The Missionary Self-Perception of Pentecostal/Charismatic Church Leaders from the Global South in Europe

Bringing Back the Gospel
Erscheinungsjahr 2009
ISBN: 978-90-04-17508-2
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 2, 428 Seiten, Format (B × H): 168 mm x 244 mm, Gewicht: 862 g

Reihe: Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies

In a situation of growing interest in the religion of migrants, there are still few publications dealing with pentecostal and charismatic Christians from the global South and the churches they have been starting all over Europe. This ground-breaking study, based on extensive interviews conducted during a nine-year research period encompassing more than 100 churches, describes how pentecostal /charismatic migrant pastors live out their pastoral role, how they construct their missionary biographies, and how they conceptualize and practice evangelism. The result is a comprehensive portrait of an immigrant group which does not define itself as victimized and in need of assistance, but as expatriate agents with a clear calling and a vision to change the continent they now live in.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Währisch-Oblau, Claudia

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Religionssoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Denominationen Protestantismus, evangelische und protestantische Kirchen Pfingstkirchen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements. ix

1. Methodological reflections. 1
1.1 Introduction. 1
1.2 The UEM Program for Cooperation between German and Foreign Language Churches, 1998 – 2008. 8
1.3 Other European Protestant church responses to migrant churches: a short overview. 12
1.4 Description of my research. 18
1.5 Reflecting my own role as researcher and agent. 22
1.6 Interpretative paradigms. 25

2. The field of study. 33
2.1 Terminology: Migrant churches. 33
2.2 Delimiting Pentecostal / charismatic. 36
2.3 Constructing a Pentecostal / charismatic discourse field. 39
2.4 Migrant churches: Categorizations. 47
2.5 Historical dynamics: Foundation and development of migrant churches. 53
2.6 Migrant churches as part of a globalized discourse network. 56

3. The role of the pastor: the relationship to one’s own congregation. 61
3.1 The pastor as father and shepherd. 62
3.2 Defending one’s call: Biographical stories as legitimation narratives. 83
3.3 Mediators of divine power in a market situation: Observations and analysis of the pastoral role. 116
3.4 Summary: Mediators of divine power in a market situation. 130

4. Following the call: Expatriation narratives. 133
4.1 Theoretical framework: Some considerations. 133
4.2 Intertwined call and expatriation narratives. 143
4.3 Expatriation as consequence of the call. 178
4.4 Expatriation and call narrative not connected. 208
4.5 Expatriation narratives: some final observations. 220

5. Being on a mission: the relationship to the outside world. 225
5.1 “What is your mission?” Observations from the short interviews. 225
5.2 Missionary practice: Evangelizing Germans. 229
5.3 Conceptualizing evangelism in interdenominational dialogue: the long interviews. 236
5.4 Imagining Germany and Europe. 254
5.5 Conceptualizing evangelism in the global Pentecostal network: The ‘spiritual warfare’ paradigm. 271
5.6 Conclusion: Evangelism, inculturation and clashing paradigms. 301

6. Consequences. 305
6.1 The current situation. 305
6.2 Dialogue fields: a description. 311
6.3 Ecclesiology and the politics of difference: Who defines Christianity in Europe?. 323
6.4 The functional question: Does a missionary self-image further or hinder integration?. 329
6.5 The theological question: Are German churches ready to be evangelized?. 334

Appendix: Expatriation narratives. 337

Bibliography. 409

Subject Index. 425
Index of Names, Places, and Terms. 427

Über Autor(innen)

Rev. Claudia Währisch-Oblau, Dr. theol. (Heidelberg University), is a member of the Management Team of the United Evangelical Mission and heads its Evangelism Department. She has published a number of articles on pentecostal / charismatic migrant churches in Europe