PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

Based on ethnographic fieldwork in one of the largest megachurches in Guatemala, this article describes the cultural impact that the concept of Christian leadership has on the peculiar attitudes toward society that neo-Pentecostal believers develop as members of their religious communities. Evangelical organizations promote liderazgo (leadership) as a remedy for the problems that ail the world. For the residents of Guatemala's capital city, these include extreme levels of violence and crime. At the same time, liderazgo is a principal component of the cell group model, a growth strategy that many neo-Pentecostal churches deploy. This article argues that, in Guatemala, Christian leadership and the cell group model provide a conceptual and pragmatic infrastructure for a specifically evangelical practice of citizenship. By summoning believers to engage with the world beyond their congregations, this practice qualifies the quintessential individualism that scholars typically find in the evangelical faith.