Brewer, Earl D. C.

(1914-1993) Among other degrees, awarded the B.D. from Candler School of Theology (1941) and the Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina (1951). He was Professor of Sociology and Religion at Emory University and served as the Director of Research of the National Council of Churches (1967-1969). President, Religious Research Association, 1974-1975.

Brewer’s publications reflected a wide spectrum of interests and concerns: adaptation of theological schools in modern society, religion in Southern Appalachia, attitudes toward racially mixed church memberships, the employment of women in church executive positions, religion and the ministry, and aging. Perhaps his classic work was a surprisingly brief but effective essay titled “Sect and Church in Methodism” (1952) in which he traces the movement of American Methodism from sect to church, from poverty to a well-developed religious (and economic) institution with a growing acceptance of the American normative order.

—Hart M. Nelsen

References

E. D. C. Brewer, “Sect and Church in Methodism,” Social Forces 30(1952):400-408

E. D. C. Brewer, “Religion and the Churches,” in The Southern Appalachian Region , ed. T. R. Ford (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1962): 201-218.