Pentecostalism and Prosperity Theology: Symposium at Regent University

The end of 2010 through the beginning of 2011 have been among the busiest--and most productive--months of my academic life.  I've submitted articles, completed book chapters, reviewed several articles and textbooks, and prepared papers for various grants and conferences.  I've also finally completed my manuscript on worship and music in racially diverse churches (more on that in the coming months).

This afternoon, I'm in the midst of final preparations for a symposium happening for the next couple of days at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virgina.

Pentecostalism & Prosperity Symposium

The Socio-Economics of Global Renewal

Co-sponsored by the Schools of Undergraduate Studies and Divinity

Symposium schedule:

February 21, 2:00-5:30 pm, Library Auditorium

February 22, 2:00-5:30 pm, Library Auditorium

I'm thrilled to join this stimulating conversation.  How is Pentecostalism related to global economics?

The adaptability of Pentecostalism to the current economic system is certainly one of the most interesting aspects of the movement.  On Tuesday, I'll be talking about how prosperity theology connects with today's "individualization" and the rise of "self-culture." 

Hollywood Faith by Gerardo Marti

This is less of a theological exposition than an attempt to connect sociological dynamics of social change.  I attempt to draw out a connection between global economic dynamics and the very real circumstances of individuals, the social psychological "self," that is confronted with historically new challenges. It is an accentuation of an argument made in my Hollywood Faith book. 

If we step back, I think we can all agree that prosperity theology developed with the emergence of modern capitalism.  I believe it resonates with many people today because  the effect of globalized capitalism on  everyday life is experienced so broadly. As society changes, people find forms of religion that fit those changes.

Several theorists (who don't pay much attention to religion) tell us that the broader workforce today must master self-promotion for economic survival.  If we then turn to the place of religion in these changes, I note that much of the "work" of religious communities  has as their goal the supporting of a kind of “self” needed to live in the world today. The modern "self" today largely lives in context of work.  Being a wage-earner has become enormously important, more so than any other period in history.

When we appreciate the economic uncertainty of individuals in advanced capitalism, the emphasis on a vigorous, God-empowered self can be seen as a way to adapt to the demands for work today.

Image via Wikipedia

Healing Service

So what can appear to be an ego-oriented religion can work within a viable religious community.  In other words, prosperity theology can resonate with ambitious individuals who, in their experience, find their goals to be frustrating, systems overwhelming, yet gain great confidence in that God can, wants to, and (eventually) will use them to fulfill cosmic purposes as they at the same time achieve personal fulfillment in a world-affirming way.

In prosperity-oriented churches, individualism coexists with the general call for generosity and self-sacrifice because the individual is seen as the conduit by which God will accomplish his purposes on the earth.  The focus on the individual is not about individual self-promotion but about creating a platform as an ambassador of the kingdom of God to engage in activities that allow God to work in the world at large.

It is a win-win solution; God fulfills his missional purposes, and his people live prosperous, fulfilling lives.

My paper for the symposium lays out more detail on all these processes.  In addition, the symposium will encourage an active dialogue on how this argument is right/wrong, and surely provide many additional considerations.

If you're interested, the presentations will be live on the internet (see symposium website), and the papers will be collected into an edited volume in coming year. I'll post as things become available.

Creativity Conference - Structuring Innovation and Routinizing the Creative Process

Today, I found out about an interesting conference looking intensely at the process of innovation and creativity to be held in Boston, June 2009. The Creative Problem Solving Institute (CPSI) creates "a hands-on learning experience that allows you to think differently and stretch your beliefs about what is possible."

CPSI's new conference titled "The Revolution of Creativity" features full-week "immersions" to focus on a particular arena of creativity/innovation. Here they are:

1. Revolutionizing Training Design -

"Create meaningful, interactive training based on the principles of how people learn best..."

2. The Art of Innovation -

• the Sources of efficient creativity (Talent, Energy, Method)
• a Structure to drive innovation (Individual, Team, Target, System)
• a Culture that makes creativity a potent force in an organizational context (Ideas, Engagement, Freedom, Humor, Risk)

3. Lateral Thinking For Innovative Leaders -

"Provides unconventional techniques that help people escape from their usual patterns of thinking to produce enhanced results..."

Image by said&done via Flickr

4. A Revolution for Reinvention - How To:

• address the concerns of today and interact with change, fear, paradox and unpredictability
• dance with the future; instead of trying to control it
• listen to your client so that they are fully seen
• know when your client is not coachable
• use the skill that is most appropriate at any place in a coaching conversation
• access your intuition to enhance your work with your client
• identify self defeating influences
• create a powerful trusting coaching relationship that allows you to do the deeper work
• keep from getting stuck in the details and to stay out of 'fix-it' mode
• craft the quality of question that taps into the clients’ innate wisdom and passion

5. Organizational Leadership for Innovation in a Tough Economy - This course addresses the question:

Image by Raymond Yee via Flickr

“How might I lead innovation in my organization even when the economy is in the tank and resources are scarce?”

There's a lot more to the conference. This just gives a brief taste.

The attempt to routinize "creativity" and create a structured process of "innovation" is fascinating. But does it work?

We know there are lots of books available on creativity. Institutions like CPSI have a loyal clientele and a rich source of consultants and workshop leaders to staff their programs so that some semblance of the creative process can be worked through face-to-face interaction.

Overall, the schedule and workshops look interesting.

Image by Alex Osterwalder via Flickr

Related Articles

• Adventures In Creative Thinking (tokitover.com)
• Mass Innovation Nights to Begin in April (bostonist.com)
• Creative Thinking or Lateral Thinking? (ericbrown.com)
• Innovation in Any Economy (mediabullseye.com)
• Innovation as a Learning Process (thdblog.wordpress.com)

Imagination, Uncertainty, and Economics

An argument for nuance, imagination, and ambiguity.


An article by Geoffrey Galt Harpham, president and director of the National Humanities Center, takes a moment to demonstrate the value of learning from the Humanities in the face of the current economic crisis.

At the heart of the argument is an appreciation for imagination and the unknown.

Harpham writes,

Image via Wikipedia

I've read: "It is all so obvious in retrospect," and "Our models failed to predict this." Put those two together, and it becomes clear that the most sophisticated tools developed to analyze and predict movements in the economy failed spectacularly to grasp some very large, crucial, and — in retrospect — fully visible facts.

The key factor...escapes abstract models because it is human and social, not mathematical — a vast imaginative construction composed of hopes, fears, illusions, calculations, judgments. Unlike the house, the imaginative construction that determines the house's value can be destroyed by a pinprick — hence the term bubble.

Bust of Homer. Image via Wikipedia

So our models failed not because they were imprecise but because they were too precise, too neat and crisp to take in the imaginative and social nature of value.

Nor did they take in the fully human character of the behavior of lenders, borrowers, analysts, shareholders, or traders, all of whom were driven by largely unconscious and partly irrational beliefs, including the simple desire for social approval, even as they were persuaded of their own powers of analysis and of the underlying "rationality" or "efficiency" of the market.

[T]he reason that our models and modelers failed to predict the current economic crisis was that they did not engage in what I call "projective retrospection," nor did they try to anticipate the diffuse effects of nonquantifiable, shifting collective beliefs. They were, I presume, simply trying to be as rational as possible in plotting their moves.

Their imaginations were constrained by their assumption that the economy was a kind of game with arcane rules rather than a human activity embedded in the general human scene.

Image by Cotecho' x via Flickr

The economy in which people do or do not have confidence can be understood as a persuasive fiction that is, in critical ways, not fully responsive to rational analysis. Indeed, the financial instruments whose implosion we've been watching — the notorious credit-default swaps and derivatives and securitized mortgages — were so complex and opaque that not even those who staked their fortunes on them understood what they were.

Our material lives are sustained by our belief in such fictions, and when we stop believing — as we now have, temporarily — we see revealed the immaterial foundations of the real world. When, a generation ago, a few "postmodern" theorists began to talk about the fictional character of reality, they were laughed at by those who considered themselves hardheaded realists; nobody, not even the most doctrinaire postmodernist, is laughing now.

Laid-off Workers Become Entrepreneurs

Quick post: A nice article from the New York Times emphasizes how eventual economic recovery is due in part to workers who eventually take on a mentality of entrepreneurship.

From the article:

Image via Wikipedia

When the economy takes a dive, it is common for people to turn to their inner entrepreneur to try to make their own work.

But economists say it takes months for that mentality to sink in.

And that this is about the time in the economic cycle when it really starts to happen — when the formerly employed realize that traditional job searches are not working, and that they are running out of time and money.

Even in prosperous times, entrepreneurs have a daunting failure rate. But those who succeed could play a big role in turning the economy around because tiny companies are actually big employers.

In 2008, 3.8 million companies had fewer than 10 workers, and they employed 12.4 million people, or roughly 11 percent of the private sector work force, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

More on Entrepreneurship

• Global heroes (innovationtoronto.com)
• 8 Excellent Web Resources for Startups (lifehack.org)
• Yozik: Sell your music on the internet (delaranja.com)
• A Viable Path To Bootstrap A Startup (advancingwomen.com)
• To Entrepreneur, Consider What Processes You Are Really Good At? (advancingwomen.com)
• Job Loss in the Recession: If You Work for Yourself, Are You Worse Off? (usnews.com)
• Is U.S. becoming a freelance nation? (cnn.com)

5 Suggestions on How Congregations Can Help Workers

For good or ill, the great majority of Americans have to work to earn a living. Especially now that the stock market has taken a dive, even "day traders" and "early retirement" folks who lived on the skillful manipulation of investment portfolios are shifting computer screens away from financial pages to revising resumes. How can congregations help?

It's a new economic world for the next several years (at least), and those who have been laid off have all got to get jobs or make jobs, being hired or being entrepreneurial, to maintain their homes and their families -- let alone their sense of dignity.

Congregations can be part of helping the transition of workers who have lost their jobs or who may have to re-enter the employment market after years of living off the grid.

Image by thinkpanama via Flickr

First, congregations can go beyond prayer and encouragement to giving people the boost to expand their self-definitions. 

I recently heard a radio program where a caller described herself as being "specialized in print design" and was irritated that companies wanted her to have skills in web-design as well. It seemed that she was hiding behind a "specialization" too narrowly defined. She was unwilling to get the training she needed to apply her considerable skills to online operations. Congregations can be part of expanding work identities by giving people the space to explore and play with expansive self-definitions before they over-commit to a particular specialization on paper or in an interview.

Image by thinkpanama via Flickr

Second, congregations can maximize the networking possibilities within and between churches. 

Most "employed" people I know are very willing to give advice and even mentor others through navigating the employment process. Congregations could identify different sectors of work or occupations and host informal meetings before or after services. This is especially important if workers are trying to shift from industries they know to industries and employment procedures that are new to them.

Third, congregations can provide volunteers opportunity to learn new skills within the ministries of the church. 

Back in the 1990s, I helped with a job re-training program in East L.A. where I focused on teaching workers basic computer skills. What was second nature to me in computing (like opening a program or using a mouse) was like visiting a foreign planet to the dozens of older workers I assisted at the time. The church had several older computers (worthless to businesses and donated by them) that taught people how to type, operate basic computer programs, and learn basics of internet navigation. Another person took his interest in film and was given a higher-end computer to use to master editing and composition of documentary-like vignettes that were displayed in church services. That person leveraged those new skills toward more education and a video-oriented job.

Image via Wikipedia

Fourth, congregations can sponsor workers to travel to other cities and regions to explore work. 

While I was fortunate to have my future employer pay all expenses for my interview before being hired, most workers do not have this privilege. Congregations could give a few hundred dollars for trips for workers to explore options for workplaces, homes, and schools in other places. Of course, this also requires congregations to have the attitude of being willing to encourage people to leave their churches if it means good opportunities exist elsewhere.

Image via Wikipedia

Fifth, congregations can find ways to assist adults who seek more schooling. 

Besides help with books and tuition, the most practical assistance for adult schooling is having volunteers cover the many other practical needs of everyday life. That means providing meals, care for children, housecleaning, home maintenance (like lawn work), a new set of clothes, and transportation. Congregations could say, "If you can get to class, we'll take care of the rest." I assume only a small percentage would take up such a wonderful opportunity, which means that the labor of resourcing a small number of households would allow a person to actually succeed in their classes and launch into a different career.

This is just quick list, and I'm sure the creative resources of congregations have come up with other ideas.  

Stimulus Religion Speculation

Please don't take this post too seriously. Playing with a few ideas for fun.

The stimulus package will worm its way through the economy in the coming years. But the effects are already being felt. For the moment, I speculate that people will be compelled to move in one of two directions - either to strive for security or to go ahead and take the risk.

Image via Wikipedia

Here's my quick thought -- For example, the loss of home value seems to indicate to me that fewer families will be willing to sell their homes to re-locate for a better job. In other words, most people will "hunker down" where they live rather than sell at a loss for another job.

That means people in this situation will strive for security rather than take the risk of moving.

On the other hand, others may be more mobile, have fewer debts, or be convinced that income opportunities elsewhere will lead them to greater economic freedom.

For these people, taking the risk is a better path than staying put for the sake of an elusive security.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

And now as to how this might relate to religion -- Just "hanging on" in the same place leads to working things through as best as you can in a crisis. In contrast, the attempt to make it in a new place, making new relationships, and trying new things seems to lead toward embracing a religious orientation that will energize more than simply comfort.

So, religion for those striving for security will focus more on comfort, companionship, and continuity. But religion for those taking the risk will focus more on insight, inspiration, and innovation.

This type of reasoning can get kind of silly, so I'm stopping. The more important speculation is to consider how the changing economy will affect religious commitment and religious practice. Is there such a thing as a stimulus religion?

A 5th Way Economic Woe Affects Scholarship and Innovation

Quick update: After my post on economic woes for academics yesterday, I knew I would find even more.

As the Dow Jones Average appears to drop again today, the current economic woes continue to affect scholarship and innovation in many ways. In addition to yesterday's list, I'll add one more:

5. Institutions are canceling sabbaticals and faculty leaves which are almost always oriented toward initiating, expanding, or renewing research efforts.

The Chronicle for Higher Education reports that Kent State University canceled faculty sabbaticals for 2009-10 to save money.

This affects 60 professors and will save the public university about $500,000. The University of Georgia is another institution that canceled leaves abruptly, just days before the start of the fall term, for faculty research leaves that had been canceled for the 2008-9 year.

Hard to argue with the numbers. And there's little sympathy outside academia since sabbaticals are seen outside the academic world as a luxury. But this isn't about professors and their work conditions. It is about the continual churning of research and innovation.

The mill of careful, scholarly work turns slowly, and demands a level of concentration and persistence that is almost impossible to appreciate at a distance. Sabbaticals are actually earned -- the majority of professors must apply for such privileges with written justification for what is to be accomplished during that time and follow-up reports when they return. More importantly, the exchange of ideas through travel and paid leaves is vital, and the time to work without interruption necessary for creative work.

4 Ways Economic Woes Impact Scholarship and Innovation

The downturn in the economy will affect scholarship and innovation for the coming years.

From my academic perch, I'm seeing first-hand how the downturn in the economy is affecting scholarship. Why does this matter? Here are a four things to consider:

Image via Wikipedia

1. Colleges and universities are contracting the ranks of professors by releasing contractually-hired lecturers and freezing new hires for academic departments.

Currently, about 50% of college classes are taught by these "adjunct" professors hired semester-by-semester (or quarter-by-quarter). Many will find their contracts fail to be renewed, new jobs unavailable, and their already-meagre wages lost. And the failure to staff new tenure-track lines means new PhD's are struggling for stable work in a smaller market.

Not only is this a loss of academic jobs, it also means an increase in class sizes for students and work load for remaining professors. Think you have a hard time getting an appointment to talk to a professor? It will get even harder.

2. Traveling expenses to academic conferences are being cut by institutions, and grant monies for travel are being cut back or removed entirely.

Conferences matter because much of the engine of scholarship happens at these meetings. The presentation, discussion, and general networking that occurs at thousands of conferences held every year both domestically and abroad fuel ideas at every stage of development. Also, journal editors and book publishers often meet with academics to discuss new projects. The book displays at conferences also offer a unique opportunity to review hundreds and hundreds of new ideas at one setting within a few hours time.

Bottom line: Empty meeting rooms translate into the failure of ideas circulating.

3. Grant funding from private endowments will drop for the coming years as the percentage of proceeds from endowment investments goes negative.

The loss of grant funding opportunities means that bold, new, and needed research initiatives will be delayed or dropped entirely as cycles of funding pass. Grant funds (ranging from small of less than $10,000 to large at over $100,000) contribute directly to the employment of professors, graduate students and support staff.

Grant funds also support the operation of universities who receive a percentage of funded grants (which helps bring down the cost of student tuition, for example).

Image by suttonhoo via Flickr

4. Libraries are cutting expenses by pulling back on book orders and journal subscriptions.

Not only is this a loss of keeping "up to date" with the continual stream of new knowledge generated daily but also a loss for academic presses that publish this work.

If academic presses contract their publishing efforts (which appears to be happening), then good work will be delayed in publishing or fail to be published at all.

And there's more.

I believe higher education is one of the great strengths of the United States. Our knowledge and our graduates are one of our greatest exports. I hope to see the contributions coming from our institutions further expanded. At the very least, we all need to be aware that the downturn in the economy will contract the many important intellectual efforts being made today.

Any stuttering in the unexpected inspirations that accompany diligent academic work may impede the kinds of innovations we are used to seeing from the labs and libraries of our institutions of higher learning, including those highly practical discoveries that will help alleviate our economic woes.

Other perspectives from US and Beyond:

• It's hard out there for a philosopher (economist.com)
• More on Community Colleges and the Stimulus (q-ontech.blogspot.com)
• Gina Nahai: What you don't know about your College Education (huffingtonpost.com)
• Graduates from top universities 'twice as likely' to be high earners (telegraph.co.uk)
• Hard times for higher learning (windsorstar.com)

Tithing - Historian Discusses the First Tenth

Quick post --

Noted Professor of American History Patrick Allitt (Emory University) provides a thoughtful and historically-saturated discussion on church donations, "surely the most potent form of fund-raising."

(Thanks to John Fea's blog.)

Modern Money-Lending - On Debt and the Expansion of Evangelical and Non-Denominational Churches

In an interesting article, The New York Times reports on how the contraction of credit is affecting churches -- like those who may have "stretched" their finances to build their buildings.

From the article:

"The rise of nondenominational churches and a resurgence in the evangelical movement also led to more religious institutions seeking to borrow. Churches were often founded in storefronts or school auditoriums, but as they grew, they built sprawling edifices, including so-called mega-churches. At the same time, some older churches lost members as young people went elsewhere, and had to borrow to survive."

"The lenders were, in a sense, betting on the likelihood that a particular pastor could attract a large audience or, in some cases, on the popularity of one denomination over another. But, where those bets were wrong, or too optimistic, congregations found themselves knee-deep in debt and at risk of losing their houses of worship."

I am aware of credit unions and lending agencies out of Southern California that cater to evangelical churches. It wouldn't surprise me if further analysis of church finances from the 1990s to today showed that the visionary impulse of church leaders, the discomfort of constant accomodations to rented facilities, and the preference of many committed church goers for a "regular building" created an affinity between money-lenders (both Christian and non-Christian organizations) and church leaders.

Of course, congregations require financial support to sustain their ministries. Just as other non-profits are also being affected, at the same time of the "contraction" of financial credit we may see a "contraction" of new ministries. We may be seeing a "gap" from 2008 to 20011 of new church starts across the nation.

And yet, who knows? Perhaps instead the opportunism of congregational leaders will excite them to take over the discarded husks of failed auto dealerships. Today's showrooms may become tomorrow's refurbished worship auditoriums. They provide space and ample parking. But it can only happen if they can secure enough money to purchase the land and hire the contractors.

Anyways, the full article can be found here.

From The New Republic - Auto Destruct by Jonathan Cohn

Interesting article connecting economics of Big Auto Labor with the hopes of a middle-class lifestyle. No need to agree -- a thoughtful piece.

From the article:

For all of Detroit's mistakes, it is also a victim of something it did right: ensuring a middle-class lifestyle for bluecollar workers. When the carmakers, pushed by unions, agreed to provide workers with a steady level of purchasing power, comprehensive health benefits lasting into retirement, and various forms of workplace rights, they were promising something that all Americans covet. And, while the financial costs and managerial constraints associated with that effort have helped bring domestic carmakers to the edge of collapse, ultimate responsibility for this situation lies beyond
Detroit.

In a more enlightened society, after all, government would have made those promises and extended them to all workers, thereby spreading the burden of financing them to all taxpayers. That's how it's done in Europe and in Japan--which, not coincidentally, is the home of Detroit's most successful competitors. But the U.S. government never took that step. So, instead of a public welfare state, we got a private one, administered for only some workers and paid for by their employers. Sooner or later, this arrangement was bound to fail.

Read the full article here.