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Th is article focuses on the interaction of African churches with the local social, political and religious ecology of Amsterdam Southeast in their search for worship space. It shows the continuing importance of the local, even for such transnational religious movements as African churches. Constructing a worship location confronts the churches with the 'ingrained orders of social power in the host society' (Favell 2003). Th ey encountered familiar black -white distinctions, a legion of 'white helpers' and a long process of building trust. I argue that African churches use transnational and local strategies. Becoming part of the local is inspired by missionary motives and is related to the character of religious congregations as relatively fi xed organisations which nurture a practice of engagement with local society. RésuméCet article se concentre sur l'interaction des églises africaines avec l'écologie locale au niveau sociale, politique et religieuse du Sud-est d'Amsterdam dans leur recherche de l'espace de culte. Cela démontre l'importance ininterrompue du local, même pour des mouvements religieux transnationaux comme les églises africaines. La construction d'un espace de culte confronte les églises avec « les ordres enracinés du pouvoir social dans la société hôte » (Favell 2003). Ils rencontrent la distinction habituelle entre noir et blanc, une légion d'« aide blanche » et un long processus de construire la confi ance. * ) Th e author thanks the members of the Religion and Migration study group, the other contributors to this issue and the anonymous reviewer of African Diaspora for their constructive comments made on earlier versions of this article.M. van der Meulen / African Diaspora 2 (2009) 159-181 Je soutiens que des églises africaines utilisent des stratégies transnationales et locales. Devenir une partie des locaux est inspiré par des motifs de missionnaire et est rapproché du caractère des congrégations religieuses comme les organisations relativement fi xes qui élèvent une pratique d'engagement avec la société locale.

Two cases in which researchers take part in religious ritual show how being a participant enhances the researcher’s understanding of what is happening. Through these cases the authors attempt to shed light on the methodological problems concerning the “intersubjectivity” of research on ritual. Ritual goes beyond the verbal and pulls bodily sensations, emotion and gestures into the domain of intersubjectivity established through fieldwork. Experiencing the emotional and physical sensations that accompany ritual give the researcher a clue as to what other participants experience. But maybe more importantly, the participation of the researcher also triggers reflections on the meaning and efficacy of the ritual. These verbalized interpretations of what has happened may further strengthen the researcher’s understanding. The authors argue that it is exactly through putting this intersubjectivity at the centre of both the actual fieldwork and the subsequent analysis that the ever flexible and contested nature of ritual and the dynamic tension between semantic and tacit meaning can be most fruitfully explored.

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