Dear Colleagues,

The global renewal movement is now considered to include more than five hundred million Christians. This “pentecostalisation” represents not only the various pentecostal and evangelical movements but also constituents found within mainline, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox churches. Although many classical pentecostal denominations still trace their history back to Asuza Street and a narrative of interaction between diverse dominant and marginalised members, it is unclear how these roots have been retained, if at all, within more aspirational forms.

Yet, religious movements are complex and contested. Thus, Pentecostal scholar Wariboko proposes an interacting metropolis and heteropolis, representing Pentecostalism’s dual hegemonic and alternative forms. There are suggestions that Pentecostalism may contribute to ameliorating poverty among individual members, for example, but it is less clear how it contributes to their collective participation in economic, social, and political structures or how these changes affect relationships with other Pentecostals. In addition, with the formation of new religious centres, there is also a potential for the development of new margins.

This Special Issue of Religions seeks to amplify the voices of historical and new marginal groups to explore the interactions of Pentecostals within social, cultural, political, and religious arenas. It seeks to investigate the themes of inequality, alienation, resistance, poverty relief, and empowerment and welcomes articles from disciplines including anthropology, sociology, history, religious studies, biblical studies, theology (including ecotheology), political economy, international development studies, and regional studies (especially Latin American, African, and East Asian studies).

Dr. Tanya Riches
Guest Editor

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• renewal Christianity
• Pentecostalism
• Pentecostal studies
• marginalisation