Public Prayer, Political Mobilization, and Civic Participation: The Case of Protestantism in Hong Kong

Abstract

This chapter presents a case analysis and discusses how the pro-China Protestant groups and the liberal Protestant groups use the practice of prayer as a religious cultural tool to mobilize people to support or oppose the governance and bills of the government, thereby further influencing the development of a civil society and other political developments. The chapter first reviews the literature regarding past research on prayer. It introduces the features and structure of the pro-China prayer campaign, and the mechanism of filling vacancies in the Legislative Council, which is closely related to political developments in Hong Kong. The chapter discusses the relationship between public prayer, political mobilization, and civic participation in Hong Kong society. The Jireh Fund integrates and mobilizes Protestants to take part in different forms and scales of prayer meetings. Keywords: Hong Kong; Jireh Fund; Legislative Council; political mobilization; pro-China Protestant groups; public prayer