Healing, faith and fear: church opening in the United States during COVID-19 restrictions
This article examines how resistance to stay-at-home orders was framed to congregants through sermons and in statements to media outlets. Using an approach informed by grounded theory, we analysed news articles of church behaviour and the YouTube videos of sermons from pastors that protested against...
| Published in: | Journal of contemporary religion |
|---|---|
| Authors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Carfax Publ.
2023
|
| In: |
Journal of contemporary religion
|
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
USA
/ Free church
/ COVID-19 (Disease)
/ Measure
/ Opposition
/ Public health
|
| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AG Religious life; material religion CA Christianity KBQ North America KDG Free church TK Recent history ZB Sociology |
| Further subjects: | B
Resistance
B Covid-19 B Evangelical B Faith B Public health |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article examines how resistance to stay-at-home orders was framed to congregants through sermons and in statements to media outlets. Using an approach informed by grounded theory, we analysed news articles of church behaviour and the YouTube videos of sermons from pastors that protested against COVID-19 guidelines from March 2020 to November 2020. We also draw on legal filings to identify churches that most actively resisted closures. In analysing these publicly available data, a relationship between church openings in the United States and an evangelical theology of resistance particular to non-denominational churches to public health efforts emerged. Our analysis found that ‘largely evangelical’ churches that are not considered part of a mainline evangelical denomination were more likely to seek ways to remain open in defiance of public health orders. We use the terms ‘largely evangelical’ and ‘mainline evangelical’ to distinguish these two very different denominational families. Evidence from this article suggests that evangelical Christian churches in the US that are not considered ‘mainline evangelical’ denominations (e.g. non-denominational, Pentecostal) were more likely to resist stay-at-home orders and more prepared to be legally active in resisting such policies and gather indoors (as opposed to Catholic churches and ‘mainline evangelical’ denominations). |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1469-9419 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of contemporary religion
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/13537903.2023.2206206 |