Sect‐to‐Church Movement in Globalization: Transforming Pentecostalism and Coastal Intermediaries in Contemporary China

Abstract

After eight months of itinerant fieldwork across 17 provinces, I elaborate on how the largest Pentecostal group deeply localized in China, the True Jesus Church, has undergone sect-to-church movement through interactions among overseas, coastal, and inland churches in globalizing China. A critical intermediary role in this process has been taken by emerging coastal Fujian leaders, who have been successfully reforming not only their churches but also inland counterparts by tactfully utilizing overseas churches as stimuli, resources providers, and legitimizers for the transformation project. The Chinese fever of integration into the world and high status granted to the overseas are keys to smooth away the barriers of the traditionalist old guard. Accordingly, the originally enclosed, anti-political, sectarian, spirit-led group has turned more institutionalized, laity-oriented, text-based, and welcoming to the government and mainstream Protestantism.

Studying Religiosity and Spirituality: A Review of Macro, Micro, and Meso-Level Approaches

“…The remaining 28 publications are journal articles in: Religions (8), Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (7), Journal of Business Research (1), Social Indicatory Research (1), Socius (1), Transnational Social Review (1), Asian Journal of Social Science (1), Asia Pacific Viewpoint (1), Asian Journal of Tourism Research (1), Education about Asia (1), Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs (1), Journeys (1), Modern Asian Studies (1), Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe (1), and South East Asia Research (1). Combined, the meso-level studies in Asia included these countries: India (11), Thailand (5), Turkey (3), South Korea (3), China (3), Taiwan (2), Hong Kong (2), Indonesia (2), Russia (2), Syria (2), Cambodia (1), Israel (1), Kazakhstan (1), North Korea (1), Kyrgyzstan (1), Macedonia (1), Philippines (1), Singapore (1), and Ukraine (1): (Bornstein 2012;Bruntz and Schnedeck 2020;Ecklund et al 2019;Hann and Goltz 2010;Lewis 2014;Schedneck 2015Schedneck , 2017aSchedneck , 2017bSchedneck , 2018Schedneck , 2019Hamid 2013;Bromley 2011;Clarke 2013;Wong and Tien 2014;Cadge et al 2011;Huang 2016;Kurien 2014;Lawson and Cragun 2012;Lussier 2019;Schnabel et al 2018;Schnable 2016;Iyer et al 2014;Shahzad and Lee 2016;Yoder 2020;Aarfreedi 2019;Chadwin 2020;Dutta 2019;Hong 2018;Kim and Bang 2019;Reinke 2018;Robinson 2019;Yang 2018;Stroope 2012;Ecklund et al 2016;Noor 2010;…”

Global Chinese Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity

“…The originally enclosed, antipolitical, sectarian, Spirit-led group has become more institutionalized, laity-oriented, and text-based, and also more welcoming to the government and mainstream Protestantism. This shift is related to the emergence and expansion of urban faith, a consequence of rapid urbanization accompanied by a great influx of rural migrants into cities (Huang 2016).…”