From Piety to Professionalism D and Back?: Transformations of Organized Religious Virtuosity

From Piety to Professionalism D and Back? argues that the dissolution ties with institutions has greatly affected denominations-especially specific denominational subgroups such as Catholic religious orders, Protestant deaconesses, or women's missionary societies D in profoundly important ways: shifting or obliterating their recruitment bases, altering the backgrounds and expectations of their leaders, and often causing fundamental transformations in the very identity and culture of the groups themselves.