freedom in Pennsylvania from the founding of the colony up to World War II.