French Windows - evangelicals-charismatics-pentecostals

Converting Ireland, Religious education, language and colonialism

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 21 May 2026 22:12:00 +0200

Huge congrats do Professor Karina Benazech Wendling for the release of her new book : Converting Ireland, Religious education, language and colonialism (Manchester University Press, 2026)

Karina Bénazech Wendling offers a re-assessment of 'souperism'-the long-debated claim that food was used to convert Irish Catholics to Protestantism during the Great Famine.

Focusing on the Irish Society for Promoting the Education of the Native Irish through their Own Language, the first group labeled 'soupers' in 1841, she uncovers a more complex picture. Rather than a mere tool of British cultural imperialism, the Society had a deep engagement with the Irish language and Bible translation, while also encouraging religious conversions in the West.

The book explores the Society's role in Ireland's religious and political landscape, the rise of Catholic counter-missions, and nationalist resistance. Offering fresh insights into Ireland's religious history and global missionary movements, this book is essential for scholars of Irish studies, interdenominational relations, and education in Ireland.

As Professor Geraldine Vaughan rightly states,

"This book offers a clear and magisterial reappraisal of Irish identities in the pre-Famine and Famine eras.

Not only does it revise current historiographical assumptions about the use of Irish during the 'Second Reformation,' it also offers ground-breaking insights on the entire socio-religious landscape of Ireland at the time.'

Professor Geraldine Vaughan, University of Lille

Link to the publisher

The Routledge History of Evangelical Christianity in America (2026)

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 17:45:26 +0100

Edited by Darren Dochuk and Ian E. Van Dyke, this comprehensive reference work brings together a diverse cross-section of established and emerging historians to explore the broad and deep history of Bible-believing, born-again Protestantism, and its dynamic impact on American life and society.

The first part of this handbook features nine chronological chapters outlining the history and historiography of evangelicalism in the lands that became the United States from the late eighteenth century to the present.

In the second part, eighteen thematic chapters examine different aspects of evangelical history, including particular worship traditions within evangelicalism (such as Anabaptism and Pentecostalism); evangelical Christianity within diasporic communities (such as Asian Americans and Latinos/as); and the intersections of evangelicalism with other aspects of U.S. history—from consumer capitalism and pop culture to sexuality and foreign relations.

The Routledge History of Evangelical Christianity in America is an essential guide for scholars, graduate students, seminarians, advanced undergraduates in secular and religious universities, and general readers of American history interested in the current state of the field.

(From Taylor and Francis) Link

The new Evangelical Power

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 13:55:00 +0100

"Evangelicals or evangelists? Those discussed in this book are not the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but rather the evangelicals, the believers who identify with this branch of Protestantism.

A vibrant branch, very vibrant indeed. We see them in our streets singing with fervor, we read their graffiti “Jesus saves” in our cities. Who are they?

Where do they come from? What do they want?"

In 504 pages, this book offers an in-depth historical and sociological analysis of the “evangelical phenomenon,” questioning the nature of the “new power” they represent:

City of God, or God in the city?

Theocratic temptation, or democratic ingredient?

BIG THANKS to GRASSET publishers for their trust.

Link to the publisher

International Congress for Pietism Research Halle, 5–8 September 2027 (call for paper)

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 22:25:00 +0100

CFP: Pietism and Rule

VII International Congress for Pietism Research Halle (Saale), 5–8 September 2027

Organised by the Interdisciplinary Centre for Pietism Research at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, in cooperation with the Francke Foundations in Halle (Saale).

Possible topics for presentations include:

-Pietism between Resistance and the Legitimation of Hegemonic Orders

-Rule and Freedom(s): Good and Bad Government, Obedience and Resistance

-Pietist Engagements with Democratic, Socialist, and Social Democratic Movements

-Mission and Colonial Rule

-Justifying Rule through the Authority of Scripture

-Pietism and “Theocratic” Communities

-Norm Formation in Doctrine, Piety, and “True” Christian Practice

-Sociologies of Knowledge: Controlling (Power) Knowledge

-Techniques of Domination by or against Pietism

-(Theological) Knowledge Production in Academic Contexts

-Education and the Institutionalisation of Authority

-Rule through Concepts: “Pietism” as a Category of Attribution

The International Congress for Pietism Research, usually held every four years in Halle, is the largest international congress of its kind and brings together researchers from all relevant disciplines in the humanities and social sciences who deal with the long eighteenth century and its interpretations up to the present day.

The Congress languages are German and English. Please submit your proposal for a presentation of no more than 30 minutes, including an abstract of 1,000–1,500 characters and a short CV, by 15 March 2026 to:

Diethard Sawicki
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Interdisciplinary Centre for Pietism Research
06099 Halle (Saale)
Germany

diethard.sawicki@izp.uni-halle.de
https://izp.uni-halle.de

Link

Reflections on Mission as a Category (Social Sciences and Missions)

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0100

Good news !

A brand new issue of Social Sciences and Missions has been coordinated by Philippe Gonzalez (Lausanne University) with his colleague Yannick Fer (CNRS, France).

In particular, three excellent contributions to be noticed, by Matthieu Thomas, Juliette Duléry, and Anne Siggen, addressing the challenges of visibility and discretion in the religious sphere.

Link.

History of the FATEB, "an African Dream" (book)

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 00:05:00 +0100

Historical studies on theological training sites for Evangelicals in the vast Francophone Africa ?

There are very few.

All the more reason to highlight this book by John F. Robinson (PhD, University of Strasbourg), published in May 2025. It is titled *An African Dream: The History of an Evangelical Seminary for French-Speaking Africa*.

This seminary is the renowned FATEB, Faculté de Théologie Evangélique de Bangui (in French), one of the first university-level evangelical seminary in the area.

Founded in 1974, it is still based in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic.

Congratulations to John F. Robinson for this book.

Link to learn more.

Jason E. Shelton, The contemporary Black Church

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 09:53:51 +0100

Black Americans have moved from traditional Christian denominations into non-denominational institutions but also to the more open identification of being spiritual but not religious.

As this change has happened, the influence of Black preachers has dwindled, as have the community ties once forged in the crucible of ‘the Black Church’ as a singular oppositional body to white racism, Jim Crow, and unfavourable economic conditions.

Jason Shelton's The Contemporary Black Church (New York University Press, 2024) examines how African American religious institutions are evolving through new leadership models, political engagement, and adaptations to social changes while maintaining their historic role in community empowerment.

Link

"Why France is suddenly full of evangelical churches"

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 19:56:01 +0100

Contrary to what this video suggests, France is not suddenly full of evangelical churches.

However, there is a growing visibility in France of a diverse form of evangelical Protestantism. It now reaches over a million people and attracts young audiences. This has caught the attention of journalist Elena Pompei and the YouTube channel ENTR, which published this 11,5-minutes in-depth report a week ago. Let's notice it is featuring an interview with sociologist Christophe Monnot, affiliated with the GSRL research laboratory.

The ENTR channel describes itself as: "ENTR, a unique channel made by young journalists from DW, France Médias Monde, and partners all over Europe."

Lien.

Romanian Pentecostal Churches in Italy

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 11:51:00 +0100

There are approximately 150 Romanian Pentecostal churches in Italy today. The number has roughly tripled since 2000, from about 50 churches, reflecting the influx of over 1 million Romanian migrants (including many Pentecostal).

To know more, let's read Pietro Cingolani, "Romanian Pentecostal Immigrants in Italy: Between Adaptations and Innovations" in Guglielmi, M. (eds) Immigrant Christianities. Religion and Global Migrations. Palgrave Macmillan, 2025 (p.121-142).

These Pentecostal groups differ from other confessions but show convergences in multicultural Italy. They challenge the Catholic Church's symbolic monopoly and the Romanian Orthodox Church in Italy.

Catholics and Orthodox share strong dogma and clergy-laity separation. Pentecostals prioritize experience over theological preparation. Transnational migration prompts adaptations to Italian context. They adopt a culturally neutral approach to include minorities segregated in Romania.

Despite conservative gender views, they promote women's agency in Italy. Churches enhance assistance and pastoral activism toward youth. They incorporate specific Catholic elements in this process.

Link.

African Evangelicalism and the Transformation of Africa (Jacob K. Olupona)

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 00:05:00 +0200

"What is the impact of Evangelical Christianity on Africa? Evangelical Christianity and the Transformation of Africa (Georgetown University Press, 2025) aims to answer this question.

Evangelical Christianity is manifesting into a strong presence in African states, perhaps more than in any other place in the world.

Given its exponential rise in Africa, it is increasingly clear that Christianity in its evangelical form is exercising significant influence in virtually all spheres of life, defining the essence of public and private life.

Drawing on original works from leading scholars in humanities and social science disciplines-such as Afe Adogame, Yolanda Covington-Ward, Jacob Olupona, Derek Peterson, Shobana Shankar, and Nimi Wariboko, this volume endeavors to produce a comprehensive study of Evangelical Christianity in Africa, paying careful attention to disciplinary interconnections, as well as social, cultural, political, and economic forces".

Link.

Evangelicalism in Europe Unity in Diversity (Langham)

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 12:09:00 +0200

What does the evangelical movement stand for? In the twenty-first century the term has become highly contested. In August 2024, the Fellowship of European Evangelical Theologians met for its biennial conference in cooperation with the European Evangelical Alliance to explore evangelical identity in Europe with particular emphasis on unity in diversity. This collection of essays, and invited additional chapters, was presented by national leaders and experts from across Europe.

Read more here (LANGHAM)

"The Spirit blows where it wills" (Desert Assembly 2025)

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 12:34:00 +0200

"Every year, the village of Mialet in the Cévennes mountains of southern France becomes a meeting place for those who want to keep alive the country's reformed history and its struggle for religious freedom."

Theme : ‘The Spirit blows where it wills: 1525-2025: 500 years of extraordinary Protestant diversity’.

An event commemorating the 500th Anniversary of Anabaptists, including historians Neal Blough and Sebastien Fath.

Evangelicalism in Europe (Langham), forthcoming

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 12:29:00 +0200

Under the umbrella of the European Evangelical Alliance, this much-needed forthcoming book will give us precious insights about EVANGELICALISM in EUROPE (Langham).

Pastor Lauzet on the beginnings of the CNEF (French Evangelical network)

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 18:00:00 +0200

Evangelical Focus is a Christian online news publication based in Europe, launched in 2015 under the Spanish and European Evangelical Alliances. It provides daily news, reports, interviews, and opinion pieces. It is coordinated by Pedro Tarquis (editorial director) and Joel Forster (management and operations). The platform is available in English and engages audiences through its website and social media

It's not often that this media outlet covers the French scene. This is the case here with this interview with Pastor Stéphane Lauzet, who was one of the key players in the early days of the CNEF. He is interviewed about his book, which describes the beginnings of the main current French Evangelical network.

Launched in 2002-03 and then formalized in 2010, the CNEF (Conseil National des Evangéliques de France) is the main umbrella network of evangelical Protestants in France.

Link

Evangelicalism and religious freedom

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 22:09:00 +0200

Religious freedom as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights remains a perennial concern across the globe. Over the centuries many evangelicals have not enjoyed this right in practice, but they have generally advocated its acceptance, especially to allow the spread of the gospel. Not always, however, have they supported freedom for religious groups besides themselves, and sometimes they have endorsed discrimination against other bodies.

To know much more about these key issues, here comes this reference book, edited by David W. Bebbington, The Gospel and Religious Freedom, Historical Studies in Evangelicalism and Political Engagement, Baylor University Press, 2023.

Link.

La Place 2025, the French Evangelical 'rendez-vous' in Paris

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 08 May 2025 14:40:00 +0200

"La Place 2025" is a major, unprecedented, multifaceted event dubbed “the Rendez-vous of (French) Evangelicals.”

It is currently held over three days—from May 8 to 10, 2025—at the Parc Floral de Paris, and is featuring a diverse program of artists, conferences, and workshops, as well as more than 250 exhibitors and over 3,000 registered visitors.

Link.

French Evangelicals & cultic deviations (Miviludes)

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 23:19:00 +0200

MIVILUDES is, in France, an official State-sponsored mission designed to identify religious sectarian/cultic drifts.

MIVILUDES published its report for the period 2022-2024 on this April 8, 2025.

The number of reports has "more than doubled" between 2015 and 2024, increasingly mentioning evangelical churches.

These figures call for four observations:

French Evangelicals and weekly Bible reading

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 22:40:00 +0200

African Initiated Christianity and the Decolonisation of Development

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 20:43:00 +0100

In most, if not all African nations, religion is a key player in the social fabric. This is why such a remarkable scholarly book should not be missed.

Released in 2020, this volume investigates the substantial and growing contribution which African Independent and Pentecostal Churches are making to sustainable development in all its manifold forms.

Good news !

It is downloadable for free on ResearchGate (link).

Minority Protestant Network's first newsletter

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 15:03:29 +0100

Already presented in these columns, the Minority Protestants Network is a very dynamic research network on Protestantism as a minority religion.

Led by Eugenio Biagini (Prof. Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge), Karina Benazech Wendling (Associate Prof. Université de Lorraine) with the collaboration of Laura Popa (Phd University of Giessen), it just released its first newsletter.

Its rich content is available here (link).

Canadian Pentecostals (Brill)

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 12:29:00 +0200

Significant book !

"The Canadian Pentecostal Experience includes eighteen essays organized into three themes: 1) Historiography and Early Canadian Pentecostalism; 2) Theological Practices and Processes; and 3) Social and Cultural Change. This collection makes a significant contribution to the growing literature of global Pentecostal scholarship.

The works are important for the Canadian context but as the editors argue in the Introduction, Canadian Pentecostalism is “glocal” (shaped by both local and global realities). This collection will interest readers drawn from the wider field of religious studies and global Pentecostalism to initiate conversations about how Pentecostalism evolves in both its local and global expressions"

Link.

Black visions of the Holy Land

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 30 May 2024 20:42:00 +0200

This survey of the relationships between US Black Churches with Israel and Palestine has just been published. Thank you Roger Baumann !

Based on 4 case studies, the author describes a very dominant African-American Christian Zionism, but with specific accents.

The relationship of the Black Churches with the land of Israel is placed under the sign of Civil Rights for the oppressed. This line distinguishes them from ultra-Zionist circles (John Hagee), & colors their Zionism with a more attentive listening to the injustices suffered by the Palestinians.

Link

Minority Protestant Network

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 15:05:00 +0200

There are many networks on Catholicism but not that many on Protestantism, which leads to a lack of connection between scholars working on Protestantism in its various forms.

The purposes of the Minority Prorestant network are:

To promote collaborative, interdisciplinary and non-confessional work among scholars and academic institutions. The goal is having conversations across all disciplines focusing on Protestantism broadly defined.
To organise and promote conferences, events, but also publish in academic journals, preferably in open access.
Engage with a wider audience and favour online visibility for a broader dissemination of research.

Affiliation is free and allows you to:

Have your profile displayed on the website,
Receive the newsletter,
Share information about your events, publication, or other news on the website,
Receive opportunities for collabotation in future events

Link

Stained Glass Ceilings: How Evangelicals Do Gender and Practice Power

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 09:14:00 +0200

In the popular imagination, Evangelical Christianity is a patriarchal religion whose traditions and lasting legacies perpetuate a singular patriarchal social order.

However, as Lisa Weaver Swartz reveals in this meticulously researched book about women in church leadership in USA, Evangelicalism tells two very different gendered stories—one complementarian and one egalitarian.

Mostly based upon a focus on the training of future Church leaders in two Evangelical flagship seminaries, Southern Baptist and Ashbury.

As usual with US monographs,(alas), a wide title, but the data is based upon two field research which are not representing the whole diversity of US Evangelicalism, far from that.

Still a really good book to read, thank you Lisa Weaver Swartz !

Link

Exhibiting Evangelicalism (Devin Manzullo-Thomas)

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 15:13:00 +0200

Exhibiting Evangelicalism provides the first account of the growth and development of historical museums created by white evangelical Christians in the United States over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Exploring the histories of the Museum of the Bible, the Billy Graham Center Museum, the Billy Sunday Home, and Park Street Church, Devin C. Manzullo-Thomas illustrates how these sites enabled religious leaders to develop a coherent identity for their fractious religious movement and to claim the centrality of evangelicalism to American history.

Link

Megachurch Christianity Reconsidered Millennials and Social Change in African Perspective

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 22:08:00 +0100

Building from a behind-the-scenes case study of Kenya's Nairobi Chapel and its "daughter" Mavuno Church, Dr. Wanjiru M. Gitau's book expands their story into a narrative that offers analysis of the rise, growth, and place of megachurches worldwide in the new millennium.

The author helps us rethink what African megachurches can be – and what we can learn out of the American framework. Gitau shows that recognizing the psychological, spiritual, and social destabilization of modernizing societies is the first step to valuing the place of megachurches in contemporary Christianity. The book won the 2019 Christianity Today’s book of the year award in the Global Missions category.

A must-read.

Link

Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 11:34:00 +0100

David P. Gushee is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University, Chair of Christian Social Ethics at Vrije Universiteit (Free University) Amsterdam, and Senior Research Fellow, International Baptist Theological Study Centre.

Surveying global politics and modern history, he analyzes in Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies how "Christians have discarded their commitment to democracy and bought into authoritarianism". David Gushee urges his readers to fight back by reviving their "hard-won traditions of congregational democracy, dissident Black Christian politics, and covenantal theology". 

This very important book has been motivated by the shocking events in the U.S. that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. A must-read !

Link.

Trump, White Evangelical Christians, and American Politics

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 23:02:00 +0100

Trump, White Evangelical Christians, and American Politics, political scientists Anand Edward Sokhey and Paul A. Djupe bring together a wide range of scholars and writers to examine the relationship between former President Donald Trump and white American evangelical Christians.

They argue that, while this relationship―which saw evangelicals supporting a famously unfaithful, materialistic, and irreligious candidate despite self-defining in opposition to these characteristics―prompted many to wonder if Trump himself transformed American evangelical religion in politics, this alliance reflected both change and the outcome of dynamics that were in place or building for decades.

In this book, oppotunity is given to find a welcomed balanced and fair view of the very complex issue of the relationships between White Evangelicals in America and Donald Trump.

A must-read.

Link.

Oxford University Press releases a new book on Christian Zionism

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 21:27:00 +0100

"In Christian Zionism in the Twenty-First Century authors Motti Inbari and Kirill Bumin draw on three original surveys conducted in 2018, 2020, and 2021 to explore the religious beliefs and foreign policy attitudes of evangelical and born-again Christians in the United States (...)

Inbari and Bumin demonstrate that a generational divide is emerging within the evangelical community, one that substantially impacts evangelicals' attitudes toward Israel. They also show that frequent church attendance and certain theological beliefs have a profound impact on the evangelicals' preference of Israel over the Palestinians. Throughout, the authors aim to add nuance to the discussion, showing that contemporary evangelical and born-again Christians' attitudes are much more diverse than many portrayals suggest".

Just published by Oxford University Press (link)

Birthing Revival

noreply@hautetfort.com (A lire) — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 09:53:00 +0100

The nineteenth century witnessed a flurry of evangelical and missionary activity in Europe and North America. This was an era of renewed piety and intense zeal spanning denominations and countries. One area of Protestant flourishing in this period has received scant attention in Anglophone sources, however: the French Réveil.

Born of a rich Huguenot heritage but aimed at recovering the religion of the heart, this awakening gave birth to a dynamic missionary movement—and some of its chief agents were women.

To know more about this 2022 scholarly book (Baylor University Press) written by Michèle Miller Sigg, click here

And for a review (in english) of Birthing Revival from French scholar Valérie Duval-Poujol, click here