"Sending Christianity to therapy. How a progressive evangelical megachurch navigates religion, emotions, and identities"
From scandal-ridden televangelists with private jets to annoying neighbours shoving the gospel in peoples’ faces, evangelicalism has not been enjoying a good reputation in recent years. While vocal criticism stems from secular “outsiders,” many evangelicals themselves are feeling increasingly uncomfortable about what is being done in the name of their faith. In my dissertation, I explore how some of these disenchanted evangelicals try to do things differently.
Examining a progressive evangelical megachurch as a case study, I show that emotions are the main factor driving its disagreement with mainstream evangelicalism and its efforts at rethinking evangelical theology and practice. Progressive evangelicals criticize the rigid—and in their view, performative—positivity of more conservative churches. They frame their difference in the therapeutic language of recovering from “burnout” and providing a psychologically “healthy” alternative to potentially harmful religious ideas.
In my presentation, I will show how different understandings of emotionality inform perceptions of “right” or “wrong” religiosity in evangelicalism. I will present some theoretical ideas to grasp these inner-evangelical disagreements regarding what counts as legitimate and authentic expressions of emotion and develop a concept of therapeutic identity work.
