New Centers of Global Evangelicalism in Latin America and Africa

Stephen Offutt is Assistant Professor of Development Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary, Kentucky. His work has been published in a number of peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Contemporary Religion, the Journal for the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Pneuma: The Journal for the Society of Pentecostal Studies, and Sociology of Religion. He has contributed to edited volumes such as The New Evangelical Social Engagement, Sociology of Religion: A Reader, and The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization. Offutt also writes for popular audiences, with work appearing in magazines such as Books and Culture: A Christian Review, and Prism.

• Introduction; 1. A new way of thinking about a global faith; 2. Historical sketches of El Salvador and South Africa; 3. Encountering transnational religious social forces; 4. Exercising local influence: an entrepreneurial approach; 5. The social contours and global reach of the new centers of global evangelicalism: enlarging organizations, exporting religion, and creating social stratification; 6. New strategies of public engagement: integrated political engagement, increasing social engagement, and shifting beliefs; Conclusion.

'The explosive growth of Evangelical Protestantism in many countries is one of the most important religious developments today. This book by Stephen Offutt, based on original research in El Salvador and South Africa, provides a fascinating picture of the interaction of international and local Evangelical forces. Without ever losing sight of the big picture, Offutt tells lively stories of how individual believers fit into this picture.' Peter L. Berger, Boston University