Venezuelan Evangelical Digital Diaspora, Pandemics, and the Connective Power of Contemporary Worship Music

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

I really enjoyed reading this paper. The empirical material is rich and the writing has good flow. However, there is very little conceptual saturation, not much that tells us why and how this all is important. In the discussion Cambell’s framework is uses, but really ends up being used to summarize the empirical material. There is so much out there on migration and religion—Peggy Levitt, Thomas Tweed, Peter Beyer, Thomas Csordas—that could be used to theorize this material.

Perhaps it is unfair to ask for conceptual saturation on such a new topic especially given that this is for a special issue.

One final comment. I am not sure what Religions’ policy is on this, but there are some places in which the paper reads like theology rather than secular scholarship. For example, the last sentence says “As a result, the Internet became a vehicle for God’s work and mission through….” That sort of seems to merge emic and etic. If Religions is a Christian publication that is fine. If it is a secular publication that is meant to be read by, say, Muslims or non-theists, it should be reworked: “As a result, for these Pentecostals, the Internet became a vehicle for God’s work….”

Author Response

Thank you for your review.

In the new version, we have emphasized more the importance of the case study for the fields of digital religion and religion and migration. We feel that there is little research on these topics in Latin America. In addition to that, we think that the article will motivate more the research about contemporary worship music in Latin American countries.

Regarding Campbell's framework, we have added a description of it in a previous section such that it is explained before we use it to analyze the case study. Additional references about migration and religion have been added, particularly from Levitt and Vásquez.

It is true that the wording of the last sentence of the article was not adequate, we have modified it.

Reviewer 2 Report

The author(s) do engage with a wide range of scholarship which does give a provide context for the research. Nevertheless, given the focus of the topic some deeper engagement with the digital religion literature could have strengthened the discussion of the affordances of digital communication technology in the creation of the 'digital worship collective' explored in the study. The work of Heidi Campbell is reference in the discussion but we find out nothing about her framework nor what it adds to the research. 

The description of the empirical research needs to be elaborated upon. A bit more information about the how the data was collected, the nature of the workshop, the questions that were asked, how it was analysed would be welcomed. Further, there is no reflection on the limitations of the methodology or the research. A well defined research question might have made the focus of this research shaper.

The use of references could have on occasion been improved. In a couple of instances Master-level thesis are cited as sources. One would expect that the secondary literature drawn upon for journal article would reference peer-reviewed literature. For a paper that is social scientifically orientated It is also unclear why reference to specific Bible verses are included the way that they have been. The author(s) here seems to be speaking on behalf of "Christians" which seems out sync with the disciplinary locus of the paper. It is also unclear why The Message, a translation that paraphrases of the original manuscripts, is cited. 

The language is for most part good and comprehensible but could do with some editing of awkward sentences and typos. The concepts are often well defined  but the use of some could be tightened up. For example, social media seems to be used as synonymous to all digital communication technology. 

This piece of research has much potential and the topic promises to contribute to knowledge in the field of diaspora studies and religion, digital religion and religious expressions during the pandemic. In the end, while we learn something about the worship collective AeC, there is little contribution to theory nor discussion of the wider implication of the case study.  

Author Response

Thank you for your valuable comments.

In the new version, we have created a new section that engages more deeply with the concepts of digital religion. Campbell’s framework is analyzed in this section such that it does not appear abruptly at the end.

Regarding the empirical research, we have defined better why a case study is important and expanded on some aspects of the data collection phase.

One of the Master's level thesis references was substituted by the actual paper that was accepted in a peer-review journal. The other one appeared by mistake in the previous version but had been eliminated. This is corrected in the new version.

References to Bible verses have been eliminated or improved. The language referring to the expression of certain Christian expressions or practices has been improved where it seemed confusing.

We have adopted Campbell’s use of digital religion encompassing all technology employed like the Internet, social networks, social media, communication platforms and the like as digital technology or digital space.

We added a small conclusion where we proposed some directions for further research. Some of the topics are of special importance in Latin America where there is very little research in the area of religion, especially new movements such as Pentecostal/Charismatic churches in the region. We feel that the article contributes a little bit in motivating more research.

Reviewer 3 Report

The article addresses a very current topic by analyzing the Venezuelan evangelical digital diaspora music during the Covid-19 pandemic. By analyzing the aims, methods, technologies, as well as individual song contents promoted in the collective Adorando e Casa, the author convincingly explores how the AeC can be seen as a communitas that has emerged from the liminal state created by the pandemic. 

The article is written with clarity of argument and with coherence. Some minor revisions could, however, be suggested:

• Since 2020, research on digital worship has exploded in number. While the author cites some relevant literature, there could be more, also to enable some comparison, for example, by evaluating more extensively how Pentecostal/Charismatic digital worship differs from other Christian digital worships, and what makes AeC so special among other P/C digital worship communities.
• The article would benefit from a more clearly stated research question / task. The aims are expressed in the abstract, yet one would expect to find them in the actual article (the introduction), as well. In the absence of this, the conclusions presented in the discussion come up rather abruptly.
• Some references to theoretical concepts and methods are rather briefly made and would benefit from elaborating. For example, identificational repentance (line 408), Montiel's quote (lines 412–414), Campbell's framework (line 417). Especially in the last case, where the conclusions are based on the mentioned framework, one would expect some kind of clarification of what the framework consists of (and this preferably already in the introduction, where the aims and methods of the whole article should be stated).
• "An analysis of the lyrics of the original productions was also conducted by a renowned musicologist and pastor" (line 295–260) will (should) probably be written in a less vague manner in the final version.

 

 

Author Response

Thank you for your valuable comments.

In the new version we have created a new section that engages more deeply with the concepts of digital religion. Campbell’s framework is analyzed in this section such that it does not appear abruptly at the end. Some additional references were included.

Regarding the empirical research, we have defined better why a case study is important and expanded on some aspects of the data collection phase. We clarified why the “case” is our object of research and why it would be valuable for future studies.

AeC is a Latin American worship community, and it is important to remark that research in contemporary worship in Latam is almost inexistent. We could have taken this direction in the article but we wanted to show the interaction of several fields in one case. That is the reason why the topic of contemporary worship is not expanded too much. Perhaps this is something that we may undertake on another research.

Regarding Campbell framework, we have added a description of it in a previous section such that it is explained before we use it to analyze the case study.

A clarification of “identificational repentance” in spiritual warfare has been added to the new version. Also, we presented better the contribution of Wershin Montiel in analyzing the lyrics and arrangements of the songs.