Next week, trains permitting, I am presenting my first academic paper that relates to my PhD research.  The Conference is the British Sociological Association: Sociology of Religion Study Group gathering in Edinburgh.  The proposal is below and the full paper should appear as a pdf attachment below.

‘The Changing face of Christianity in the 21st Century”

The BSA Sociology of Religion Study Group Conference
6-8 April 2010 University of Edinburgh

Liquid Faith: looking for anchorages in 21st century cultures

Given the rapid changes in C21st Christianity, counting membership and observing new forms and hybridisations capture only part of the picture.  There is a strong historic approach by which to define Christianity, which represents a break from the more institutional language and categories used to trace changes in religious groups. One that is grounded in the practical and in the everyday relationships that a Christian lives within: with the Divine, with the community of believers and with those outside the faith [Charry 1999].  This relational approach focuses on these unique social bonds within the Christian worldview.

Taking a lead from work by Gordon Lynch [2002, 2003] and early experiences in the field within evangelical communities suggest that Bauman’s [2000 - 2008] Liquid metaphor offers a significant key to understanding the changing nature of these social bonds.  Focusing on these unique social bonds, this paper will allow Bauman to draw out how the Christian experience has become increasingly individualised, how much poorer it is as a result of the loss of it’s own public vocabulary and how individuals cope with that responsibility.  The results will be a much richer understanding of declining numbers and new forms within contemporary Christianity.

A huge part of my motivation and inspiration for research comes out of my own story and journey as a follower of Jesus. The first church I went to was a large town centre Baptist Church that was evangelical and charismatic. Since I came from a non-church background, the doctrine and practice that flowed from this church experience became normative. 20 months later I was at London Bible College, large, evangelical, slightly charismatic and quite baptist. Of course these are retrospective labels since I had no idea what an evangelical was before I was well into my time at LBC. Church experience at LBC was mixed but generally along the same theme. After LBC, I was at a mid-sized CofE Church in North London that was ‘generically evangelical’ [my label]. One year later I was an Assistant Pastor at a mid-sized Baptist church again that was conservatively evangelical and embarrassingly charismatic [they were embarrassed to realise they were charismatic]. And then in a very surprising [to me at least] move I became senior staff in a large CofE, conservative evangelical and recovering charismatic church. Finally in a very surprising to everyone else move I became an Ordinand at Ripon College Cuddesdon of liberal catholic fame.

These episodes in my journey lead me to reflect on my own diversification as an evangelical this is what I came up with.

Charismatic Evangelical [1992-1994] Describes where on the spectrum I was converted into.

Doctrinally Disillusioned Evangelical [1994-1996] Is how I felt when I realised you needed to go to bible college to discover who Jesus is and the resultant belief-melt-down that follows.

Post Post Evangelical [1997-1998] Is how I described myself at the public debate with Dave Tomlinson after seeing how scattered and in some places ‘obvious’ his arguments were.

‘Edge of the World’ Evangelical [199-2001] As opposed to Open Evangelical. That place where you are at the edge of the ‘flat’ world, since flat is how the doctrine felt, and wanting to take a step to get off or out, and yet finding nothing to step on to or in to.

New Kind of Evangelical [2001-2004] After reading book of similar title and seeing that it might just be degrees of perspective and there might yet be some life left in the old girl yet!

Cosmopolitan Evangelical [2005-] Since God’s call to Anglican Ordination; being neither Anglican or thinking about ordination up until that point. Cosmo because I know where I come from and don’t want to desert or abandon that past, despite trying to previously. But also wanting to be not just comfortable but actually at home in foreign places; to be able to encounter God, minister, lead, teach and live in a culture that is not my home. “To be ready to find God in the unexpected places.” To quote my selection application papers.

These diversifications have of course being supplemented with differing doctrine and practice, or least looking for such. It is with this background that I am engaging on the long process of exploring the stories of enrichment and division that emerge from other people’s diversified journeys.

There is little doubt that something is happening in the evangelical wing of the church.  Recent publications and events have both revealed and catalysed this: Post Evangelical; New Kind of Christian (trilogy); Lost Message of Jesus.  Despite a lot of activity there is a sense of conversations going round in circles.

This diversification within a relatively homogenous wing of the church provokes interesting questions concerning the current extent and depth of this diversity; is it just around particular issues like vocabulary of atonement and truth or is it broader than that, around issues of crucicentrism and biblicism? Is the resurgence of mission a redefining of evangelical activity or a rediscovery of bygone years and biblical perspectives? To what extent has the evangelical cornerstone of conversion being watered down by metaphors of journey and discovery?

Besides the usual catalogue of texts, articles and books, this research project proposes that by hearing and digesting evangelical conversion narratives it may enable the emergence of a clearer picture of late-modern evangelicalism and thus be part of charting its potential metamorphism. As well as offering insights into how a large homogenous group is dealing with issues of historical unity and growing contemporary diversity.

If this project gets any confirmation from Ministry Division then I will be looking for people from the last 20 years or so to tell me how they became a Christian.

I would welcome any comments