Always connected

WhatsApp use in two middle-class Pentecostal churches in India

Authors

  • Julia Kuhlin Uppsala University

Abstract

This article explores the activity in two Indian Pentecostal churches’ WhatsApp-groups using Christine Hine’s E3-model and shows in various ways how the activities in the groups are embedded, embodied, and everyday. A central finding is that what take place in these chat-groups is closely related to both offline congregational life and church members’ everyday lives. The WhatsApp-groups extended what the church was and meant for the members into an online space. Further, the article points to that, by means of these WhatsApp-groups, the churches have come closer to church members immediate personal spaces and moved, so to say, into their back pockets, resulting in a blurring of boundaries between congregational life and the everyday lives of members. The study is based on six months of fieldwork in two churches in the North Indian city Gurugram, including participation in the churches’ WhatsApp groups.

Keywords: India, WhatsApp, online-offline, digital religion, everyday religion

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Published

2022-12-15

How to Cite

Kuhlin, J. (2022). Always connected: WhatsApp use in two middle-class Pentecostal churches in India. Australasian Pentecostal Studies, 23(2), 122–140. Retrieved from https://aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9619

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 2 (2022): Australasian Pentecostal Studies

Section

General Articles

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