The Subversive Evangelical

In The Subversive Evangelical, Peter Schuurman provides an ethnographic case study of the Canadian megachurch The Meeting House (TMH), which positions itself as “a church for people not into church” (xiv). TMH hosts its Sunday meetings in rented movie theatres, embraces church dance parties, and seeks to subvert expectations at every turn. It is currently led by the charismatic leader Bruxy Cavey, a long-haired, casually dressed, and tattooed Pastor who has a fascination with zombies. Schuurman draws on an extensive body of data including: two years of participant observation, 82 interviews with attendees and staff, in-house surveys, sermons, websites, books, social media, and newspapers, as well as a wealth of supporting theoretical references (which at times can seem to overload the endnotes). Overall, this is a well-researched and considered portrayal of a group that has the potential to be either dismissed as frivolous or drawn into the scandalization of...

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