Session Abstract

The recently published Atlas of Global Christianity (Johnson and Ross, 2010) reveals a rapidly shifting religious landscape.  Within the last half-century, Christianity has grown exponentially through indigenous movements and churches concentrated in Latin and South America, sub-Saharan Africa, and East Asia.  No longer is it possible to see Christianity as the cultural export of some nations, and the import of others. Yet much of this global growth is in conservative evangelical and Pentecostal churches that have ties with or roots in US-based ministries (Wuthnow, 2009). This panel explores the relationship between US Christians and those abroad, paying attention to the ways that American Christianity has expanded internationally and been shaped by these encounters.

The academic literature on Western Christian mission to and engagement with the wider world has often relied on narratives that either emphasize the destructive force of cultural imperialism (Comaroffs, 1991) or the marvel of indigenous appropriation (Sanneh, 2008). The papers in this panel seek to look beyond those explanatory tropes to focus on the historical development of new Christian “global flows” (Appadurai, 1996) that do not presume a unidirectional or power-dominated approach. Regarding American Christianity in particular, this panel contributes to the growing literature on the connections between the US and global Christianity. Much of this work focuses on the contemporary period or nineteenth-century missions; the papers in this panel illuminate key historical trends that undergird current economic, charitable and cultural flows. Traditional missionary work is examined as one part of a multi-faceted, dynamic interchange between twentieth-century American evangelicals and their counterparts abroad. Contributors to this session will provide three comparative case studies: the development of international Christian humanitarianism, the evolution of professional Holy Land tourism, and the emergence of American “church growth” consultants in the global megachurch movement. Chair and respondent expertise lie also in the areas of transnational cooperation, commerce and multinational corporations. Examining the roots of key contemporary trends, this session joins the ongoing discussion across disciplinary fields of how religions operate in a world made smaller by globalization.

Note: This abstract is limited to 300 words to accommodate ASCH guidelines.