At the height of his career, Washington Gladden was one of the most respected and beloved ministers in the United States. An 1897 newspaper profile emphasized his international reputation as both a pastor and a thinker. Gladden’s reputation resulted from the warmth of his personality, the keenness of his intellect, and the breadth of his writing. More so than any of his contemporaries, he was equally successful as both the pastor of a community church and as an internationally recognized theologian. During his career, which spanned the decades from the Civil War to World War I, he led Congregational churches in New York, Massachusetts, and Ohio. He also penned dozens of books and hundreds of magazine articles. Gladden’s prolific output ensured that he shaped the religious views of countless Americans throughout the nation. Yet a century after his death, Washington Gladden has been all but forgotten.
The past few years have witnessed a dramatic resurgence in scholarship on mainline Protestantism and its liberal commitments. Within these denominations themselves, there has likewise been an effort to embrace a liberal identity after decades of declining membership and the resurgence of conservative evangelicalism. Thus far, however, no work has been written that builds on this new body of scholarship while speaking directly to general readers within the mainline churches.
David Mislin focuses on eight defining elements of Gladden’s religious thought and explores the crucial moments in his life that shaped his ministry. He weaves together critical analysis of Gladden’s ideas with engaging anecdotes that offer insights into the ordinary life and work of a nineteenth-century pastor and the activities of his churches.
The emphasis on Gladden is all the more relevant because of the enormous similarities between the United States of his lifetime and our contemporary society. The height of his career coincided with the vast economic inequality of the Gilded Age. He also witnessed the beginning of American involvement in the world, as the nation engaged in widely debated military activities overseas. Thus, in addition to giving today’s readers with a greater sense of their own history, Washington Gladden’s life and ministry also provides one model for crafting a religious response to extremely familiar circumstances.
