When All Comes Crumbling Down: A Nigerian Pastor and his Congregation in the Diaspora
Based on ethnographic research in a local RCCG congregation, the Jesus House in Midtown, Sweden, this article focuses on the meaning of pastorship to its founding pastor, John, and on the nature of the relationship between John and his congregation. Results show that to John, pastorship means hard w...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2020]
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| In: |
PentecoStudies
Year: 2020, Volume: 19, Issue: 1, Pages: 62-80 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Swedes
/ Redeemed Christian Church of God
/ Nigerians
/ Diaspora (Religion)
/ Pastor
/ Church congregation
/ Misfortune
/ Church office
/ Meaning
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| IxTheo Classification: | KBE Northern Europe; Scandinavia KBN Sub-Saharan Africa KDG Free church KDH Christian sects NBG Pneumatology; Holy Spirit |
| Further subjects: | B
Redeemed Christian Church of God
B Meaning-making B pastorship |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Based on ethnographic research in a local RCCG congregation, the Jesus House in Midtown, Sweden, this article focuses on the meaning of pastorship to its founding pastor, John, and on the nature of the relationship between John and his congregation. Results show that to John, pastorship means hard work but also an opportunity for social mobility. As he founded the Jesus House, John took on considerable financial risk, realistically turning him into a church-owner. Furthermore, the relationship between pastor and congregation implies a contract where John is expected to protect his congregants from illness and death. As a congregant dies, a crisis hits and the congregation starts to break apart. In order to save his congregation, John first appeals to his own spiritual powers, but then resorts to pleading to the structures of plausibility within the congregation. As the paper argues, this shows the importance of both cognitive and relational aspects of meaning-making. |
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| ISSN: | 1871-7691 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: PentecoStudies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/pent.40301 |