Special Issue "Progressive Evangelicalism"

Guest Editor
Dr. Brantley W. Gasaway
Department of Religion, Bucknell University, One Dent Drive, Lewisburg, PA 17837, USA
E-Mail: brantley.gasaway@bucknell.edu
Phone: +1 570 577 3180
Fax: +1 570 577 1064
Interests: religion and politics; religion and law; evangelicalism; religion and popular culture

Dear Colleagues,

Although the Religious Right has represented the popular face of American evangelicals' political engagement since the late 1970s, a minority of politically progressive evangelical leaders have promoted an alternative public agenda over the past four decades. Representatives such as Sojourners' Jim Wallis, Evangelicals for Social Action's Ron Sider, and Tony Campolo have insisted that Christians have a religious responsibility to prioritize reforms of injustices and inequalities in their political participation. In recent years, progressive evangelical leaders have increasingly captured the attention of evangelical audiences, journalists, politicians, and scholars. In the process, they have reinvigorated debates within American evangelical circles about the nature and priorities of Christians' social and political activism. Yet socially and politically progressive evangelicalism is neither a recent nor uniquely American phenomenon. Thus this special issue of Religions explores both historical and contemporary expressions of progressive evangelicalism, not only within the United States but also in international contexts. Scholars are invited to contribute articles from a broad range of methodological approaches that analyze progressive evangelicals and their efforts to confront social injustices and inequalities.

Dr. Brantley W. Gasaway
Guest Editor

Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. For the first couple of issues the Article Processing Charge (APC) will be waived for well-prepared manuscripts. English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

• progressive evangelicalism
• evangelical left
• social justice
• social reform
• evangelicals and politics
• Jim Wallis
• Sojourners

Title: Into the Grey: Progressive Christian Rock in Uptown Chicago
Author: Shawn David Young
Affiliation: Department of Visual & Performing Arts, Clayton State University; E-Mail: ShawnYoung@mail.clayton.edu; Tel.: +1 678 466 4758
Abstract: The Reagan era is commonly regarded as a “conservative” time in U.S. history, galvanizing both the political and religious right to wage a war over what was perceived as lost American values.   Despite a marked upsurge in religious and political conservatism (particularly among evangelical Christians) various groups developed, hoping to operate as counterweights to an imbalance created by the Right.  One of these groups emerged out of the “Jesus Movement,” a revival of conservative, evangelical Christianity among youth throughout the late 1960s and 1970s.  Although most expressions of this movement were eventually co-opted by the Religious Right, one community managed to maintain a separate identity.  Founded in 1972, Jesus People USA (JPUSA) is an evangelical “intentional community” located in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood.  Living out of a common purse arrangement, this inner-city commune strives to counter much of what the Right stands for.  An expression of the Evangelical Left, JPUSA’s successful outreach to low income families and the homeless can in many ways be attributed to the wide success of the Rez Band (a Christian rock group comprised of founding members) and the community’s annual Cornerstone Music Festival. Both the band and the festival have endeared the community to the larger evangelical subculture since 1984.  The result has been a newfound respect for the Left among fans of the band and the festival. Moreover, the festival serves as a means to inspire other like-minded persons of faith to join in JPUSA’s cause.

Title: Misión Integral and Prophetic Evangelicalism: The Latin American Influence on Progressive Evangelicals in the United States
Author: Michael Clawson
Affiliation: Baylor University, Department of Religion - Historical Studies, USA; E-Mail: mike.clawson@gmail.com
Abstract: Though commonly identified with the conservative politics of the Christian Right, evangelicals in the United States have increasingly embraced a more politically progressive range of social concerns over the past decade.  Often treated as something wholly new, this trend actually has roots in Latin American evangelicalism from the 1970s. Latin American theologian/practitioners like C. René Padilla and Samuel Escobar of the Latin American Theological Fellowship, promoted a holistic vision of the church’s mission, what they called misión integral, seeking to integrate both evangelism and socio-political involvement on behalf of the poor and oppressed. These Latin American thinkers played a direct role in the rise of a progressive, prophetic evangelicalism in the United States in the 1970s, and while overshadowed for a time by the Christian Right, the concept of misión integral and its Latin American exponents have continued to influence the resurgence of progressive social concerns among evangelicals in the first decade of the 21st century.

Title: Alternative Churches in Post-Christian Canada
Authors: Steve Studebaker ¹ and Lee Beach ²
Affiliations: ¹ Systematic & Historical Theology, Howard and Shirley Bentall Chair in Evangelical Thought, McMaster Divinity College, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, USA; E-Mail: studeba@mcmaster.ca
² Assistant Professor of Christian Ministry, McMaster Divinity College, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, USA; E-Mail: beachl@mcmaster.ca
Abstract: The traditional mainline and evangelical churches in Canada, like most western countries, are either in sharp decline or static. Taken as a measure of the future, the prospects for Christianity in Canada and more broadly the West are bleak. Post-Christian Canada, however, contains thriving alternative and innovative forms of church, often called ‘emerging’ churches. They take many forms of expression, but share common theological convictions. Based on site research, this article describes the various types and contexts of these churches in Canada. It then highlights three of their central theological characteristics. First, rejecting the ‘culture wars’ social involvement of Christendom churches, they embrace practices and initiatives that transform their local communities. Second, they embrace an incarnational and contextual understanding of Christian life and ministry. Eschewing mega-church franchise models, they endeavor to shape their ministry to the their local communities. Third, they adopt a comprehensive rather than compartmental spirituality.