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The Prayer Warriors:
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THE PRAYER WARRIORS:
CREATING AN US I THEM DIVISION
WITHIN THE FUNDAMENTALIST MOVEMENT

By

Holly Ann VVIseman

A THESIS
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Sociology

1 994

ABSTRACT
THE PRAYER WARRIORS:
CREATING AN us / THEM DIVISION
WITHIN THE FUNDAMENTALIST MOVEMENT
By

Holly Ann Vlfiseman

The recent growth of evangelical fundamentalism has become the focus
of much study in the field of sociology. It is the purpose of this paper to explore
that growth, concentrating on recruitment strategies within the movement. A
field research study, primarily based on observation, was conducted at a large
Assembly of God church in Mid Michigan. The findings of the study reveal a
stark "us vs. them" dichotomy being created during the early stages of
recruitment, and further nurtured through involvement in church events and
activities. The bonding of members through use of this dichotomy is present at
several social levels, and is constructed by means of at least three strategies
utilized by the church: business images, theater / performance themes, and
reality definition. Consequences of using an "us against them" dichotomy to
gain commitment to fundamentalist organizations may be varied and far
reaching. These findings suggest that further study of the "us vs. them"
phenomenon within evangelical organizations must take place in order to

understand the nature of recent growth in the movement.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Much gratitude goes out to Dr. M. L. McCoy for her invaluable guidance
throughout the course of my observations at Faith Hill Church. I wish to thank
Dr. Kevin Kelly and Dr. Marilyn Aronoff for their comments and efforts in helping
me to produce a final draft. Thanks also to Dr. Bill Ewens for giving his time and
help with this thesis on such short notice. Finally, I wish to express my deep
appreciation to my husband and to my family for their continued patience and

encouragement.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WELCOME TO FAITH HILL

INTRODUCTION
Historical Background of Movement
Theories of Fundamentalist Growth

METHODS

ANALYSIS OF DATA

Images of Business at Faith Hill Church
Th eater / Performance Characteristics
The Construction of a Shared Congregational Reality

CONSEQUENCES AND CONCLUSIONS

LIST OF REFERENCES

cahw

11
14
16
18

23

27

In September 1987, a brand new 3000 seat arena opened five miles outside
Michigan's state capital. This magnificent building, with its beautifully
landscaped grounds, wooden benches lining the walkways to its three large
entrances, and its four enormous, lettered parking lots, which surround the
structure itself, resembles a convention center from the outside. Inside the
building, big, plushly carpeted hallways, twelve coat rooms, several rest rooms
and entrances to the balcony seats, an information desk, and souvenir shop
surround the fourteen entrances to the arena itself, giving one a feeling of
attending an opera, or perhaps a stage play.

The arena itself is a spectacle. A large stage is set up with a small
orchestra, a full choir, standing keyboards, a drum set, a grand piano, two or
three standing microphones, a large American flag, potted flowers and small
trees, and an area with seating for nearly thirty people. Behind the stage hangs
a movie screen, and one can see several different colored lights on lighting
boards above the stage. The seating is situated so that it surrounds the stage in
a large half-circle, both on the main floor and on the balcony, which is flanked
with national flags from all over the world. Some seats in the balcony are so far
from the stage that six hanging television sets are provided, so that the people
seated in these sections can see what is happening on stage. A large lighting

booth is directly opposite the stage, and if viewed from the right angle, one can

2

vaguely make out several men with headphones and wraparound microphones
scurrying around the booth, making certain that the show runs smoothly. Four
television cameras are situated at various points and distances around the
stage; each angle of the action is covered.

Had someone come to this arena with no previous knowledge of its
existence, she would surely believe that she had stumbled across a new ballet
or theater; maybe a concert hall. However, this magnificent structure is none of
these things. It is, in fact, an Assembly of God church-- Faith Hill Church and
International Outreach Ministries, to be exact— a charismatic evangelical
organization, and one of Michigan's largest and fastest growing churches.

In the early 1980's, Faith Hill Church was located in a small building on
the south side of Lansing, Michigan. At that time, it had less than three hundred
members in its congregation. Then, the parishioners say, a "miracle" happened.
A member who had been away for several years serving in the US Navy
returned from his tour of duty. This young man's name was Bob Jacobson,1 and
during his absence from the church, he had been "saved," and what Faith Hillers
refer to as "set on fire for God," which means that he "got serious."

Bob started his own Bible group, and began winning people over to Jesus
and "saving" them. One day, Bob heard God calling him to preach, so he went
and took the classes that he needed to become certified, and was soon a youth

minister under another pastor. Bob was an excellent speaker and "soul winner."

 

1 In the interest of confidentiality, names of all subjects and the church have been changed.

3

He continued to move up in the church, and quickly advanced to night minister,
conducting the Sunday evening services each week on his own. More and more
people started attending Faith Hill Church, to hear Pastor Bob preach. It wasn't
long before Bob Jacobson became the senior pastor of the church. His energy
and prayer are said to be unlike anything those who came in contact with the
church had ever witnessed before. The congregation grew more rapidly than
anyone could possibly have imagined.

Eventually, the congregation had to move to a larger building a few miles
away from the original church. Although the new building was more roomy than
the old one had been, membership continued to grow- so much so that, at one
point, Pastor Bob is said to have been conducting five services every Sunday,
just to accommodate all the people who wanted to attend. When membership
rose to two thousand, construction began on the new enormous building outside
the city. Pastor Bob now performs three services every Sunday, bringing his
charismatic message to over three thousand members in the main branch of the
church, as well as countless nonmembers who attend each week, and those

reached through Faith Hill's television ministry.

INTRODUCTION
The preceding resonates with other studies of fundamentalist religion
today. Evangelical churches have been growing steadily throughout the 20th

century, and have gained significantly during the past two decades (Poloma,

4
1982; Quebedeaux, 1978; Bedell, 1992). The Assemblies of God, in particular,

has been described as the fast growing Christian denomination in America
(Jacquet, 1991; Bedell, 1992; Poloma, 1989), and is the twelfth largest
Protestant denomination in the US (Poloma, 1988). During the ten-year period
between 1971 and 1981, Assemblies of God membership rose by over one
million, from 625,000 to 1,629,000 (Poloma, 1989). Today, the denomination
claims well over two million members in this country alone (Bedell, 1992), and,
largely due to its extensive overseas missions projects, Assemblies of God serve
approximately fifteen million people world wide.

How do fundamentalist evangelical churches draw so many people
today? What do the Assemblies of God and other organizations of this nature
have to offer parishioners that they may not find in other denominations? The
purpose of this paper is to examine these issues, focusing on one large
Assembly of God church as an example. Data collected at Faith Hill Church in
Lansing, Michigan, will be used to illustrate a deep "us vs. them" bond that is
created in the church to facilitate recruitment of new members. This paper
explores that bond, how it is developed within public services, and its

consequences for churchgoers.

Historical Background of Movement
The Christian fundamentalist movement in the US began as a reaction

against modernism during the late 1800's and early part of this century (Evans,

5

1988). Fundamentalist beliefs generally include such tenets as the vicarious
atonement, literal resurrection of Christ, the Triune God, pre-millennialism, and
the reality of Satan (Ibid., p.2). Though not all fundamentalists adhere to the
same combination of beliefs, there are two binding threads that link the
movement together. These are the belief that the Bible is completely free from
error, and that the sole authority on any question rests in the Bible (Boone,
1989; Evans, 1988).

From this movement arose the evangelicals - a word that most all of
today's Christian churches claim - whose faith and beliefs rest in the Gospels of
the New Testament (Blumhofer, 1993). Evangelicals elevate the importance of
personal salvation, which is seen as only being possible through strict
adherence to the doctrines of the New Testament. Since, according to
fundamentalist evangelical beliefs, Heaven is only attainable by calling upon the
saving power of Christ, "soul winning" is a major part of evangelical religious
practice (Evans, 1988).

Charismatics sprang from the Biblical belief of Baptism of the Holy Spirit,
which includes the idea that believers are endowed with supernatural gifts from
God, such as glossolalia, being "slain in the spirit," divine inspiration, and
prophetic knowledge (Poloma, 1989). The rise of the Charismatic following is
closely related in time to the rise of fundamentalist Christianity. However, just as
it is not true that all fundamentalists are Charismatics, neither are all

Charismatics fundamentalist (Evans, 1988). Charismatics can therefore be

6

found in a variety of denominations, from Catholicism to Mormonism.

The Assemblies of God, which was created in 1914 by a group of
Pentecostals from the Midwest who met in Hot Springs, Arkansas to discuss the
Apostolic Faith Movement (Blumhofer, 1993), is always at once fundamentalist,
evangelical, and charismatic (Evans, 1988). Since its establishment, the
Assemblies of God, following the general trend of fundamentalist organizations
in this country, has grown steadily each year, reached a plateau in the mid-

1960's, but then gained rapidly over the past twenty years (Jacquet, 1991).

Theories of Fundamentalist Growth

The religious right has recently become the topic of much discussion in
the field of sociology. The movement's increasing size and political and social
strength at a time when capitalism is experiencing a world wide crisis has
produced several theories that bring the phenomenon into focus. Echo Fields
(1991) uses Habermas' discussion of "legitimation crisis" in combination with his
ideas of "colonization of the lifeworld" to explain the rise of activist
fundamentalism during capitalist crisis. First, the impact of globalized capitalism
on American workers has created a "bad fit" between the image of the ideal
family and the reality of changing American families and our unpredictable
working lives. Because of this contradiction, ideologies must be created that will
explain and justify what is happening to our lives. Since fundamentalist

Christianity holds the tenets of the capitalist system as part of God's holy

7

prescription (lbid.), crises such as that described above are seen as natural and
workable -- they are legitimized as part of the divine plan. Secondly, as
consumerism, formal rationality, and other aspects of the capitalist economic
sphere invade the private sphere, this "colonization of the lifeworld" produces
families whose interactions revolve around income and consumption. Legal
structures are currently "intruding into family life," as well as personal disputes
between individuals. What comes out of this recent invasion of the private by
the public may be reactionary countercultures, such as drug abuse, cult
membership, or involvement in activist fundamentalism (lbid.).

Margaret Poloma, whose work focuses on the Assemblies of God
denomination, suggests that charismatic religious experience plays a crucial role
in membership growth (1989). She contends that ecstatic experiences such as
glossolalia and prophecies, which have been overlooked by researchers in the
past, have significant institutional consequences in evangelistic outreach and
the promotion of church growth. Although Poloma has shown that those who
experience charismatic gifts are more likely to be devoted to the church and its
evangelist efforts, the theory does not explain how these people were first drawn
to the organization, or why the church's outreach measures have become
increasingly successful during recent years.

Ammerman discusses the importance of fellowship (1987) to recruiting
and retaining members into the movement. The mere fact that events take place

so often at evangelical churches plays a large role in the commitment of

8

parishioners. For the members of the church studied by Ammerman, "the
dizzying round of church activities can effectively shut out the influences of the
world" (Ibid., p. 107). Others as well have found that a strong sense of
community is a key factor in the rise of any religious movement (Poloma, 1982;
Kanter, 1972; Marty, 1976; etc.). This was also found to be the case at Faith Hill
Church. There is so much to do at the church that members need not spend any
of their free time apart from the church or their fellow parishioners. However, the
very fact that members feel such deep commitment, and choose to spend their
time in this way, should be of critical importance. The creation of an "us vs.
them" bond between parishioners of fundamentalist organizations is mentioned
in several accounts (for example, Marty, Ammerman, Poloma, and Quebedeaux),
but has not been explored as a major recruitment tool into these organizations.
Observations at Faith Hill Church and International Outreach Ministries
reveal that a strong us / them dichotomy, built during the early stages of
recruitment, is a central factor in obtaining new members and holding the
congregation together. The dichotomy is constructed through several means at
Faith Hill Church. A business theme helps to legitimate the church and its
activities to possible recruits and to members themselves. This theme helps to
develop a strong "us" identity through rational means, mirroring our capitalist
society, but in such a way that does not create a loss of meaning for
parishioners. A second theme, theater and performance, creates an "us"

between congregation members by way of shared entertainment -- "inside jokes"

9

can be a powerful mechanism in making people feel that they belong. This
theme is also used to model the proper behavior desired from members and
possible recruits. Reality definition is a theme of utmost importance at Faith Hill.
By constructing a separate reality for members and possible recruits, not only
can the "us" be strengthened, but it is here that the "them" is created and the
absolute separation occurs. Working together, these three themes found at the
church help to create a very strong image of the "we" who are worshiping
together at Faith Hill, and the "they," who reside in the world outside the church.
It is the contention of this paper that examining the various ways that these "us"
and "them" images are constructed is one key to understanding the rise of

fundamentalist movements.

METHODS

The data used in this analysis were obtained through field research at
church services and functions. During a twelve-week period in the spring of
1993, notes were gathered at weekly Sunday morning services, prayer group
meetings, evening services, church television broadcasts, an abundance of
literature published by the church and the Assemblies of God denomination, a
Faith Hill passion play, and many conversations with members of the church.

Faith Hill holds services every day of the week, and most nights, as well,
separate ministries within the church come together for their own events or

services. In addition, Faith Hill has several prayer groups meeting every night,

10

television broadcasts several times per week, classes for members Monday
through F riday,2 and numerous activities, meetings, and events each week.
Most of these are advertised to the public; however, some are either not open to
the public, or simply not advertised.

The main focus of this research centers on the 10:30 am. Sunday
services. Through this huge all-congregational meeting time, it was possible to
gain a good overview of the church as a whole; who was attending, and what
was happening within the church. The service chosen has the highest
attendance ofany event at Faith Hill. Most importantly for this study, the 10:30
am. Sunday service has the largest number of visitors to the church. Because
of this, much data were recorded concerning Faith Hill's strategies for pulling
members in, and creating a bond between them and their church. Church
beliefs and teachings, as presented to visitors, as well as the general
characteristics and attitudes of those attending, were recorded.

Data collected during this study were analyzed using a combination of two
qualitative methods. The extended case method, as described by Michael
Burawoy (Burawoy, 1991, pp. 8 - 27 and 271 - 287), involves going into the field
equipped with preexisting theories, then reconstructing these theories as
anomalies occur. We "lay out as coherently as possible what we expect to find

in our site before entry." When a violation of the theory is discovered, the theory

 

is rebuilt, using existing literature and the anomaly itself to help us understand

 

2 Toward the end of this study, the church opened up its own Bible college, as well.

11

the problem. In other words, "rather than theory emerging from the field, what is
interesting in the field emerges from our theory." I entered this study with
several preexisting theories and ideas of what was likely to be found. These
ideas were gradually rebuilt throughout the time in the field, as contradictory
evidence appeared.

The major method of analysis used in this study is the grounded theory
method, which is defined by Glaser and Strauss (1967). Here, the researcher
discovers a "neW' theory from the data she has collected in the field, rather than
attempt to verify or restructure an already existing theory. The development of a
grounded theory therefore begins with no particular commitment to ideas or
expectations of what the data will produce. Data is flat gathered, then it is
coded and diagramed in a way that facilitates the surfacing of important findings
that may have otherwise been overlooked. Strauss argues that a good theory
"ought to be developed in intimate relationship with data, with researchers fully
aware of themselves as instruments for developing that grounded theory"
(Strauss, 1987, p.6). While several theories were brought into this study, most
of the findings presented here arose from the data, through coding and
diagraming of research notes. Unanticipated information began to form and

eventually solidify into theories of their own.

ANALYSIS OF DATA

As a large Assembly of God church, Faith Hill embraces the overall

12
theology of its denomination. Because of this, it strives to help meet the goals of
the collective Assemblies of God, which are posted on a large sign hung on the
wall of the church's entrance hallway:

The Decade of Harvest . . . Our Goals for the year 2000: to

establish 5000 new churches; to enlist one million prayer partners;

to reach and win five million people to Christ; to train and disciple

20,000 ministers.

While staying connected to the denomination and its goals, Faith Hill
does not lose sight of its own existence as a unique organization. The specific
needs of the Faith Hill congregation are important, and through the attempt to
meet these needs, the church hopes to be able to form an alliance between
churchgoers within its own setting. If achieved, this alliance may in turn help the
church move toward the more general aims of its denomination. The ability to
gain and retain members on a church level is the key element to accomplishing
the goals stated above.

Faith Hill Church claims three thousand members in its main branch
alone, and continues to grow, How is this church able to bring together such a
sizeable congregation successfully, keep them motivated and focused on the
goals of the church, and form a strong bond among them as a unit?

From the data collected during this study, one overriding theme emerged
to be present at all levels of church activity. A powerful separation between

those who worship together at the church - "us" - and those outside the Faith

Hill setting -- "them" -- is created during the earliest stages of recruitment, and

13

then nurtured consistently at each meeting, on every television broadcast, in all
publications dispersed by the church, and symbolically through song lyrics,
decorations, slogans -- even messages on T-shirts.

This "us vs. them" dichotomy works to benefit the church in several ways.
By creating the world outside the church as full of danger, ignorance, and evil,
the dichotomy seeks to produce members who are loyal and devoted to the
church, while insuring that parishioners' time and money will not be split among
several activities or causes. While not a closed cult community nor a live-in
commune, as those described by Kanter in her work, Commitment and
Communig (1972), members are nonetheless Mingly separated, physically and
psychologically, from the world beyond the church. Creating and maintaining
this separation is an enormous task, especially given the size of the church and
the diversity of its parishioners. The idea of constructing a strong "us vs. them"
bond between three thousand individuals may seem incomprehensible to many,
but Faith Hill seems to accomplish just that.

Efforts to create and sustain membership commitment were discovered in
three major underlying themes of church activity: a business theme, a theater
and performance theme, and reality definition. Together, these areas work to
help construct the us / them dichotomy at the church, which is used as the basis

for recruitment and maintenance of members.

14

Images of Busin ass at Faith Hill Church

One very dominant theme that functions to create a strong "us" at Faith
Hill is the presence of bureaucratic business characteristics. Positions of church
staff and workers are meted out in a clearly defined, hierarchical fashion. The
senior pastor is decidedly the Chief Executive Officer of the organization,
followed by a descending pyramid of pastors, district ministers, elders, and so
on, right down to ushers, greeters, and parking lot safety patrols. This
established hierarchy -- which differs considerably from many other Pentecostal
churches of the past and present -- brings the security of knowing that "someone
is in charge here." It provides structure to the entire church - everything is
always in its place; there is no chaotic element to Faith Hill. The hierarchy also
works to get members involved in their church. Everyone who wants a place in
the business of the church is afforded one, and opportunities for moving up are
abundant

Another aspect of the business theme at Faith Hill pertains to its general
look and feel. As stated earlier, the building itself resembles a convention
center. It is huge, new, and clean, with beautifully landscaped grounds. When
one pulls into the Faith Hill parking lot, she is directed to an appropriate space
by safety patrol men wearing bright orange vests over dark suits. There are
always one or two police cars patrolling the lot Sunday mornings, and on
occasion, the policemen will park their cars outside while going inside the

building to drink coffee and talk to Pastor Bob. These things all lend a sense of

15

authority to Faith Hill. The church and its senior pastor are legitimated not only
in the eyes of the parishioners, but -- by extension of the secular patrolmens'
presence -- it is legitimated to the entire community.

Images of authority and legitimation can also be found in many of the
church's song lyrics as well:

. . . Commander in Chief, bring us to attention, lead us into battle to

crush the enemy . . . Jesus has all authority here in this place, He

has all authority here . . . ("Mighty Warrior" song lyrics)

The services and church literature are also saturated with business
images. Words such as "corporation," "hostile takeover," "compensation," and
many others appear throughout pamphlets printed by the church. When
speaking, Pastor Bob incorporates images of business, as well. Consider this
excerpt from one service during Faith Hill's two week "Missions Conference":

After the prayer for money, Pastor Bob tells the congregation that if

anyone is interested in money or money management, "whatever

you do, don't miss tonight's service" . . . He is talking about the

guest speaker tonight, whose topic is "Fresh Financial Anointing."

Pastor Bob says this guy "will share with you the secret of 'God's

Multiplication Factor' and pray for each attendant to receive an

anointing for financial miracles!" (FN #8, 3/15/93, p. 5)

Pastor Bob's sermons and literature are all formed in organized topics
which fit under one larger subject heading. Each week, he will introduce the
major theme for the day, and then present seven or eight points that illustrate the
theme. These points are then discussed in a very neatly organized fashion.

This memo-like point by point analysis of each topic is never deviated from, it is

the set style of getting down to each week's business.

16

Finally, advertising is one of the church's main tasks each week. This is
not the usual "church announcements" part of the service, which is generally set
off into one five-minute block, but it is full-blown advertising. Besides imploring
the congregation, many of whom are visitors, to attend various activities during
the week -- which amounts to a very large portion of the verbal communication at
the Sunday morning service -- posters, signs, pamphlets, and newsletters
containing information on these activities can be found at every turn in the
building. The fact that there is always something to do at Faith Hill, and that the
advertisements make every event sound very exciting, helps a great deal in
keeping up the dominant time commitment needed for the creation - and

separation -- of the church's "us."

Th eater / Performance Characteristics

A second factor that aids in the formation of Faith Hill's "us" is the
presence of a theater I performance theme at the church. The inside of the
chapel itself looks like a theater, with its huge stage, two-tiered audience
seating, orchestra, TV cameras, and lighting booth. Like a stage play, each
actor involved in the service I show wear costumes fitting to their characters, and
both the actors and their costumes, as well as the stage decorations, vary
according to the content of different performances and make up of the audience.
For example, during the missions conference mentioned earlier, in which the title

of the service was "Air Hope Flight 202," I recorded these observations:

17

. . . On the wall in the back of the stage is this big plane thing

sticking out. It is like half a plane, flying into Faith Hill chapel, and

it has flags draped over it. The ushers are dressed in these short

sleeve button up shirts with blue pants, instead of their usual red

blazers, and are wearing little plastic name tags. They are,

apparently, our flight attendants today. The ushers hand everyone

an "Air Hope Flight 202" boarding pass as we enter . . . (F N #7,

3/8/93, p. 2 - 3)

The same type of costume and performance change was noted at every service,
as color coordination and theme of the service were altered not only each week,
but also at each different service, according to the topic of discussion and/or the
make up of the audience. The theater / performance theme creates a fun
atmosphere at the church, in which those attending - whoever they may be --
can feel at ease during fellowship.

Each service at Faith Hill is broken down into small segments, with
"commercial breaks"3 of jokes or announcements scattered throughout, to keep
the audience's attention. Everything is very well rehearsed and tightly
scheduled, right down to knowing when to pause for audience laughter. The
best examples of this phenomenon are illustrated by the staged interactions
between Pastor Bob and his wife Betsy:

Pastor Bob continues, "As scary as commitment can be, I don't

think that we can grow without it." Betsy smiles and nods at this.

Pastor Bob says to Betsy, "Do you remember that night?"

[Referring to a story told earlier] Betsy replies, "Not really, since

you're making the story up!" Now there is uproarious laughter.

Pastor Bob looks "fake embarrassed," and slaps Betsy lightly on
the shoulder. She starts laughing, too. (FN #9, 3/22/93, p. 8)

 

3 FN #11, 45/93, p. 8 - Guest pastor Gil Underwood uses the words "let's pause for a commercial
break" during his sermon.

18
The precise staging, well-rehearsed dialogue, and spectacular lighting of the
whole Sunday morning event adds to the sense of attending a theatrical
performance. The experience of shared entertainment, like friends sharing in a
joke, may allow visitors to feel that they belong at Faith Hill -- they are part of the
"us" at the church.

A final function of Faith Hill's theater I performance theme is to allow
those on stage to "act out" behavior that is desired from the audience itself.
Rehearsed discussions concerning the tithe, joking about those attending other
churches, and modeling proper husband - wife interaction is only part of what is
involved in this. The actors often conduct the congregation's in church behavior
as well:

. . . The entire choir, as well as some of the pastors in the pastor's

section, raise their arms during an emotional song. Many people in
the audience begin to raise their arms, too . . . (FN #5, 2/1/93, p.5)

The Construction of a Shared Congregational Reality

Perhaps the most important of the factors that work to create Faith Hill's
"us vs. them" bond is reality construction within the church. Not only does the
definition of reality help to build and emotionally bond the "us" at the church, but
within this creation lies the basis for the "them." This theme is woven into
everything that goes on at Faith Hill -- it is not a subtle or subconscious
phenomenon, but is right there, out in the open, at all times.

Church literature is saturated with constructions of the us I them

19

dichotomy. Both the "us" and the "them" are clearly defined, often going so far
as simply listing who "we" are and who "they" are, and characteristics of each.
During my short period of observation at Faith Hill, I was able to discover and
record at least five different levels of "us" vs. "them" at play in the church:
Nationalistic, Cultural, Religious, Inter-religious, and between the ministries
within the church itself.

The most prevalent of all distinctions made in the church are those made
at the religious level. In Bob Jacobson's The New Life: The Start of Something
Wonderfull. which is given to all newcomers to the church on their first visit,
there are specified 26 things that "you will want to do" when you become a
Christian. It also includes lists titled "Beware of So-Called Ministers Who Deny .
. . " and "Beware of False Prophets and False Teachers . . . " The latter
enumerates 31 religions that Pastor Bob calls "cults," among which are such
established faiths as Buddhism, Mormonism, Unitarian Universalist, and the
Metropolitan Community Church. (Surprisingly, the list does not include the
Hare Krishnas, a religion that is an old standby on everyone else's black list.)

The services at Faith Hill are also filled with material meant to create an
"us" and "them" in the minds of the congregation. Song lyrics are thick with
images that, both explicitly and implicitly, help construct this dichotomy:

"All Hail the power of Jesus' Name!"

"We are the Chosen Seed of Israel's Race!"

"Our God Reigns!"

20

"Our God is Awesome!"
"We are His Obedient Servants . . . "
And the weekly hymn:

"Jesus, Your Name is Power; Jesus, Your Name is Might;
Jesus, Your Name Above Any Other; Jesus, Your Name is Life."

Jokes are another important element in defining reality at Faith Hill
Church. During an average 90 minute service, 17 jokes were recorded in
observation. After subtracting the thirty minutes spent on congregational
singing, this means one joke was told about every 3 1/2 minutes. The numerous
jokes told during the services are always geared at making an us I them
distinction. Most poke fun at other cultures or religions, and some are
interreligious, or even interchurch.

Humiliating the "them" is not the only method available for the separation
of members from nonmembers, however. Often, "they" are presented to the
congregation as frightening, dangerous people whose violence can only be
escaped through the safety of Faith Hill Church. Consider the following example
of "them" creation during one of Pastor Bob's sermon's:

. . . Pastor Bob goes on, trying to scare parishioners. He says that

he was two miles from the towers when the explosion occurred.

[Referring to the 1993 bombing in New York City] He says that you

never know what will happen to you. He tells about an NAACP

leader who just opened his mail one day, and there was a letter

bomb, and it killed him right there . . . Pastor Bob tells another

story about a pastor who opened his mail to find a bomb, but he

was not even injured, because of his faith in the lord . . . Pastor

Bob tells the congregation that on the same day the bomb
exploded in the tower in New York, he was at the Newark airport to

21

catch his plane home, and there was a bomb scare at the airport.

"Experts say that the terrorists have made it to America . . . We are

living in a different world today, and I will tell you who is going to

make it -- High Performance Believers who have Faith in Jesus

Christ!" (FN # 9, 3l22/93, p. 12)

Not only is Pastor Bob creating a nationalistic and religious separation by
making these statements, but there is an implicit racial division as well. Note
that the NAACP leader in the story died under the same circumstances that the
faithful Christian pastor came out of unscathed.

Recruits from the public service who choose to become members of Faith
Hill are further exposed to this kind of strong programming against "them."
Although the church's required membership classes and "Believer's Services"
were not attended as part of the observations for this study, talking with people
who have been involved in these events reveals that "us vs. them" is largely
created by misinforming and/or providing potential members with selected and
incomplete information regarding other cultures and religions. When I asked
one female member at the Faith Hill visitor's center why the church felt that
Africans need to be missioned to, given that they already have many religions of
their own, I was told that "Everybody in Africa is starving to death, because they
worship cows and refuse to eat them." While it is probable that this is simply
one woman's misunderstanding, rather than information given to her during a
class, the woman was clearly in a position of educating newcomers about the

church's beliefs.

In fact, all of the full members that I spoke with during this study believed

22

the same sort of false information about peoples different from themselves. On

Buddhists:

"There is a right, and there is a wrong. Worshiping Jesus Christ is
right, worshiping Buddha is wrong . . . " (FN #12, 4/12/93, p.15)

"Asians need to be missioned to because they wmship a Buddha
God . . . " (FN #5, 2/15/93, p. 16)

When asked about Moslems:

"It's not that they're bad people, it's just that Moslems are very
devout in their religion. And they're, they are - they're violent!
They're violent people. A lot of the bombings and stuff, it's done by
Moslems. A lot of the world unrest is caused by Moslems. It's part
of their religion! And for a Moslem, if you became a Christian, and
gave your life to Jesus Christ -- it would be good for them to kill you
. . . your brothers and sisters, your father or mother —- they might
kill you!" (FN #12, 4/12/93, p. 16)

On Catholics:

"The only way you're going to get to heaven is if you accept Jesus
Christ as your savior . . . not if you pray to a - all the prayers to the
Virgin Mary, all the prayers to a statue -- that's not going to get you
there." (FN #12, 4/12/93, p. 11)

A question about Russian Jews was answered:

"They're Russian Jews, they're Jewish. But being a Russian Jew is
not a religion, that's a race. If you're a Russian Jew, they can be a
Catholic Russian Jew, a Protestant Russian Jew, they can be a,
uh, Judaic Russian Jew. . . " (FN #12, 4/12/93, p. 15)

And on Homosexuality:

. . They choose it! . . . I'm not saying that the Homosexual is bad.
I love him. But what he is doing is wrong . . . " (FN # 12, 4/12/93,

9- 9)

"My feeling is that homosexuality itself is wrong, according to God's
word, but I don't hate them -- the Bible says we're supposed to hate

23

the sin, but love the sinner . . . I believe it's a choice, on their part .
. . " (FN #12, 4/12/93, p. 8)

One member, a young man in his early thirties who is currently working his way
up the church hierarchy, made a good summation of Faith Hill's reality definition
theme differentiating between "us" and "them" in this one brief statement:

"Homosexuals, Lesbians, Blacks, Jewish, Moslems, everything --

they're all people! We love them all. But! The Bible is very

specific. Unless you call upon the name of Jesus Christ, you will

not be saved. So, we want to help, we don't hate these people --

but the fact is that only through the saving knowledge of Jesus
Christ is someone saved." (FN #12, 4/12/93, p. 17)

CONSEQUENCES AND CONCLUSIONS

As a result of this creation of an us / them dichotomy at the church, the
commitment between members noted in so many organizations like Faith Hill is
formed and nurtured. Members feel empowered in a world where power is set
aside for only a few. The knowledge of being part of "God's \fictorious Army"
can be very comforting during times of great uncertainty such as this. As
Ammerman notes, "One of the keys to this power is the knowledge that believers
have that, as one of the saved, they automatically outrank anyone who is
unsaved. No matter what outsider they are with, believers have the higher
status." (Ammerman, 1987, p. 107).

This sense of spiritual superiority works to outweigh the alienation that
people often feel in the world outside the church. To members, there is no

differentiation between life inside and outside the church. VVIthin the church,

24

they may have important tasks to which they are assigned to help keep the
organization running. Outside the church is where their most crucial role is
found, as members attempt to win as many souls as possible to their savior.
Missioning to "them" is one of the largest responsibilities a member has, and this
helps to further delineate between churchgoers and everyone else.

A strong "us" creates a strong sense of community among the
congregation, and this also can work to fill the void of a loss in peoples' lives.
New recruits to the fundamentalist movement usually describe their former lives
as "miserable" -- they may have been taking drugs, fighting with their spouses,
or drinking a lot before they found the church (E, p. 155). Another pattern of
convert are persons whose lives were undergoing a change at the time of
conversion (|b_id_,, p. 156). The same types of accounts were found among
members of Faith Hill. Both of the members with whom I spoke formally related
that they had been using drugs before coming to the church, and both had
recently experienced the death of a loved one shortly before conversion.

On a larger level, the effects of this powerful bond between members of
the movement are realized in several ways. Fundamentalist views have become
mainstream in today's world, and the movement is now, more than ever, able to
influence national policies, both domestic and foreign. While church TV
programs were once seen Sunday mornings or late nights on obscure local
cable stations, today's fundamentalists own and operate their own 24-hour

national television network. There are national news programs run by

25

fundamentalist groups, and several secular television programs advocate
fundamentalist views, as well. Fundamentalists have invaded the political
sphere also -- not only running for office, but often running successfully.

The movement's new found power and influence are not only due, in part,
to the successful creation of an us / them dichotomy within the individual
churches, but this power in turn acts to bring more potential recruits to the public
services themselves. From here the cycle begins again, with the individual
church creating an "us vs. them" bond, gaining new members and more power
and influence to the movement in the process.

This paper has focussed on the construction of an us / them bond
between members of a church congregation as a major factor in the growth of
the fundamentalist movement. Field observation performed at one Assembly of
God church over a twelve-week period in 1993 revealed that the creation of this
dichotomy is at the center of all church activities, from recruitment at public
services to membership classes and "Believer's Services." Although the us /
them phenomenon has been noted by several researchers of the fundamentalist
movement, the findings discussed in this paper suggest that this dichotomy is
c_rit_iga_l to fundamentalist organizations gaining and retaining members in today's
world. The "us vs. them" ties present in the movement need to be explored more
fully to gain a complete understanding of fundamentalist growth.

It is also important to note that not all visitors to Faith Hill Church stay and

become devoted members, despite the efforts discussed in this paper to draw

26

people in. Some may be turned off to the idea of a commitment based on "us
against them." For others, the pull is simply not strong enough to create an
allegiance between themselves and the church, or they may feel overwhelmed
by the apparent time and financial commitment needed to become a member.
Further study on the growth of evangelical fundamentalist organizations such as
Faith Hill may focus on those visitors who are n_ot enticed by the congregational
us / them bond to join the church.

As peoples' sense of identity and meaning continues to get lost in the
increasing crises of our world capitalist system, so does evangelical
fundamentalism continue to grow and expand into every realm of society. Mile
many feel that this growth is good for both individual members of the movement
and society itself, as Ammerman notes, "The answer depends on one's definition
of good' (fl, p. 191). Creating identity and a sense of belonging to otherwise
alienated masses seems noble, but achieving this through the stark separation
of "us" and "them," "good" and "evil," merits close attention in a world that is

getting smaller every day.

LIST OF REFERENCES

LIST OF REFERENCES

Ammerman, Nancy. 1987. Bible Believers: Fundamentalists in the Modern
World. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

. 1991. "North American ProtestantFundamentalism." pp. 1-65 in
Fundamentalisms Observed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Bedell, Kenneth and Jones, Alice. 1992. Yearbook of American and Canadian
Churches. Nashville: Abingdon Press.

Blumhofer, Edith. 1993. Restoring the Faith: The Assemblies of God,
Pentecostal/sm, and American Culture. Chicago: University of Illinois
Press.

Boone, Kathleen. 1989. The Bible Tells Them 80: The Discourse of Protestant
Fundamentalism. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Burawoy, Michael, et. al.. 1991 . Ethnography Unbound: Power and Resistance
in the Modern Metropolis. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Evans, Rod and Berent, Irwin. 1988. Fundamentalism: Hazards and
Heartbreaks. La Salle: Open Court.

Fields, Echo. 1991. "Understanding Activist Fundamentalism: Capitalist Crisis
and the 'Colonization of the Lifeworld'." Sociological Analysis. 52: 175-
190.

Glaser, Barney and Strauss, Anselm. 1967. The Discovery of Grounded
Theory. Chicago: Aldine.

Jacquet, Constant. 1991. Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.
Nashville: Abingdon Press.

Kaner, Rosabeth Moss. 1972. Commitment and Community: Communes and
Utopias in Sociological Perspective. Cambridge: Harvard Press.

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28
Marty, Martin. 1970. Righteous Empire: The Protestant Experience in America.
New York: Dial Press.
. 1976. A Nation of Behavers. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

. 1991. Fundamentalisms Observed. Chicago: Universityof Chicago
Press.

Poloma, Margaret. 1982. The Charismatic Movement: Is There a New
Pentecost? Boston: Twane Publishers.

. 1988. The Assemblies of God at a Crossroads: Charisma and
Institutional Dilemmas. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.

. 1989. "Religious Experiences, Evangelism, and Institutional Growth
\NIthin the Assemblies of God." Journal for the Scientific Study of
Religion. 28: 415-431.

Strauss, Anselm. 1987. Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.

Quebedeaux, Richard, 1974. The Young Evangelicals. New York: Harper &
Row Publishers.

. 1978. The World/y Evangelicals. New York: Harper & Row.

. 1982. By What Authority: The Rise of Personality Cults in American
Christianity. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers.

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