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From the Center to the Margin and Back Again: Can Pentecostal Studies Learn from the Sociology of Religion?


Early sociological thinkers all wrote about religion and society and how religion offered important insights into social processes, systems, ritual, civil society, power and authority, leadership, and a host of other topics. By the middle of the twentieth century religion moved to a marginal position. This was due to several factors. One was a shift among sociologists toward issues of methodology. Some also thought secularization was occurring and religion would ultimately disappear leaving them to wonder how religion fit into larger studies. But it was also because social scientific studies of religion ceased to make important links between their work and the broader field of sociology. Detailed studies of denominations and congregations, while descriptively rich, failed to connect with the broader issues of social change, culture, and society. Sociologists of religion became more cloistered with well-attended meetings and presentations of excellent research. The problem was, no one outside the specialization was paying attention.

Pentecostal studies is also at a crossroads. Like the sociology of religion at mid-century, it is slowly being marginalized as some retreat from the important issues in their disciplines. In the 1990s a number of scholars researched Pentecostalism and raised its profile as they saw links between the movement and broader social shifts. Harvey Cox and David Martin, for example, saw key links between shifts in the nature of religious practice and broader social change. Cox presented his findings at many different academic societies, one being the Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS). SPS benefited from the scholarly engagement between their members, who are mostly church based researchers, and the broader academic world. Recent meetings, however, have lost something of the edge these scholars brought to the meetings. An ongoing discussion about SPS as a “faith-based” research group holding to a faith statement is also making some wonder about its role.  While members of SPS offer excellent, rich detailed studies of Pentecostal theology, congregations, and practices, the ability to link their work to the broader issues raised in their respective disciplines remains a challenge. Otherwise, Pentecostal studies generally, and SPS particularly, will have a greater test to make their work legitimate.

Comments

Allan said…
I have attended meetings of SPS almost every year since 1999 and have delivered papers at most of these occasions, including two plenary papers. I am extremely grateful for its willingness to listen to non-American and non-Pentecostal perspectives and appreciate the opportunity to network with like-minded scholars. But the 2012 business meeting revealed a distinct polarisation between those like me who believe that SPS exists for the academic study of Pentecostalism and, as Michael rightly points out, its impact on the wider society -- and those who think it is an association of Pentecostal scholars who hold to a common "faith statement". This debate comes up every few years and is never resolved. March 2012 was a watershed meeting and it is clear to me that unless SPS takes a firm stand for academic freedom it will lose its ability to provide a forum for relevant scholarship and be credible in the wider academic world.
July 2, 2012 at 9:11 PM
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