This interpretation of the role of residence in the economy of middle-class culture could lead to various projections for the churches. It could be argued that any fellowship which centers in residential neighborhoods is doomed to become an expression of the panic for stable identity among the middle classes. It could be argued that only such neighborhoods can sustain religious activity, since worship presupposes some local stabilities. Whatever projection one makes, the striking fact about congregational and parochial life is the extent to which it is a vehicle of the social identity of middle-class people.

Attention will be given in the next chapter to the style of association in the denominational churches; this style is characteristically an expression of the communal style of the middle classes. The keynotes of this style are activism and emphasis on achievements in gaining self-esteem. These values give direction to the life of the middle-class man or woman, dictating the methods of child rearing, determining the pattern of community participation, setting the style for the psychiatric treatment of middle-class illness, and informing the congregational life of the major denominations. ``Fellowship by likeness'' and ``mission by friendly contact'' form the iron cage of denominational religion. Its contents are another matter, for they reveal the kinds of interests pursued by the congregation. What goes on in the cage will occupy our attention under the rubric of the organization church. An understanding of the new role of residential association in an industrial society serves to illuminate the forces which have fashioned the iron cage of conformity which imprisons the churches in their suburban captivity.