Pentecostal Studies Research Articles

Why Prophesying Deliverance Still Matters

Abstract This paper recognizes the 40th anniversary of the publication of Prophesy Deliverance! by Cornel West, and acknowledges the broad impact of his intellectual leadership. It begins with the important question of whether West has centered or marginalized Pentecostal thought and culture in the presentation of his basic argument regarding the evolution of Black critical thought and prophetic Christianity. Next is an exploration of how West’s ideas about Black revolutionary Christianity find expression in recent studies of Black Pentecostalism, with particular attention to the Pentecostal social imaginary framed by Dale Coulter and by Keri Day.

‘Minding the pentecostal paradox’: Currents and cross‐currents in pentecostal studies in Africa (PenteSA)

AbstractEmploying the pentecostal paradox motif, this survey engages the literature on African Pentecostalism across a spectrum of disciplines in both humanities and social sciences. Utilising a thematic cluster as analytical approach, the study posits that African Pentecostalism represents a decolonial shift from an era of mere beliefs to the era of the dispensation of the Spirit. African Pentecostalism emphasises post‐indigenous and transrational appropriations of the gospel, situated within specific historical and cultural contexts. The study concludes by zooming in on the imperative for scholars on Pentecostal studies in Africa (PenteSA) to be mindful of 'the pentecostal paradox', urging them to recognise their roles as a prophetic vocation.

Historiography of the Genesis of the Pentecostal Movement: Early and Recent Research Directions in English-language Literature

The purpose of this article is to identify early and recent Pentecostal studies in the West and to highlight the main difference between them. Today there are more than 250 million Pentecostals in the world, and together with the charismatic movement there are more than 500 million. Having begun to spread in the 20th century, the movement claims to be the fastest growing religious phenomenon in human history. In attempts to interpret the phenomenon of the movement's growth, there have been several gradually emerging approaches: explaining the origin of the movement as supernaturally "coming from heaven"; searching for the origins of Pentecostalism in other Christian movements; presenting the emergence of the movement as the result of social and psychological factors such as poverty, marginalization, and the desire to escape from modern society; and the multicultural approach. The paper analyzes the works of Western historians and theologians of Pentecostalism since the second half of the 20th century. The result shows a turning point between early and late studies, namely that late studies aim to revise the history and include participants in the movement around the world, not just in North America, explore the contribution to the development of the movement of local ministers who have long remained in the shadow of Western missionaries, emphasize the diversity of ideologies and social influences that have shaped the movement. It also highlights three major contemporary areas of research: historical, characterized by studies of Pentecostalism in Asia, Africa, and Latin America; theological, focusing on the development and shaping of theoretical theology as a result of the movement's institutionalization; and religious studies, practiced primarily from the perspective of the sociology of religion.

Overlooked by the Spirit-filled: Womanist Pentecostalism and the case of the Hellenistic widows

ABSTRACT From its inception until now, Pentecostalism has thrived among Black communities, women and those experiencing socio-economic deprivation. Pentecostal theological ethicists have dealt in some ways with the themes of race, class and gender but often as single issues, meaning that Black women, who exist at the intersections, can be overlooked. Womanist ethics has a particular contribution to make to Pentecostal theology and Pentecostal studies since womanists centre the Spirit, as well as the lived experiences and faith of Black women in a world (and churches) marked indelibly by racism, sexism and classism. Given the centrality of the Bible in Black Pentecostal women’s spirituality, in this article, I examine the case of the Hellenistic widows in Acts 6 which illustrates the importance of Pentecostal womanism for critiquing the problems of race, gender and class, that shape even the Spirit-filled community not only in the early church but also today.

Social entrepreneurship in the selected neo-Pentecostal churches: A holistic salvation

Pentecostalism is a Christian tradition known for personal salvation, baptism in the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, divine healing and personal encounter with God through the work of the Holy Spirit. However, Pentecostalism is not limited to these; the tradition also ministers the full gospel that affects a holistic person, meaning body, soul and spirit. This article demonstrated that the holistic salvation approach is a motivation for social entrepreneurial activities in the selected neo-Pentecostal churches in South Africa. The article worked within the social entrepreneurial framework to argue that the neo-Pentecostal churches minister to their followers holistically. Pentecostalism transforms people’s lives in daily living, particularly the poorest of the poor communities through entrepreneurial orientation. The researchers’ methodology was a case study approach of four neo-Pentecostal churches in South Africa that have shown social entrepreneurship factors. In addition, the participant observation method was used in highlighting entrepreneurial activities in these churches.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article examined the role of neo-Pentecostal churches in social entrepreneurship through a holistic salvation approach to Pentecostal theology by using a case study method. This role is a juxtaposition between the study of Pentecostalism from a missiological discipline and the study of social entrepreneurship from the discipline of economics, particularly social economics.

Inner Healing, Embodied Emotions, and the Therapeutic Culture of Christian Healing Ministries

Abstract This address explores the relationship between pentecostal experience and pentecostal rituals and practices. Specifically, it will investigate this relationship through an analysis of healing and deliverance. This exploration takes place in three parts. First, it offers a description of the role, practices, and experience(s) of healing in Christian Healing Ministries. Second, it provides a theoretical orientation for analyzing and understanding the social and religious processes that are occurring in the ministry. Finally, it offers some theological and personal reflections on conducting this kind of research and their implications for the study of Pentecostalism.

The Gospel beyond the West: The Sanneh–Walls Legacy and Emerging Conversation Partners in World Christianity Studies

The core disciplines within World Christianity studies derived from the legacy of Lamin Sanneh and Andrew Walls. Their extensive research and dedicated teaching from their historical and missiological roots provided a body of work upon which past and present World Christianity scholars continue to build. In their work, Walls and Sanneh modelled an openness to other perspectives which would provide insights into Christianity in the non-Western world. Though they operated from within their disciplines, the paradigm of translation that Walls and Sanneh championed consistently harboured the prospect of other disciplinary conversation partners. These aspects of the Walls and Sanneh legacy invite us to consider broader research frameworks to help make sense of Christian expansion in the non-Western world today. Though theology, missiology and history are vital disciplines, these in themselves are insufficient to investigate the wider spectrum of issues required to grasp current developments. This essay examines the research issues that World Christianity raises. Through the case study of African Pentecostalism, the essay demonstrates how multidisciplinary approaches might be used to address the questions. In this way, World Christianity studies can reliably draw from, and contribute to, other fields during its investigation of Christian faith as a global religion. This multidisciplinary approach to World Christianity studies also enables researchers to dignify the experience of those, previously marginal, expressions they study. In this way, researchers will carry forward the legacy received from the pioneers.

Bibliometrics and Pentecostal Scholarship

Abstract The Society for Pentecostal Studies celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2020. To commemorate the half-century mark, the editors of Pneuma assembled a special issue that included a history of the Society. While the fiftieth-anniversary commemorative volume captured the growth of the Society, absent was a consideration of the impact of Pneuma. As such, the fifty-year anniversary deserves a more quantifiable discussion of the journal’s impact on scholarship. By using a combination of information science and theological reflection, this article offers fresh insights on the journal’s impact in the realm of scholarly publishing. It fleshes out significant theological trends in Pentecostalism covered in its fifty-year history using bibliometrics. An index of all 710 peer-reviewed research articles published from 1978 to 2022 was created. Bibliometrics were used to assess that scholarship’s impact, understand where pentecostal studies flourished, and uncover possible gaps in pentecostal research where further study may be needed. Bibliometric research in theological studies acts as a mirror for researchers by quantifiably reflecting trends in pentecostal research that may have been anecdotally assumed or overlooked altogether. It places possible bias into sharp focus and offers new tools for discussing sensitive research and publication issues such as gender politics, diversity, and inclusivity.

Exploring Experience

Abstract This article contributes to pentecostal research by arguing that applied phenomenology can enhance the understanding of pentecostal experience and enrich work with systematic theology by increasing the amount of relevant data. Phenomenology is especially appropriate for pentecostal theology and research due to the shared emphasis on embodiment, importance of experiences, consistency of appearances, and realism of phenomena. Despite this methodological fit, our systematic literature review reveals a lack of phenomenological works in the corpus of pentecostal studies, and we provide some considerations for integration and suggestions for further empirical research grounded in a phenomenological sensibility.

Jesus Loves Japan: Return Migration and Global Pentecostalism in a Brazilian Diaspora, by Suma Ikeuchi

How do returning migrants relate do their ancestral culture? What are the cross-cultural and interreligious negotiations that occur? How do they make meaning of their in-between state in a new land? What happens when global Pentecostalism encounters a predominantly Buddhist and Shinto society? What role does religion, or more specifically Christianity, play in meaning-making and generating purpose in the lives of these returnees in a seemingly “foreign” and hostile land?In her seminal work, Jesus Loves Japan: Return Migration and Global Pentecostalism in a Brazilian Diaspora, Suma Ikeuchi (University of California, Santa Barbara) attempts to answer similar questions by looking at the day-to-day experience of a Brazilian Pentecostal community in Japan. This work is an ethnographic tour de force but also comprises a beautiful narrative of Nikkei (second-generation) Pentecostal resilience, hope, and integration in a familiar yet strange land.As a result of her personal encounter with world Pentecostalism, Ikeuchi takes us along her own journey of self-discovery, introducing readers to her experience living among Nikkei Brazilian immigrants navigating the two Js—Jesus and Japan—in the Brazilian Pentecostal Church of Missão Apoio Toyota (182). Her ethnographic and phenomenological study investigates their daily lives through such experiences as coffees, dinners, baby showers, birthday parties, soccer viewing gatherings, and funerals (28).The results are quietly impressive. Her overarching thesis is that Pentecostalism’s language of spiritual conversion embodied in the “born again” experience gives believers a sense of “transnational transcendence” in which they are now “members of ‘the culture of love’ which ostensibly overcomes narrow ethnonational affiliations” (183).In the first part, Ikeuchi describes the experience of Brazilian return migrants suspending their erstwhile Japanese identity. Returning to their ancestral homeland of Japan on the Nikkei-jin visa, these return migrants, or Nikkei, experience the phenomenon of “afastamento,” a “distancing” or feeling of disenchantment with the “ethnic aura” or “great pride of the Japanese race” (38). Ikeuchi masterfully shows how this plays out in the Nikkei encounter with typical Japanese customs such as Obentō and Shūdan Tōkō, and even the menial task of garbage disposal (66, 73).The second part shows how the church functions as a means of renewal for the Nikkei sense of meaning and identity in a foreign land. Ikeuchi shows how prayer, sermons, testimonies, and Bible studies allow believers to experience a “break” from the “temporal suffocation” of Japanese work life (91). This helps them produce a “culture of love” and “create a new sense of citizenship” in a land that formerly appeared hostile but now has more potential to be Christian “than their former land (Brazil)” (108). Ikeuchi introduces the valuable category of love, which goes beyond simplistic reductionist attempts to reduce conversion experience to mere causal materialist processes.The third section explores how this renewed sense of identity in Christ offered by Pentecostalism affects the intercultural exchanges between Nikkei and Pentecostal identities. Ikeuchi argues that even though Nikkeis occupy a contested space in Japanese society, their view of Christian “kinship” enables them to overcome the sense of inferiority and distancing they experience in a society grounded on notions of “Japanese blood” (122).In her conclusion, Ikeuchi notes that this renewed sense of identity allows Nikkeis to reconceptualize the meaning of return migration. Nikkei Pentecostals see themselves as pilgrims hoping for their true “spiritual” homeland. Nostalgia for Brazil is replaced with spiritual vocation for Japan. The tensions of transnational mobility and contested citizenship give way to the hope that they have a special calling. After all, “Jesus ama o Japão” (186).In sum, Jesus Loves Japan is a heartwarming but nevertheless rigorous scientific study that captures the struggles, pains, faith, hopes, desires, and love of Nikkei Pentecostals. It also serves as an excellent companion to others like Christina Moreira da Rocha’s Zen Buddhism in Brazil: Japanese or Brazilian? It contributes to Pentecostal studies by showing the diffusion of Pentecostalism in a predominantly Buddhist and Shinto culture. For East Asian studies, it sheds light on minority and unrepresented voices. Suma Ikeuchi introduces readers to a world where faith, hope, and love help migrant community members reimagine their identities in order to survive in a difficult environment.

Performing Power in Nigeria: Identity, Politics, and Pentecostalism

Performing Power in Nigeria: Identity, Politics, and Pentecostalism

Holiness and Pentecostal Movements: Intertwined Pasts, Presents, and Futures

This volume is the first in a new Penn State University Press book series Studies in the Holiness and Pentecostal Movements, which has its origins in an ongoing joint session of the Manchester Wesley Research Centre and the Pentecostal Theological Seminary that began at the American Academy of Religion in 2018 with a focus on exploring the intersections between the Holiness and Pentecostal Movements. The introduction to the book gives some of the background to that exploration and presents a potted history, highlighting the pioneering work of those looking to build closer academic relationships between Pentecostal and Wesleyan scholars, which does not always make comfortable reading for those of us in the latter camp. Here some more detail would have been helpful at times to better understand acts of seeming intransigence: why, for example did the Executive Committee of the Wesleyan Theological Society discontinue joint meetings with the Society for Pentecostal Studies in 2020 without even allowing a discussion? (11)The rest of the book is divided into three sections, the first offering perspectives on the beginnings of the emergence of Pentecostalism from the Holiness Movement toward the end of the nineteenth century, beginning with the role of God’s Bible School in the education of early Holiness and Pentecostal leaders explored by David Bundy. Of particular interest to British readers is Kimberly Ervin Alexander’s assessment of the Wesleyan roots of British Pentecostalism in the ministry of Alexander A. Boddy, the Anglican vicar who founded the Pentecostal Missionary Union. The chapter highlights Boddy’s intriguing descendance from Mary Vazeille, a fact Boddy spoke proudly of at a bicentenary celebration of his great-great-great-step-grandfather, where he expressed a feeling of ‘much sympathy with the Methodists’ (77). Alexander rightly highlights the importance of Boddy’s geographical location in Sunderland, where from 1908 until 1914 he hosted an annual convention. She does, however, misjudge the source of Wesleyan and Holiness influences on the area: Lorenzo Dow visited neither here nor Manchester, where Boddy grew up (77) but the influence of James Caughey’s visit to Sunderland in the 1840s and especially Phoebe Palmer’s hugely successful campaign in the town in November 1859 are much more likely to have had lasting impacts. Alexander, though, does offer a much needed and perceptive study of Boddy, a vital British link between the Wesleyan Holiness Movement and Pentecostalism. Here lies one of the strengths of the book, in revaluating the contribution of neglected figures in the development of Holiness and Pentecostal theology and praxis.The second section of the book looks at the unity and diversity of the Holiness and Pentecostal movements as they developed. Daniel Woods gives a captivating account of the role of the railroad between 1880 and 1920, both as a theological metaphor for salvation typified in gospel songs such as This Train Is Bound for Glory and as a practical method of transport for preaching the gospel and establishing new ecclesial communities. As well as rescuing key figures from relative obscurity, the strongest essays in the collection also offer new interpretive tools with which to view them, as when Cheryl Sanders makes imaginative and perceptive use of the lenses of the Womanist perspective offered by Alice Walker and the insights of H. Richard Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture to evaluate the contribution of Black Radical Holiness women like Amanda Berry Smith, Mother Lizzy Robertson, and Mother Lilian Brookes Coffey.The concluding section of the volume offers some theological perspectives and begins with Frank Macchia’s reflection on the role of Christ as Spirit baptizer in Luke 3:16–17 and its relevance for Holiness and Pentecostal views of the atonement. The collection concludes where it began: in the academy, with an exploration of the importance of the work of the Cleveland School of Pentecostal scholars, which emerged from the Church of God Theological Seminary in Tennessee.This is a rich and fascinating collection of essays that offers a variety of historical and theological insights, the fruit of closer academic cooperation between two traditions with deep Wesleyan roots to the benefit of both. Along with the other planned volumes in the Penn State series, it is a hopeful sign that the sometime tendency toward isolationism described in the book’s introduction may become a thing of the past.

Engaging Theory in Research: A Cogent Approach to Rigorous Scholarship in Religion and Development

The debate on the role of religion in development remains inconclusive despite numerous research efforts and claims that religion is integral to effectiveness of development interventions. Lack of engagement with relevant theoretical frames in research is one of the major setbacks encumbering scholarship advancement in the field of religion and development as many researchers do not go beyond reporting field observations in their ethnographic studies. Indeed, many researchers report raw data that is not critically analyzed. As much as many researchers claim that religion is integral to development, their research evidence does not bear the weight of their claims because their methodologies do not pin down the specific variables that can be studied further to allow for such generalized claims. This paper critically reviews Pentecostal studies literature to reveal their methodological flaws and effects on knowledge advancement in the field of religion and development. The paper recommends theory-driven thinking in the research process including design and data analysis to gain better insight into the role of religion in development. Steps for choosing a germane theoretical frame are provided.

Life Outside: Pentecostalism, Poverty, and Excess in Haiti

Abstract Based on ethnographic research with a community of independent Pentecostals known in Haiti as “The Heavenly Army,” this article examines the practices and perspectives of these self-proclaimed spiritual warriors against the backdrop of their extreme material poverty. As articulated by Claudette the prophetess, her constant concern about afflicting spirits is specific to her life conditions, a way of living that she describes as “outside.” I first describe the “outsidedness” of Claudette’s and her community’s lives as an experience of marginality, vulnerability, and isolation from power. Then, drawing inspiration from Robert Orsi’s examination of “presence” and Georges Bataille’s notion of “excess,” I propose an approach that takes seriously Claudette’s claims without resorting to models of deprivation and compensation. Instead, I examine poverty not only as an experience of lack but also as one of material and social excess as well as unwelcomed presence. Foregrounding this aspect of poverty illuminates the way that global racialized capitalism and its excesses serve as a compelling meta-context for the study of global Pentecostalism.

Studying Digital Pentecostalism

Abstract One of the most important developments in recent history has been the invention of the internet and this has led to many academic disciplines developing digital research competence. However, there has been limited practical-theological research completed in the area of digitally mediated Pentecostalism. Therefore, this article addresses this important area, as conceived within the discipline of practical theology using empirical research methods. Even before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Pentecostals had embraced an online delivery of worship and ministry. Nevertheless, the capacity for the digital mediation of beliefs and practices has developed considerably in 2020 and 2021, and these recent developments invite further critical attention. To develop competence in the study of digital Pentecostalism, practical theologians will be required to acquire competence in “virtual ethnography,” sometimes referred to as “netnography,” that is, the academic study of online communities, including online churches. As part of this competence, there is a need to reframe virtual ethnography within an empirical-theological approach as a subset of practical theology, and this includes attending to hermeneutical issues as well as technical competence (that is, methods of gathering and evaluating online data). In this article, I shall explore some of these methodological concerns and suggest ways in which scholars can develop approaches to the research of digital pentecostal and charismatic Christianity.

Resource Guide for the Study of Pentecostalism in Texas , by J. Gordon Melton (ed.)

Resource Guide for the Study of Pentecostalism in Texas , by J. Gordon Melton (ed.)

The “Pinkster Kerk” as a Site of Indigenous Religious Expression within Black Pentecostal Theology

Deploying a decolonial epistemological framework that brings critical race and identity theory into conversation with African and Black theologies, this article explores the phenomenon of Pinkster Kerk as a productive site for indigenous meaning-making within studies on Black theology and African Pentecostalism. Through an autobiographical account of Pinkster and a systematic critical review of the literature on Black theology and African Pentecostalism, I argue that South African Black theology, and studies of Pentecostalism in particular, have much to gain from this unique expression of Pentecostalism found on the Cape Flats. This conversation reflects on three interrelated areas – indigenous religion, Black theology, and African Pentecostalism – and offers some theoretical insights and philosophical signposts for expanding discussion on issues of identity, politics, and race within each of these fields of study.

Performing Power in Nigeria: Identity, Politics, and Pentecostalism by Abimbola A. Adelakun

Power sits at the center of Adelakun’s rich analysis of Nigerian Pentecostalism. Its forms, functions, and influence weave throughout the book’s topics and themes. Adelakun argues that Nigeria’s social environment has been fundamentally transformed in recent decades by the way in which Pentecostals perform their identities as “people of power.” The book holds in tension two modes of power—the social construction of identity enacted by those in power (who seek to cohere and spread dominant narratives) and marginalized people’s demand for rights through radical performances (which raise counter-narratives about established norms). Adelakun demonstrates these competing spheres across an impressive succession of chapters, which use different sources to explore variable expressions of power and performance related to topics such as ethnic identity, gender expectation, fiscal legitimacy, comedy, familial identification, and COVID-19. The book shows how Pentecostals’ attention to, and discourses about, power have infused not only their community but also wider public spheres. The study provides more than insights into a religious group; it comments on the shape and animating forces at the heart of modern Nigerian society.Scholars looking for explicit discussion of interdisciplinary developments in studies of Pentecostalism or Nigeria will not find it in this book. In her introduction, Adelakun writes forcefully in support of performance studies as “the best methodology” for exploring features of religious aesthetics, actions, and politics (8). She positions her work primarily in relationship to recent intersections of religion and performance studies, generalizing other fields’ work on African Pentecostalism as missing the creative dimensions of religious life that shape production, reception, and ultimately identity construction. At odds with this seeming rejection of interdisciplinary framing, however, are the book’s chapters, which represent more dynamic, interdisciplinary cases than the introduction portends. In fact, despite Adelakun’s somewhat dismissive characterization of “anthropology, history, religious studies, and political science” in favor of performance studies (7), most of the book is fundamentally interdisciplinary. It reflects roots in African studies, a field that has brought together multiple disciplines since its beginning, often at the leading edge of methodological innovation.After the introduction, the book offers a multifaceted landscape in which a variety of sources and methods come into play. Adelakun analyzes a wide range of materials, from television dramas to financial campaigns, social-media movements to naming rituals drawing from interviews, ethnographic observations, visual analyses, and an array of media sources. For example, Chapter 3 explores expressions of the global #MeToo movement leveled against prominent Nigerian pastors. The case study brings together theological principles, gendered analysis of social respectability, visual analysis of social-media accounts, and discussion of the fetishized role of pastors’ images (literally posted on billboards or paraded on Instagram) as tools for fashioning power. Other chapters deal in nuanced ways with the democratic potential of internet communities, the role of comedy in producing worldviews, and ongoing interpretations of traditional practices, like naming.At its core, this book is not historical in focus. The first chapter with analysis lays out something of the history of Nigerian Pentecostalism, but it focuses more on exploring the role of theatrical activities in boosting congregants’ faith and commitment. The heart of Adelakun’s interest is clearly presentist. She is more interested in charting a discursive landscape than in exploring cause and effect or change over time. Similarly, her intellectual agenda is almost exclusively devoted to illuminating the contributions of performance studies to understanding the development and impact of Pentecostal identity in Nigeria. Readers interested in how she draws from other fields will need to go searching for them in her footnotes and text.Although Adelakun’s book does not immediately situate itself as a work of interdisciplinary history, those willing to engage with her chapters and content will find challenging material about the ways that attention to performance can deepen our analysis of historical problems.

From small country churches to explosion into megachurches: A modern Pentecostal cultural fit for the Assemblies of God in South Africa

This article examines the evolutionary journey of Assemblies of God in South Africa from small country churches into explosion of megachurches. This Pentecostal denomination is categorised as a classical Pentecostal church that evolved as a missionary church from the early twentieth century. It was officially registered in South Africa in 1917. Historically, it developed as small fellowships in small structures; however today, it has exploded into a huge denomination spread in some geographical locations as local megachurches. Through literature reviews, the objectives are to reveal the rationale behind this explosion, which are the church organisation, emphasis on education, entrepreneurship spirit, apostolic heritage and local church autonomy based on the group system. Results of this explosion are accounted to vigorous evangelism, and Bible-oriented religion such as kerygma, diakonia, koinonia and rhetorics to be culturally and contextually relevant. Assemblies of God embrace African gregarious worldviews and apostolic practices of ecclesial life. This apostolic outlook invokes the discussions on leadership principles. It also influences the church polity exercised by many African megachurches. Shifts from orthodox Pentecostal doctrines such as glossolalia, divine healing and eschatological expectations are examined. The conclusion is while the neo-Pentecostal movement replaces these doctrines by prosperity gospel, personal prophecies and motivational rhetorics instead of sound biblical hermeneutics, Assemblies of God in South Africa remain rooted in their evangelical and classical Pentecostal tradition.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This research study is a historical reflection based on Church History, Missiology, Pentecostal Studies, and invokes Practical Theology by referring to strong leadership principles, which leads to church stability. It further calls for Pentecostals to carry out self-examination regarding their fundamental doctrines that are invaded and influenced retrogressively by the neo-Pentecostal movement.

Between global and local: Roma Pentecostal Church identity in Serbia

Joel Robbins (2003) described Pentecostalism as both continuous, taking into account local ontologies, and discontinuous, rupturing against certain social structures or epistemologies. He refers to this as Pentecostalism’s double paradox. In this framework, Pentecostalism is local in that it often addresses the questions and issues emerging from a particular context. However, there is also a global Pentecostal identity which is reinforced through conferences, mission partnerships, shared music, and sermons. Roma Pentecostals in Southeastern Europe are also in the process of negotiating their Pentecostal identity. On the one hand, Pentecostalism is the dominant form of Christianity spreading among the Roma in Serbia because of its flexible ecclesiology, its openness to miraculous signs and wonders, its non-hierarchical structure, and its emotive personality. On the other hand, there is a rising number of mission agencies and Western missionaries working with Roma churches. Roma leaders are often negotiating what to accept and what to reject in terms of Christian theology and praxis, teaching, and programs and activities. Thus, the Pentecostal identity of their churches is being shaped in response to their own local questions and needs but also in response to the partnership from others, both through good experiences and negative ones. This paper will explore this church identity negotiation, looking at two case studies of Roma churches in Serbia. First, this paper will establish the wider conversation in Pentecostal studies regarding the relationship between inculturation and globalization. Next, this paper will analyse some of the factors of the decisionmaking process regarding how Roma leaders decide what to accept and what to reject in terms of outside influences. This analysis will bring to the foreground the operating cultural and religious values and how that contributes to the dialectical process of Pentecostal identity.