New England through Kingdom Eyes: The Quiet Revival and Recontextualizing the Chinese Christian Church

摘要

New England's Quiet Revival, marked by the rapid growth of Evangelical and Pentecostal Protestant congregations over the past four decades, provides a window to the changing perspectives of community forced upon the churches, as they are thrust into the global discourses of identity politics and ‘post’ philosophies. The conservative evangelical Chinese congregations in particular are being re-contextualized in an increasingly diverse social milieu where the forces of ethnicization reconstruct a separatist perspective and their lion's share of ‘social capital’ causes rifts among ethnic groups. This article examines, through the dynamics of an Intercultural Leadership Consultation held in 2007, the strategies of church leaders from all ethnic groups in creating a unified ‘Kingdom of Heaven on Earth’ through building godly families and churches. Within the ‘intercultural dialogue’, there is an ongoing discussion between the authority of culture and universal Christianity, signifying the integration of religious belief with the social construction of identity.View full textDownload full textRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2011.539843