This collection brings together a group of highly respected law and religion scholars to explore the funding of religious heritage in the context of state support for religions. The importance of this state support is that on the one hand it illustrates the potential tensions between secular and religious values, whilst on the other it constitutes a relevant tool for investigating the question of the legitimacy of such financial support. The funding logically varies according to the national system of state-religion relationships and this is reflected in the range of countries studied, including: Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The book provides clarity in the assignment of funds to religious heritage, as well as seeking to define the limit of what relates to the exercise of worship and what belongs to cultural policy. It is clear that the main challenge for the future lies not only in managing the dual purpose of religious monuments, but also in re-using these buildings which have lost their original purpose. This collection will appeal to those interested in cultural heritage management, as well as law and religion scholars. The views expressed during the execution of the RELIGARE project, in whatever form and or by whatever medium, are the sole responsibility of the authors. The European Union is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

"A timely and groundbreaking take on the roots of the Christian church and its place in the entirety of God's kingdom. . . . There is no better time than now to learn about and become firmly grounded within your spiritual heritage." —from the foreword by Perry Stone The early church was made up of Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus, and the church's culture was rooted in Judaism and a Jewish understanding of God's relationship to His people. Over time, however, Christianity became increasingly more Roman than Jewish, and the church lost its identity. Rabbi Curt Landry's personal story is remarkably similar. Born to a Jewish mother and a Catholic father, Landry was put up for adoption, and for more than thirty years he had no understanding of his heritage, his roots, or who his parents were. But when he discovered the truth of his story, his life changed completely. The key to a life of power and purpose is understanding who you are. In this revelatory book, Curt Landry helps Christians discover their roots in Judaism, empowering them to walk in the revelation of who they really are and who they are born to be. Reclaiming Our Forgotten Heritage reveals the mysteries of the church, letting Christians grasp the power that comes from connecting with their true identity.

This book serves to shed some light on several controversial questions about contemporary interventions on religious heritage buildings. In the mid-1960s, a process of renewal of Catholic churches began, which sought to respond to the liturgical modifications implemented during the Vatican II (1962-65). Fifty years later, this process continues to be problematic in buildings with a high heritage or historical value. From an operational point of view, it is stimulating to revisit the most relevant architectures at the international level, those high-impact works that were generated thanks to an open and serene dialogue between principals, architects, users, artists and patrimonial leaders. Thus, it is essential to know the criteria that have supported interventions, whether legal (both ecclesiastical and civil), architectural, artistic, liturgical or pastoral. In this sense, what references could be used at a time like ours? How can we reform what has already been reformed?

The instant New York Times bestseller and companion book to the PBS series. “Absolutely brilliant . . . A necessary and moving work.” —Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., author of Begin Again “Engaging. . . . In Gates’s telling, the Black church shines bright even as the nation itself moves uncertainly through the gloaming, seeking justice on earth—as it is in heaven.” —Jon Meacham, New York Times Book Review From the New York Times bestselling author of Stony the Road and The Black Box, and one of our most important voices on the African American experience, comes a powerful new history of the Black church as a foundation of Black life and a driving force in the larger freedom struggle in America. For the young Henry Louis Gates, Jr., growing up in a small, residentially segregated West Virginia town, the church was a center of gravity—an intimate place where voices rose up in song and neighbors gathered to celebrate life's blessings and offer comfort amid its trials and tribulations. In this tender and expansive reckoning with the meaning of the Black Church in America, Gates takes us on a journey spanning more than five centuries, from the intersection of Christianity and the transatlantic slave trade to today’s political landscape. At road’s end, and after Gates’s distinctive meditation on the churches of his childhood, we emerge with a new understanding of the importance of African American religion to the larger national narrative—as a center of resistance to slavery and white supremacy, as a magnet for political mobilization, as an incubator of musical and oratorical talent that would transform the culture, and as a crucible for working through the Black community’s most critical personal and social issues. In a country that has historically afforded its citizens from the African diaspora tragically few safe spaces, the Black Church has always been more than a sanctuary. This fact was never lost on white supremacists: from the earliest days of slavery, when enslaved people were allowed to worship at all, their meetinghouses were subject to surveillance and destruction. Long after slavery’s formal eradication, church burnings and bombings by anti-Black racists continued, a hallmark of the violent effort to suppress the African American struggle for equality. The past often isn’t even past—Dylann Roof committed his slaughter in the Mother Emanuel AME Church 193 years after it was first burned down by white citizens of Charleston, South Carolina, following a thwarted slave rebellion. But as Gates brilliantly shows, the Black church has never been only one thing. Its story lies at the heart of the Black political struggle, and it has produced many of the Black community’s most notable leaders. At the same time, some churches and denominations have eschewed political engagement and exemplified practices of exclusion and intolerance that have caused polarization and pain. Those tensions remain today, as a rising generation demands freedom and dignity for all within and beyond their communities, regardless of race, sex, or gender. Still, as a source of faith and refuge, spiritual sustenance and struggle against society’s darkest forces, the Black Church has been central, as this enthralling history makes vividly clear.

... An 8 year plan to preserve Lowell's historic and cultural resources in order to tell the story of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century; included in the plan are mills, institutions, residences, commercial buildings and canals; describes the areas covered; discusses preservation standards, public improvements, financing, related programs, etc.; provides architectural information, dates of construction, history, plans for building reuse, etc. of specific structures in the Lowell National Historic Park and Lowell Heritage State Park ...