The pastor and the prophetess: an analysis of gender and Christianity in Vanuatu

Abstract

The focus of this article is the proliferation of new charismatic Pentecostal churches in the South Pacific nation Vanuatu. The established Presbyterian Church on the island of Ambrym is compared to a new Pentecostal church in the capital Port Vila in terms of gender. The idea of a vanishing form of masculinity and the development of a form of ‘gender nostalgia’ is emphasized in the comparison. By looking at gender relations, new perspectives on the difference between the new churches and more established churches emerge, and these perspectives, I argue, might also give us an understanding of why fission seem to be inevitable for the new Pentecostal churches in Vanuatu. Résumé Le présent article s’intéresse à la prolifération des nouvelles Églises pentecôtistes charismatiques au Vanuatu, une nation du Pacifique Sud. Il propose un comparaison du point de vue des rapports de genre entre l’Église presbytérienne établie dans l’île d’Ambrym et une nouvelle assemblée pentecôtiste de la capitale, Port Vila. Cette comparaison met l’accent sur l’idée d’une forme de masculinité en voie de disparition et sur le développement d’une certaine « nostalgie de genre ». L’examen des rapports sociaux de sexes fait apparaître de nouveaux angles d’approche de la différence entre les nouvelles Églises et les plus établies. L’auteure affirme que ces approches peuvent permettre de comprendre pourquoi le schisme semble inévitable pour les nouvelles Églises pentecôtistes du Vanuatu.

‘My wife converted me’: Gendered values and gendered conversion in Pentecostal households in Honiara, Solomon Islands

“…With such a perspective it is possible to establish a connection between the reformulation of gendered values and the overall framework of a conversion project intended to realise a novel form of Pentecostal masculinity. In this chapter, part of this analytical connection was developed by looking into to what Annelin Eriksen has termed the ‘sociological dimension of Pentecostal Christianity and its effect on men and women’ (Eriksen : 110). This analysis highlighted how gendered roles, religious laws, church structures and domestic arrangements puzzle together in cogent ways.…”

“…In Melanesia, Annelin Eriksen pioneered the study of Pentecostalism from a gender perspective (Eriksen ). She observed that, in order to study the then novel burgeoning of Pentecostal Churches in Vanuatu, an understanding of Pentecostal values as gendered values would ‘illuminate the difference between the new churches and more established churches’ (Eriksen : 103). Building upon the basis of this observation, she was able to illustrate how the new churches create a space in which Pentecostal Christians work out a novel form of masculinity.…”

“… The differences between male and female attitudes towards post‐marital conversion in Kwara'ae Pentecostal households has noteworthy similarities with the gendered meaning of conversion elsewhere. Eriksen observed that Pentecostal pastors in Port Vila emphasise a personal aspect in their conversion narrative (Eriksen : 113), whereas female prophetesses are chosen by the congregation. Likewise, Kwara'ae husbands tend to present their post‐marital conversion as the result of an independent choice, whereas their wives generally describe it as a consequence of their relationships. …”

One mind: Enacting the Christian congregation among the Auhelawa, Papua New Guinea

“…Barker questions this dualistic approach to Christianity, noting that in much of the Pacific, Christianity is part of a ‘neo‐traditional complex’ and is not experienced as a rupture with the traditional past (2012: 68). Others also question an exclusive focus on individualism in defining Christianity, and emphasise the collective work of congregations and fellowships over individuals’ choices (McDougall , ; Van Heekeren ; Weichart ; Eriksen ). Several find that Christianity is often conflated with ethnicity and nationhood (Armstrong ; Kaplan ; Eriksen ; Dundon ).…”

Introduction

“…Strathern's ‘The Gender of the Gift’ () is perhaps the primary example, with the works of many others such as Annette Weiner (), Lisette Josephides (), and Margaret Jolly (; Jolly and Macintyre ), among others, also using gender and/or feminist frameworks as an analytical tool for understanding the material realities, social relations and organisation, and cosmologies of Melanesian societies. There is, however, very little attention in the anthropological literature on bringing these two areas of research together (however, see Eriksen , , ; Jolly ). This collection is an effort at doing exactly this…”