Abstract
Brad Christerson and Richard Flory’s The Rise of Network Christianity explores the growth of networked forms of religious expression within a changing religious marketplace. Drawing upon forty-one interviews and conference visits, Christerson and Flory assess the history, organizational structures, and defining features of American Pentecostalism. They identify a loose network of leaders as the defining feature of Independent Network Charismatic (INC) Christianity. The rise of INC Christianity represents a “new form of Christianity” (11) that has the power to reshape the religious landscape, including how people of faith gather, finance a common life, foster community, train and credential leaders, and engage in experimental religious practice.
Christerson and Flory’s argument combines theoretical insights from religious economies and network theory to outline the distinctive features of INC Christianity through three moves. First, they discuss the origins of INC Christianity by profiling prominent Pentecostal pastors (e.g., C. Peter Wagner, John Wimber, Mike Bickle), noting how these figures gave rise to interconnected networks of Pentecostal leaders. Second, they note how innovations in governance and finance created an organizational environment for INC Christianity to become a nimble, loosely connected network that provides flexibility for experimentation. For example, in church finances, INC leaders produce religious commodities (e.g., DVDs, curriculum) and alternative income streams (e.g., conferences, tuition) and allow individuals to consume personalized religious content, passively financing INC Christianity with each order and digital view. Finally, Christerson and Flory consider INC Christianity’s comparative advantage in a changing religious marketplace. For participants, direct access to supernatural powers and charismatic figures are the primary products proffered by INC Christianity. For leaders, the loose networks that distinguish INC Christianity present opportunities to innovate in Christian thought and practice, free of denominational hierarchies and institutions. In conclusion, Christerson and Flory offer four speculative predictions: (1) religious belief will become more experimental, (2) authority and power will become more concentrated in the hands of individuals rather than in institutions, (3) religion will become more oriented toward practice than theology, and (4) religious practice will become more interactive and customizable.
For students of religion, The Rise of Network Christianity documents an emerging organizational phenomenon and persuasively argues that Pentecostalism’s network structure and experimentation represent strategic advantages in a global religious marketplace. Christerson and Flory’s theoretical framework invites scholars to consider how other networked forms of religious life and leadership are emerging in other branches of Christianity. Nevertheless, Christerson and Flory give only a cursory treatment of a complex organizational phenomenon. They underexplore relevant interdisciplinary intersections from studies in ecclesiology, practical theology, and religious education that could enrich their account. Their account also lacks extended engagement with the local communities that sustain the global network they identify. Furthermore, their limited sample size weakens the generalizability of their conclusions.
In a moment of crisis and creativity for communities of faith, The Rise of Network Christianity invites scholars and practitioners to reimagine the role of networks in religious life, pointing to the possibility of transformation through the encounter between the mundane and the holy practices that organize the life of faith.