When All Comes Crumbling Down

A Nigerian Pastor and his Congregation in the Diaspora

Bibliographic Data

ID21821999
AuthorsAnders Lundberg (0000-0002-4581-8856, Linnaeus University, corresponding author), Anders Per Lundberg
Year2020
Volume19
Issue1
Pages62-80
Publication date2020-06-22
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePentecoStudies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1871-7691 • E-ISSN: 2041-3599
PublisherEquinox Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1558/pent.40301
OpenAlexW3037911343
LanguageEN
References cited17

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

Economics · Epistemology · Ethnography · Pleading · Political science · Sociology · Theology · Anthropology · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Finance

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