Kinship and Pilgrimage

The twin concepts of kinship and pilgrimage have deep roots in Protestant culture. This cultural anthropological study, drawing on fieldwork in Scotland and the American South, argues that in Reformed Protestantism, the Catholic custom of making pilgrimages to sacred spots has been replaced by the custom of "reunion"--including family reunions, church homecomings, cemetery association days, and camp meetings--part of an institutionalized pilgrimage complex that comments on Protestant culture and belief while presenting a symbolic inversion of Roman Catholic tradition.