The Evangelical Milieu: Defining Criteria and Reproduction across the Generations

Abstract

English The authors give the first description of evangelicalism in Switzerland using representative data. It is shown that evangelicalism can be conceived of as a “milieu” which is characterized by certain structural and cultural traits, boundaries and high internal communication. The relative success of the evangelical milieu compared to other religious milieus is explained by its remarkable ability to retain its own numerous offspring, while on the other hand providing a “religious product” that is also attractive to people without an evangelical familial background. French Les auteurs utilisent des données représentatives afin de faire, pour la première fois, une description de l'évangélisme en Suisse. Ils montrent qu'on peut parler de l'évangélisme comme d'un "milieu'' qui se caractérise par certains attributs structurels et culturels, des frontières et une communication interne élevée. Le succès relatif du milieu évangélique comparé à d'autres milieux s'explique par sa capacité remarquable à retenir les enfants de ses membres dans le mouvement tout en offrant un "produit religieux'' attractif aux personnes sans arrière-fond évangélique.

Growth and Decline of Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, Pentecostals, and Charismatics in Switzerland 1970–2013

“…But it is not just the ideology that is geared to recruitment—EFPC churches as organizations also pursue a variety of specific strategies to promote recruitment and growth. ‐ Socialization and retention . A further argument is that EFPC groups grow faster than their mainline competitors because they are better able to hold on to the offspring of their members through socialization (Stolz and Favre ; Bibby ; Bouma ). EFPC groups place great emphasis on the family and on members transmitting the faith to their offspring.…”

"All Things Are Possible": Towards a Sociological Explanation of Pentecostal Miracles and Healings

“…Pentecostalism in Switzerland is a small minority making up no more than 1 percent of the population. Pentecostals are decidedly middle class (except for immigrant Pentecostal communities) (Stolz and Favre 2005) and are-in contrast to stable evangelical and declining conservative and liberal churchesgrowing. One interesting contextual factor is that both AIMG officials and participants are acutely aware of the "competition" by biomedicine.…”

7. Die Evangelikalen: Überzeugte Christen in einer zunehmend säkularisierten Welt

“…die Methodisten, die Freien Evangelischen Gemeinden oder die Evangelische Gesellschaft. Tabelle 1 belegt diese Unterschiede anhand von Daten einer repräsentativen Umfrage unter evangelikalen Freikirchen in der Schweiz (Stolz/ Favre 2005).…”