Righteous Riches: The Word of Faith Movement in Contemporary African American Religion

189 Pages·2005·0.54 MB·English

by  Milmon F. Harrison

Righteous Riches:
The Word of Faith
Movement in Contemporary
African American Religion
MILMON F. HARRISON
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Righteous Riches
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Righteous Riches
The Word of Faith Movement in
Contemporary African American Religion
milmon f. harrison
1
2005
1
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Harrison,MilmonF.
Righteousriches:theWordoffaithmovementincontemporaryAfrican
Americanreligion/MilmonF.Harrison.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13978-0-19-515313-2;978-0-19-515388-0(pbk.)
ISBN0-19-515313-8;0-19-515388-X(pbk.)
1. AfricanAmericans—Religion. 2. Faithmovement(Hagin). I. Title.
BR563.N4H3782005
277.3'083'08996073—dc22 2004017069
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PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
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This book is dedicated to my wife,
Suzette Denise Harrison
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Preface
Ididnotgrowup“inchurch,”aspartofaformalreligiousbodylike
manyofmyclosestAfricanAmericanfriendsandacquaintances.As
onewhocametoorganizedreligioninmymid-twenties,Ifound
thattherewasmuchtolearnthatsomanyofthoseinmyimmedi-
atecirclealreadyknewandtookforgranted.Inearly1987Iwasa
newconvertbeginningtheprocessofsocializationintotheworldof
ChristianityinaWordofFaithMovementchurch.Thiswasthe
samechurchinSacramento,California,thatservesasthebackdrop
forthisbook.Asanexcited,bornagain,“baby”Christian(asnew
convertsareoftenreferredto),Ispentmanyhoursinchurchser-
vices,Biblestudies,andotherstructuredactivitieslearningtheba-
sicsofChristianbeliefandpractice.Duringthisperiodofaccultura-
tionintothissubcultureIalsolearnedwhatwasexpectedofmein
mynewroleas“churchmember.”Iservedasavolunteerinthe
ministryinanumberofcapacities,spendinginnumerablehours
working,andintheprocessIlearnedthecultureofmylocalchurch
andthelargermovementfromtheinsideoutandcametoidentify
myselfaspartofthisworld.TheWordofFaithMovementandthe
FaithMessageinmylocalchurchformedmyfirstimpressionof
whatitactuallymeanttoliveaChristianlife.ItwastherethatImet,
andlatermarried,mywife.Afewyearslater,asanundergraduate
sociologymajorattheUniversityofCalifornia,Davis,Ifoundthat
myexperienceasachurchmembershapedmyinterestinthesocio-
logicalstudyofreligion.Ihadtolooknofurtherthanmyowncom-
viii preface
munityoffaithasIbegantoformulatetheresearchquestionsthateventually
ledtomydoctoraldissertationandthisbook.
ButalthoughIhavepersonalknowledgeand“insider”experiencewiththe
Word of Faith Movement and the local church that served as the setting for
this book, my intention was not to write an expose´ of the movement,itsdoc-
trine, or its members or leaders. There are plenty of other places for readers
togoifthatiswhattheyareseeking.Ratherthisbookismyattempttoinitiate
constructiveinquiryintoacontemporaryreligiousmovementthathasreceived
a considerable amount of attention in the popular Christian press while, for
some reason, scholars of religion have left it relatively untouched. The target
audienceforthisbookisthereaderwhoisnotanexpertinthisareaofstudy
but who is, nevertheless, interested in learning more about the movement
without being subjected to a theological apologia or a delineation oftheways
it is doctrinally in error. For this reason some of my observations have been
written less for sake of argumentation or to advance sociological theory,than
to help expose the reader to some of the details about this movement, its
doctrines, and some of its most prominent figures. Many of these are recog-
nizable personalities readers may have already encountered via the broadcast
media but until now have not had the larger context in which to place them.
Theaimofthisbookistoprovidesuchacontext.
A major goal of this book is to providea venue for theopinionsand per-
spectives of “ordinary” members of a congregation within thelargerWord of
Faith Movement to speak on various issues concerning their own faith and
theirapplicationofit.Iwantedreaderstobeabletogaininsightintotheways
membersactivelystruggletomakemeaningoftheirbeliefsandwhattheyare
beingtaught,inthecontextoftheireverydayexperience.Inthedailyroundof
everyday experience is where religion loses its abstraction and becomes real
foritsadherents.Forthisreason,Ihavelimitedabstracttheoreticaldiscussions
and tried to write in language that is straightforward, clear, and as free of
sociological jargon as possible. As a researcher and a writer, the accessibility
of my work to as broad an audience as possible is an important part of my
valuesandmypolitics,andIhopethatIhaveremainedtruetoboth.
Finally,althoughIamnolongeramemberofaWordofFaithMovement
congregationasIwaswhenIbeganthisresearch,havingbeenamemberhas
beenatonceanassetandaliability.Myrelativeinsiderstatusprovidedaccess
andacertaindegreeofinsightintotheworldaboutwhichIhavewritten.Along
with those I interviewed for the book, I have personally lived and witnessed
manyofthetypesofthingsIhavewrittenabouthereevenbeforebecominga
sociologist. But just as much as it has helped me in this project, my insider
status has also been a hindrance inasmuch as it produced in me a strong