Can Pilgrimage Fail? Intent, Efficacy, and Evangelical Trips to the Holy Land

Many scholars have debated the potential results of pilgrimage, but few have tracked how pre-trip goals actually relate to post-trip outcomes. Based on research with US evangelicals, this article argues that, despite being confronted with the possibility of disrupted meaning, nearly every pilgrim co...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kaell, Hillary (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Carfax Publ. [2016]
In: Journal of contemporary religion
Year: 2016, Volume: 31, Issue: 3, Pages: 393-408
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Palestine / Evangelical movement / Pilgrimage / Failure
Further subjects:B Holy Land
B Pilgrimage
B Evangelical
B Israel
B evangelical Christian
B Failure
B tour
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:Many scholars have debated the potential results of pilgrimage, but few have tracked how pre-trip goals actually relate to post-trip outcomes. Based on research with US evangelicals, this article argues that, despite being confronted with the possibility of disrupted meaning, nearly every pilgrim comes to see the trip as a success. To understand why, I draw on studies that frame Christian rituals as processes that are partial and in flux. Firstly, I explore how gendered notions of relationality affect perceptions of efficacy and lead to multiple goal-setting. Secondly, I show how the journey is couched within broader epistemologies that define a Christian life as incremental improvements, where one ‘grows' with God. Thus the meaning making associated with pilgrimage is never fully complete, but is compelled into a future where further interpretations and presumed successes are inchoate. Ultimately, the belief in future meaning is as important—perhaps more so—than immediate ritual success.
ISSN:1469-9419
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of contemporary religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/13537903.2016.1206254