Holding up walls of faith: preservation perspectives within historic church congregations

The purpose of this thesis is to attempt to answer the question of whether a relationship exists between a historic church congregations attitude towards it building and history and its pursuit of preservation efforts. The research focuses on one specific element in the field of preservation-- church buildings-- and the way in which subjective preservation goals have been conceived and implemented by spiritual communities in Georgia. It is hoped that this research will prove helpful not only for those that are personally involved with preserving historic churches, but to the communities that sustain them and to the general public, to whom they serve as important cultural landmarks within our national landscape.