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BOOK REVIEW S 373seems to adopt a rational choice theory, but this may be less his "logic," andmore the dominant logic "stewardship" campaigns adopted. He assuines aclassical economic analysis when he discusses the "free-rider problem" (p. 80).The analysis lacks a discussion of cooperative financing ventures such asMethodism's apportionment system. Nonetheless, this work demonstratesboth the creativity and kitsch involved in financing American Protestantism.The creativity is found in the various means and motives that clergy andchurches have used to raise funds. This is also the source ofthe kitsch. Beforechurch es realized money-m aking schem es were inefficient for raising revenue,pastors received mailings to sell everything from "chocolate pudding" to"lingerie" (p. 115).

Hudnut-Beumler reveals interesting data on clergy salaries, which havenot kept pace with salaries in other professions, markedly so since 1960.During that era when the language of "servant leader" was popular, hesuggests, clergy were indeed paid as servants. In fact, clergy and the churchesnow face the reality that clergy education has "negative income returns" (p.94), which raises the question how "rational" the choice to pursue advancededucation could be.This book is a descriptive historical work, relatively free of the moralizingthat so often goes with analyses of the church and money. It offers anintriguing perspective on church history that would benefit theologians,

seminary administrators, clergy, and lay leaders. In fact, the work concludeswith what should generate an important discussion in the life of the church:"Yet something is missing . . . The pursuit of the Almighty's dollar has neverbee n easier. But finding the Almighty has nev er been m ore difficult" (p. 230 ).D . S T E P H E N L O N G

G A R R E T T - E V A N G E U C A L T H E O L O G I C A L S E M I N A R YEvANSTON, ILLINOIS

A Reader in New Religious Movements. Edited by George Ghryssides andMargaret Wilkins. London: Gontinuum, 2006. 432pp. $42.95 paper.This is an excellent anthology and sourcebook on a number of prominentnew religious movements, containing original writings of several founders andmembers of some of the more controversial and well-known "cults." Theeditors have assisted the reader by furnishing substantial introductions tosegments of the voluine, setting the selections within a sociologically informed

context. The beginning of the book briefly describes ten groups, includingsuch notables as the Raelian Movement, Soka Gakkai, The Family, Osho,

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374 JOURNAL OF GHU RG H AND STATEinsight into the groups' beliefs, practices, and goals.

Included in this section are subsections on origins, key writing andscriptures, worldviews, lifestyles, and how the groups deal with major societalissues such as abortion, war, cloning, and group organization. Details onselected groups given in these subsections is impressive and informative,closing with an important section on societal and organizational responses tothe new rehgions. This latter section contains material on some of the majoranti-cult organizations such as the American Family Foundation and FAIR, aswell as several scholarly organizations that study new rehgions, includingINFORM and GESNUR. Also included are important official responses fromthe European Union and the World Gouncil of Ghurches. This latter sectioncould be much longer, but it contains a sample of the significant societalreaction to the emergence of new religious movements.

The volume also has an appendix of additional source material that adds toits usefulness, containing a glossary of terms, a list of acronyms, and abibliography, as well as a Ust of websites for the groups included in thevolume. This book is a valuable reference for scholars and laypersons alike, asthey try to comprehend the continuing development of new rehgiousmovements in contemporary societies.J A M E S T . R I G H A R D S O N

UNI VERSI TY OF NEVADAR E N O , N E V A D A

New Age and Neo-Pagan Religions in America. By Sarah M. Pike. Ne w York:Golumbia University Press, 2004. 220p p. np .New Age and. Neo-Pagan Religions in America introduces the reader to a

non-traditional spiritual religious dimension. Pike utilizes a thoroughknowledge of Neo-Pagan and New Age religious practices to acquaint readerswith the lives, worldview, and ethe rea l gnosis of their ad he ren ts. Beg inningwith a lucid description of a neo-pagan cultic service. Pike leads readersthrough an exploratory journey that traces the origins of New Age and Neo-Pagan religions to their contem porary, popular manifestations. In cha ptertwo. Pike draws a fine distinction between Neo-Pagan and New Agewo rshipp ers. T he former focuses primarily on reviving past cultic practice swhile the latter emphasizes a state of renewed societal consciousness inanticipation ofa future peaceful age.In chapter three. Pike explores the origins of Neo-Pagan and New Agepractice s in Am erica. She argues for their existence in the colonial era an d

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