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Exploring the ritual and everyday religious practices through which Pentecostal life worlds unfold this book breaks new ground in the study of Latin American and global Pentecostalism. In addition to asking the familiar question of why many lower class Latin Americans convert to Pentecostalism, the author asks another question, so far largely neglected in the scholarly literature: how, or through what processes, do people begin and continue to relate to themselves and the social world in a particular Pentecostal way? For members of the Evangelical Pentecostal Church in Valparaíso, Chile, life is pervaded by divine and satanic presence and intervention. Through its fine grained analysis of different ritual, discursive/narrative and reflective processes the book shows how church members integrate sacred others into their everyday lives ― or how they learn to live, think and behave as Pentecostals.
Vibrant worship music is part of the Charismatic liturgy all around the world, and has become in many ways the hallmark of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity. Despite its centrality, scholarly interest in the theological and ritual significance of worship for pentecostal spirituality has been sparse, not least in Africa. Combining rich theoretical and theological insight with an in-depth case study of worship practices in Nairobi, Kenya, this interdisciplinary study offers a significant contribution to knowledge and is bound to influence scholarly discussions for years to come. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in Pentecostal worship, ritual, and spirituality.
Over the past decades, Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity has arguably become the fastest growing religious movement in the world. Distinguishing features of this variant of Christianity include formal ritual activities as well as informal, experiential, and ecstatic forms of worship. This book examines Pentecostal-charismatic ritual practice in different parts of the world, highlighting, among other things, the crucial role of ritual in creating religious communities and identities.
The Pentecostal World provides a comprehensive and critical introduction to one of the most vibrant and diverse expressions of contemporary Christianity. Unlike many books on Pentecostalism, this collection of essays from all continents does not attempt to synthesize and simplify the movement’s inherent diversity and fragmented dispersion. Instead, the global flows of Pentecostalism are firmly grounded in local histories and expressions, as well as the various modes of their worldwide reproduction. The book thus argues for a new understanding of Pentecostal and Charismatic movements that accounts for the simultaneous processes of pluralization and homogenization in contemporary World Chris...
An intimate portrait of LA gang members turning to drugs, nostalgia, and religion as they age and fight to stay relevant in a new era. Once celebrated in the gang world as rebels who defied the established prison order, veterano Maravilla gang members now grapple with the consequences of leading violent and drug-ridden lives. At once thrilling and tender, The Marvelous Ones sheds light on how these aging gang members struggle to stay meaningful in the face of addiction, violent trauma, and a rapidly changing East Los Angeles. Randol Contreras spent close to a decade studying the legendary Maravilla gangs of East LA, who made waves in the 1990s for their rebellion against the most powerful prison gang in the United States: the Mexican Mafia, or La Eme. These men granted Contreras unique access to their experiences, revealing how family members shun them, how jail and prison worsen them, how the church and drug treatment redeem them, and how their brightest moments lie in their pasts as legends of the California gang world. The Marvelous Ones gives human faces to the suffering and resilience of some of the most marginalized members of our society.
An intimate portrait of LA gang members turning to drugs, nostalgia, and religion as they age and fight to stay relevant in a new era. Once celebrated in the gang world as rebels who defied the established prison order, veterano Maravilla gang members now grapple with the consequences of leading violent and drug-ridden lives. At once thrilling and tender, The Marvelous Ones sheds light on how these aging gang members struggle to stay meaningful in the face of addiction, violent trauma, and a rapidly changing East Los Angeles. Randol Contreras spent close to a decade studying the legendary Maravilla gangs of East LA, who made waves in the 1990s for their rebellion against the most powerful prison gang in the United States: the Mexican Mafia, or La Eme. These men granted Contreras unique access to their experiences, revealing how family members shun them, how jail and prison worsen them, how the church and drug treatment redeem them, and how their brightest moments lie in their pasts as legends of the California gang world. The Marvelous Ones gives human faces to the suffering and resilience of some of the most marginalized members of our society.
While books on famous and infamous Pentecostal leaders abound, the corpus of research on Pentecostal leadership is sparse. This is unfortunate, as strong and innovative leadership has been instrumental for the exceptional growth of the movement--and for countless examples of abusive behaviors in Pentecostal congregations. To promote effective leadership while avoiding the destructive effects of autocratic leaders, it is necessary to better understand the dynamics of leadership within Pentecostalism. This is the purpose of the book, and Truls Akerlund fills a gap in the present knowledge on Pentecostal leadership--first by discussing the extant literature on the topic and then by exploring the meaning of such leadership through a phenomenological analysis of the experiences of pastors in Pentecostal congregations. The author describes a general structure of Pentecostal leadership with essential characteristics of the phenomenon, locates Pentecostal leadership within the broader streams of organizational and religious leadership research, and points out crucial discussions and implications to be addressed in Pentecostal organizations.
One of the most interesting voices in the Academy and the Church today is Martyn Percy. Percy, the Dean of Christ Church Oxford and a leading voice in the Anglican Communion, is both theologically orthodox, yet deeply unconventional. While remaining engaged in the scholarly community, Percy writes with clarity and passion on topics that range from ecclesiology to music, from sexuality to the Trinity, from advertising to ministerial training—he is a polymath. This book is two books in one. The first half contains a series of articles (written both by church leaders and academics) that serve as substantial, critical introductions to Percy’s thought. In the second half, the reader gets to hear from Percy himself in a collection of wide-ranging material from his corpus. While producing a dialectical engagement of some depth (as Percy offers written responses to his interlocutors), this volume should prove useful for a variety of communities beyond academic circles, especially ones engaged with contemporary issues facing ecclesiology, churches, and the wider Anglican Communion.
The goal of this book is to guide the reader through a self-examination of their own spiritual giftedness. To be sure, there will be topics and questions that this short work cannot encompass, but the four simple steps that form a part of a guide to understand, discover and use the spiritual gifts is what we have attempted to provide here. Spiritual gifts should be understood as one of five major tools that God gives each believer in their toolbox. God has granted His Spirit to us to enlighten and to make the best possible use of who each one of his children are as believers. That requires we look at gifts from the viewpoint of personality, personal skills, internal longings or zeal and ministry experience. Those four elements, combined with the spiritual gifts the Spirit gives, provide a P.R.I.Z.M. through which God’s radiant and pure grace shines. The spiritual gifts He has entrusted to us to use for His glory in the Body of Christ deliver a unique impact in the local church with worldwide reach!