Emotions, Identities, and Politics in Contemporary Evangelicalism (since 2020)
Seattle-based evangelical megachurch Churchome has found its own answer to Christianity’s often postulated decline in the US and other parts of the world: They do not only address spiritual “seekers” but also cater their services particularly toward those who, though having been raised in a conservative evangelical milieu, have been discouraged or even repelled thereof in their adult life. Among these “over-churched” individuals, many criticize the performative and, in their view, hypocritical positivity of evangelicalism. Against this pressure to live a picture-perfect Christian life, Churchome sets vulnerability and honesty as a theological imperative and frames believers‘ previous experiences in therapeutic terms. Churchome has not only become a gathering place for deconverted evangelicals but presents itself as a deconverted church that has recognized and is working against the dangers of „performance-based“ faith.
My dissertation research focuses on inner-evangelical boundary management and shifting alliances and conflicts in an increasingly polarized and politicized evangelical field. Taking Churchome as a case study, I analyze how evangelicals who have grown uncomfortable with evangelicalism construct new identities and distance themselves from other evangelicals. I argue that Churchome’s therapeutic emotional regime enables the church to authentically present itself as a deconverted and „different“ megachurch.
Working with Grounded Theory Methodology, I have conducted extensive ethnographic field research at Churchome, both online and offline. So far, I have published some initial methodical reflections, one article about deconversion narratives of joining Churchome, and a chapter on digital social forms. An article about divine healing practices as identity work is currently under review.
Social Media Influencers and Religious Belonging (since 2024)
Christian believers are increasingly practising their religion online. Making use of the opportunity to not only consume but also create and share content, religious influencers, some of whom have tens of thousands of followers, share insights into their religious practice, give advice on Christian living, or position themselves in theological debates.
In their search for an audience online, influencers are faced with the question of how to communicate themselves and their religious affiliation in their posts and self-presentation. This question becomes even more relevant, as confessional or denominational differences have been losing importance in recent decades. Religious affiliation is no longer self-evident but must be negotiated, with social media being one of the arenas for such negotiations. This also raises questions about the marking of religious authority on social media and about practices of self-thematisation and self-presentation. Users, conversely, have access to posts and accounts from a wide range of religious and denominational backgrounds on their smartphones and can compile their online experience from them. On the one hand, their consumption of different content is itself an expression of their religious affiliation and, on the other hand, it transcends and possibly shifts denominational or confessional boundaries.
The research project based at CERES at Ruhr University Bochum explores the intersections between transformations of Christian confessionality and German-language Christian YouTubers and their audience.
(Photo by Libby Penner at Unsplash)
Evangelical Practices of Forgiveness (2018-2019)
Evangelicals and Pentecostals have been on the rise in Latin America for several decades. The fact that so many people are leaving Catholicism and converting to evangelical churches is usually attributed either to intensive missionary efforts by the churches or to the financial and social benefits that can accompany conversion. However, in addition to mission and poverty, conflicts and civil wars in the region are catalysts for the spread of evangelicalism. In the Ayacucho region of Peru, for example, which was particularly affected by the civil war of the 1980s and 90s, entire villages converted, even though the „evangélicos“ or „hermanos“ were in the line of fire of both the guerrilla and the military.
In my master thesis, based on several months of field research with survivors of the conflict, I explored how evangelical theological concepts of conversion as “rebirth” and forgiveness as God’s command for all believers shaped conflicts, reconciliation, and remembrance in the region. I showed that conversions and the forgiveness that accompanies them represent local efforts to find alternative forms of justice in the face of the conflicts’ high civil involvement.
I have published my research in an edited volume by Karen Silva-Torres, Carolina Rozo-Higuera, and Daniel S. Leon and in a working paper at Forum Internationale Wissenschaft.
