From Protestant Ethic to Neoliberal Logic: Evangelicals at the Interface of Culture and Politics

This article brings Max Weber’s argument about the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism into conversation with contemporary accounts of society framed by neoliberalism and traces some implications in terms of emergent patterns of authority. It asks how an alignment between Evangelicalism and capitalism has fostered a distinctive cross-fertilisation in recent years, including a re-negotiation of what counts as normative, credible, and successful. It argues that a moralised sense of vocation has been overtaken in some influential circles by an urge to mirror the embodied and broadcast aesthetics of the entertainment industry, and by the importation of business strategies that instrumentalise capital, influence and media exposure. Drawing on examples from recent Anglo-American Evangelical history – inspired in turns by a desire for evangelistic success and political influence – the article examines how this pattern is both rooted in a long-standing tradition of technological engagement while also moving into a phase that foregrounds utilitarian logic in order to maximise Evangelical exposure and credibility

The Reproduction and Transmission of Religion

This article critiques theories of transmission and the reproduction of religion from Comte through Marx and Durkheim to contemporary sociologists of religion, including Berger, engaging as it does so with positivist and sociology-of-knowledge approaches to the question, among others. It also deals with the issues of transmission and reproduction in the context of secularisation theory in its various guises. The article further considers Hervieu-Léger's views on the phenomenon of ‘cultural amnesia’, the effects of which gravely undermine the passing on of religious beliefs and values. Transmission and reproduction do not necessarily depend on the mainstream churches, which are increasingly less effective in this regard. The emergence of small-scale, alternative community structures could possibly perform the role of sustaining and passing on core values

Religion and the Cultures of Higher Education: Student Christianity in the UK

This chapter is about the relationship between higher education and the religious identities of university students. Unlike some other essays in this volume, its primary concern is not with how religion is managed as a curricula topic within classroom contexts. Rather, it focuses on how the experience of university – broadly conceived - exerts an influence over the religious perspectives of students. The empirical foundation of the following discussion is research into Christian students studying at universities within the United Kingdom, although the patterns discerned there have clear resonance with tendencies in other parts of the Western world. In keeping with the sociological approach used in this research, the chapter begins with an extended overview of universities within the UK and their relationship with religious concerns, tracing historical developments and the challenges of the contemporary context. This is followed by a discussion of how we might access and make sense of the different cultures of higher education manifest within these universities. We then turn to fresh empirical evidence gathered on Christian students across universities in England

Worldviews, religious literacy and interfaith readiness: Bridging the gap between school and university

This briefing paper presents findings from academic research that explores the relationships between UK university students’ religious literacy, their experiences of religious education (RE) at school, and what we call their ‘interfaith learning and development’, a multidimensional concept representing students’ ability to engage with, and relate across, religion and worldview difference. This research represents the first step in exploring how different types of RE might prepare students for the challenges of university, in which they are often faced with a variety of identities different from their own. This briefing is based on data collected from a national sample of UK university as part of the 'Building Positive Relationships among University Students across Religion and Worldview Diversity' project

COVID-19 and the Chinese Christian Community in Britain: Changing Patterns of Belonging and Division

This article draws on interview data with Chinese Christian leaders to explore how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the Chinese Christian church in Britain. Based upon twelve semi-structured interviews conducted with Christian leaders in nine cities, the research identifies the ways in which the COVID-19 outbreak is shaping the dynamics of intragroup and intergroup connectedness within and beyond the Chinese church in Britain. It finds that COVID-19 is playing a significant role in social connectedness. This manifests in three ways: the reconfiguration of a sense of belonging at church, the perception of outreach and evangelism, and the relationship between Chinese Christians from different regional backgrounds. These findings outline that the COVID-19 pandemic is triggering both cohesion and division. On the one hand, the outbreak is functioning as an incubator for a stronger sense of belonging to the church and appears to encourage the church to reach out to seekers and the wider community. On the other hand, the pandemic is also dividing the Chinese church through conflicts in political views and social attitudes. Such conflicts, which are primarily about democratic values and views of China's communist regime, are particularly observable between Mandarin-speaking Christians from mainland Chinese backgrounds and Cantonese-speaking Christians from Hong Kong backgrounds. The article argues that the coronavirus pandemic has initiated deeper reconstruction and reform in the Chinese Christian community in Britain in terms of organisation and mission

Negotiating Community : An Ethnographic Study of an Evangelical Church.

Evangelical Christianity is commonly interpreted in terms of an ongoing reaction to a religiously and morally defunct modernity. Some commentators argue for its popularity on the grounds that it compensates for the discontents of modernity, offering certainty in a context of uncertainty, clarity amidst confusion. However, the efficacy of this process is dependent upon the maintenance of effective boundaries against modernisation. In recent times, evangelicalism has increasingly engaged with secular agencies and with forces outside of its traditional remit, leading to a comprehensive accommodation to - and negotiation with - modem ideas, media and values. Tracing this process within a thriving evangelical Anglican church in northern England, I explore how congregational values are (a) liberalised, characterised by tolerance and a broadening of tradition; and (b) subjectivised, preoccupied with the inner life and needs of the self. As a point of comparison, I trace a different response in a progressive 'alternative' worship group attached to the church. In an interesting inversion, their driving ethos is a postmodern critique of the church and its apparent disconnection from contemporary culture; their concern: the discontents of the evangelical mainstream. These case studies throw into question several common assumptions: that liberalisation leads to decline; that subjectivisation leads to atomisation; and that both processes advance along a simple or unidirectional route within particular communities. In particular, they highlight the importance of local demographic and historical filters in the negotiation with modem trends. Moreover, while accommodation appears to generate diversification, this does not necessarily lead to fragmentation. Rather, growth and the maintenance of community here depend on sustaining cultural affinities with a target audience, providing opportunities for empowerment among members and maintaining a collective sense of self in public discourse

Negotiating Community : An Ethnographic Study of an Evangelical Church.

Evangelical Christianity is commonly interpreted in terms of an ongoing reaction to a religiously and morally defunct modernity. Some commentators argue for its popularity on the grounds that it compensates for the discontents of modernity, offering certainty in a context of uncertainty, clarity amidst confusion. However, the efficacy of this process is dependent upon the maintenance of effective boundaries against modernisation. In recent times, evangelicalism has increasingly engaged with secular agencies and with forces outside of its traditional remit, leading to a comprehensive accommodation to - and negotiation with - modem ideas, media and values. Tracing this process within a thriving evangelical Anglican church in northern England, I explore how congregational values are (a) liberalised, characterised by tolerance and a broadening of tradition; and (b) subjectivised, preoccupied with the inner life and needs of the self. As a point of comparison, I trace a different response in a progressive 'alternative' worship group attached to the church. In an interesting inversion, their driving ethos is a postmodern critique of the church and its apparent disconnection from contemporary culture; their concern: the discontents of the evangelical mainstream. These case studies throw into question several common assumptions: that liberalisation leads to decline; that subjectivisation leads to atomisation; and that both processes advance along a simple or unidirectional route within particular communities. In particular, they highlight the importance of local demographic and historical filters in the negotiation with modem trends. Moreover, while accommodation appears to generate diversification, this does not necessarily lead to fragmentation. Rather, growth and the maintenance of community here depend on sustaining cultural affinities with a target audience, providing opportunities for empowerment among members and maintaining a collective sense of self in public discourse