Postdenominational Christianity has considerable changes in the styles of worship and in the organizational congregational structure, transforming the way in which their devotees relate to their beliefs, with the world around them and the way in which they experience Christianity. This article presents examples of Postdenominational Churches in Mexico and the United States in the context of social distancing as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic. Using these examples, we observe the innovation in the religious field that Postdenominational Churches represent and how they not only have online resources, but in certain cases, they are what we call semi-virtual Churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keywords: coronavirus<\/a>, emerging Christianity<\/a>, post-denominational churches<\/a>, religious innovation<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Postdenominational Christianity has considerable changes in the styles of worship and in the organizational congregational structure, transforming the way in which their devotees relate to their beliefs, with the world around them and the way in which they experience Christianity. This article presents examples of Postdenominational Churches in Mexico and the United States in the context of social distancing as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic. Using these examples, we observe the innovation in the religious field that Postdenominational Churches represent and how they not only have online resources, but in certain cases, they are what we call semi-virtual Churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keywords: Emerging Christianity, Coronavirus, Postdenominational Churches, Religious innovation, Mexico, United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To say that the coronavirus forever changed the lives of individuals and communities is no exaggeration; from the world's largest institutional and corporate conglomerates to the simplest domestic units, the daily dynamics of much of the population had to change as a result of the pandemic caused by the coronavirus. sars<\/span>–c<\/span>orv<\/span>-2: the need to maintain a healthy distance to reduce contagion triggered a social isolation never seen before in the 20th century. xxi<\/span>This situation not only negatively impacted the psychological state of people, but also the financial situation of many businesses (Torales, O'Higgins, Castaldelli-Maia and Ventriglio, 2020). While some well-known multinational brands have had to declare bankruptcy, such as Hertz, JCPenney or True Religion Apparel, a myriad of small and medium-sized businesses have had to close for good, leaving millions of families across the world without a steady income (Fernandes, 2020). Temples and places of worship and religious congregation were no exception; in the United States alone, in July 2020 there were already approximately 650 confirmed cases that ended up impacting an even larger number in the face of attempts to resist the isolation measures (Conger, Healy and Tompkins, 2020). In Mexico, the Undersecretary of Democratic Development, Social Participation and Religious Affairs indicated, since June 15, the procedure to follow to reopen places of worship in accordance with the rules of the new normality; thus, several congregations began to resume operations in a staggered manner and according to the traffic light established by the government of the Republic (Subsecretar\u00eda de Desarrollo Democr\u00e1tico, Participaci\u00f3n Social y Asuntos Religiosos, 2020). This pandemic brought to the center of the debate not only the issue of the digitalization of everyday life but also, as the months of confinement progressed and social restrictions tightened, the issue of governmental reach into people's private lives and its interference in limiting individual freedoms such as freedom of worship and assembly. In this context, some companies and many other institutions were more prepared for the transition that occurred in remote interactions as a result of the virus; in the same vein, the religious field was affected due to the intrinsic face-to-face nature of religious congregations, which led different churches to cancel, limit or, in the best of cases, digitize the offer of their salvation goods; While a large part of the Judeo-Christian spectrum was affected by the coronavirus (Gatti, 2020), a series of evangelical-pentecostal, neo-pentecostal groupings, previously disposed by their immersion in the infrastructure of the spectacular nature of some mega-churches, as well as other congregations of a religious nature, have been affected by the coronavirus (Gatti, 2020), as well as other smaller post-denominational congregations, but at the technological and cultural forefront, managed to resist the social and economic blow of isolation due not only to their digital possibilities, but also to their capacity for innovation in the offer and execution of their religious services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other authors have already dealt with the changes brought about by the pandemic in the field of religion (Betim et al.<\/em>(Medell\u00edn, 2020), both on how the social sciences seek to work in this context, as Virginia Garc\u00eda Acosta in personal communication with Ren\u00e9e de la Torre (2020), and how the \"virtualization\" of religious services in a wide range of churches of different denominations has been a fundamental point in the religious experience of people in the pandemic context (Medell\u00edn, 2020). In this article we take up the cases of four post-denominational churches in Mexico and the United States, which proved to be better prepared for the changes derived from this global catastrophe in terms of their structure and their way of doing things, beyond having a presence in social networks or having infrastructure for the virtualization of religious activities; relatively common elements in most religious and civil institutions in the wake of the pandemic. The selection of these churches was due to two reasons: 1) The origin of the type of postdenominationalism practiced by the chosen Mexican congregations was in Southern California; the U.S. church addressed in this article is particularly emblematic and influential for the cross-border region, and fully impacts in terms of philosophy and structure the postdenominational churches in Tijuana and Ensenada; 2) The Mexican congregations chosen are emblematic cases of postdenominational Christianity throughout the country, and in turn were influenced by postdenominational trends in Southern California (Ibarra, 2019). The ethnographic data in this article are derived from two investigations conducted between 2016 and 2020 in the Tijuana-San Diego-Los Angeles region and in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, Jalisco; this is coupled with a series of data obtained during the pandemic of covid<\/span>-19 in 2020 by observing the groups of the targeted churches on the main digital platforms: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, as well as remote interviews with some key informants, including leaders, pastors and members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We decided to focus on post-denominational congregations because, unlike other denominations with robust media infrastructure, such as the mega-churches of the Assemblies of God or the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, which use this type of resources as an auxiliary in their evangelization process, the post-denominational churches addressed in this article emerge and grow within the digital and cannot be understood if this component is removed, as it is an integral part of their religious and cultural identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mexico has been a secular country since 1857 and the Law of Religious Associations and Public Worship of 1992 meant an opportunity to increase the visibility of the country's religious diversity, such that in 2020 there were already slightly more than 7,000 congregations of various denominations (De la Torre, Guti\u00e9rrez and Hern\u00e1ndez, 2020). It should be mentioned that the Evangelical-Pentecostal universe is not monolithic and after several revivals during two centuries (Bastian, 2013; Cox, 2009; Creech, 1996; Dow, 2005; Ram\u00edrez, 2015; Robeck, 2017), this type of congregations managed to gain a foothold among the socially and economically vulnerable population, mainly due to their ability to provide support networks and sense of belonging (Garrard-Burnett and Stoll, 1993). With the increase in migratory flows, the network of Evangelical-Pentecostal influence increased in the country, thanks to the establishment of translocal and cross-border communities among the communities of origin, transit and destination; this is one of the reasons why the northern states and the southern states of the country have the largest concentration of Evangelical-Pentecostal Christians (Hern\u00e1ndez and O'Connor, 2013; Odgers and Ruiz, 2009; Ram\u00edrez, 2003; Stephen, 2007). The drug problem also fueled the growth of Evangelical-Pentecostal groups in the region, as a large part of the rehabilitation centers are run by them (Odgers and Olivas, 2018). These elements are paramount to conceive the emergence and expansion of postdenominationalism in the country, since the first churches of this type appeared in southern California, taking advantage of the multiethnic and hyperdiversified composition of that state, which in addition to becoming the largest recipient of Mexican and Central American migrants also represented a bastion of progressive policies compared to other places in the United States; Taking advantage of these elements, the Jesus Movement, the Vineyard Christian Fellowship and Calvary Chapel laid the groundwork for making concessions in the traditionally conservative positions of Evangelical-Pentecostal groups, with the aim of appealing to young people in California during the 1970s (Ibarra, 2019; Shibley, 1996).<\/p>\n\n\n\n As will be seen below, the most important postdenominational congregation in the southwestern United States is mosaic<\/span>located in the city of Los Angeles; this church began reconfiguration processes in the 1990s and during the first years of the new century. xxi<\/span>which allowed it to take advantage of the ethnic, social and cultural diversity of young people in Southern California (Marti, 2009); in the 2010s it entered a period of audiovisual renovation, taking advantage of the rise of digital platforms and the intersection between religion and culture. pop<\/em>. This congregation ended up influencing two churches in northwestern Mexico: Ancla, in Tijuana, and Horizonte, in Ensenada, and a church in the center of the country, M\u00e1s Vida, in Guadalajara (Ibarra, 2019; Gomes, 2020).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although non-denominationalism has been used to refer to Evangelical-Pentecostal churches that do not belong to established organizations, such as the Assemblies of God (Anderson, 2004), post-denominationalism breaks with this dynamic despite its closeness to these types of churches. Although there is no consensus on the definition of what a postdenominational church is, communities of this type assume that no Christian congregation possesses the absolute truth about the correct interpretation of the Gospel; instead of an attitude of confrontation with other confessions, postdenominationalism recognizes that all congregations of Christianity possess fragments of the true message of God (Deverell, 2005). Miller understands as postdenominational Christianity that which manifests considerable changes in its worship styles and in the organizational structure of its congregation, which transforms not only the way of experiencing Christianity, but also the way in which its followers relate to their beliefs and to the world around them (Miller, 1998). It is important to consider that post-denominational Christianity is not a movement, but a trend that urges religious groups to demonstrate a theological and cultural openness to other ways of understanding salvation (Placentra Johnston, 2012). This posture allows them greater freedom not only when interacting with other people and other congregations, but also greater room for maneuver in relation to modernization processes in worship, praise and evangelism. In practice, post-denominational churches are composed entirely of seekers (seekers<\/em>) who used to be part of evangelical, Pentecostal, neo-Pentecostal or non-denominational groups, who were not satisfied with the offer of salvation and the internal dynamics of such congregations (Ibarra, 2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two fundamental elements that have taken root in the post-denominational churches studied have to do with non-discrimination of any kind and sensitization to difference (Strauss and Howe, 2000). In particular, there are four elements that mark the discourse of these congregations: the differentiation between core beliefs<\/em> and secondary beliefs<\/em>and the belief in the existence of a state of maturity in faith<\/em> and take care not to be stumbling block<\/em> for other people. The fundamental beliefs refer to the basic message of Christian salvation: the sacrifice of Jesus who took away the sin of all humanity and saved it by divine grace (Kimball, 2003). Secondary beliefs are the matters of form that each church has in its interpretation of the word of God (Ibarra, 2019): just as Pentecostals believe in the gifts of the Spirit, or Jehovah's Witnesses reject blood transfusions, the post-denominational churches addressed in this article think that Christians should regain dominion over the profane world, since it is a divine creation that has been feared for centuries (Ibarra, 2019). The idea about maturity in faith refers to the freedom of profane actions and activities that a person will be able to perform depending on how secure they are in their personal relationship with God; this element allows certain people who follow these churches to adopt liberal positions around issues and activities that a more conservative Christian would not be able to. In order to limit the degree of freedom that this perspective offers, the idea of not being a stumbling block describes the care that mature people in the faith must take so as not to affect third parties who may be having a struggle or a problem with elements of the secular world. Thus, the operationalization of maturity in faith is observed when people are confronted with ambiguous situations in traditionally Christian terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Likewise, in the post-denominational groupings there is no debate with the forms, neither in the musical aspect, nor with the question of appearances or dress codes; neither have they had problems to keep their young people nor do they have conflict to integrate and make use of technological advances in communication (Ibarra, 2019), which prepared them to face the changes in interaction that derived from the restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. To demonstrate this assertion, the cases of four congregations and how they have adapted to the pandemic situation affecting the entire world will be presented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most representative case of a post-denominational church that influences the other congregations of the emerging Christian movement in the world is mosaic<\/span>located in the city of Los Angeles, California. Although mosaic<\/span> has congregations in different parts of the state of California and two in Latin America, in Mexico City and Ecuador, its compound on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is the main headquarters and from where its senior pastor, Erwin McManus, preaches. Of Salvadoran origin, McManus began his ministry in a Baptist organization and, once he managed to assume the position of senior pastor in the 1990s, he began to propose changes with the intention of creating an inclusive church for ethnic minorities in California, using an approach of openness to what other Protestant and Evangelical-Pentecostal churches consider part of the profane world, making use of the artistic and cultural elements that characterized the people he intended to reach (Ibarra, 2019). By the first decade of the first century xxi<\/span>In the event, close to two thousand people from more than sixty ethnic-national backgrounds gathered at the mosaic<\/span>. At its seven locations in the United States, about five thousand people attended weekly until before the quarantine caused by the covid<\/span>-19 (Marti, 2009).<\/p>\n\n\n\n mosaic<\/span>as well as the congregations located in Mexico that will be addressed below, operate under the principles that Ganiel and Marti described when speaking of a deconstructed church: they are anti-institutional, transgress traditional ecclesial and theological boundaries, favor young leadership, value experimentation and creativity, and create neutral religious spaces that avoid resembling a traditional Christian temple (Marti and Ganiel, 2014). It is also important to mention that these collectives are headed and directed by. millennials<\/em>, a generation that, culturally, has been identified by its tendency to abandon ideologies considered too moralistic, conservative, hypocritical or even too political (Ibarra, 2019; Marty and Ganiel, 2014). An important point to mention is that, even though these congregations are not focused on a public lgbti<\/span>as are the so-called \"churches for diversity\" (B\u00e1rcenas, 2014), their openness to a varied public, in all its meanings, makes them frequented by people who may feel attacked or out of place in more traditional congregations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the pandemic of covid<\/span>-As a result, the different local and national governments were forced to close places of recreation and congregation in order to avoid an increase in contagion and death, most of the worship centers in Mexico and the United States suffered large drops in attendance. Although some congregations were able to gradually overcome the impossibility of meeting physically, adapting their resources to a more on-line<\/em>churches such as mosaic<\/span> were prepared to offer their salvation goods without any problem, regardless of the distance. The reason for this greater adaptability has nothing to do, however, with the technical capacity and infrastructure already in place; after all, there are large Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal organizations that, despite having the resources and means to continue to operate at a distance, their engagement<\/em> with their congregants has not been particularly strong (Bryson, Andres and Davies, 2020); thus, Assemblies of God megachurches barely manage to gather a couple of hundred people, likes <\/em>and shares<\/em> in their liturgical broadcasts, numbers that are a far cry from their weekly face-to-face attendance of five to ten thousand people, depending on the congregation. A multidimensional analysis to explain this discrepancy may indicate elements of class, ethnicity, age and gender, but the simplest indicator to address has to do with the generational issue, and the proportion in which \"the generational\", redundancy aside, determines the levels of engagement<\/em> and presence on-line<\/em> of the congregations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is important to clarify that when we speak of the generational aspect we are not referring exclusively to the age aspect: to speak of the generational aspect we are not referring exclusively to the age aspect. millennials <\/em>does not include all persons born between 1982 and 1996. Lo millennial <\/em>is a sociocultural construct based on certain types of cultural consumption and certain types of behaviors and preferences in Western urban centers (Rouse and Ross, 2018; Winograd and Hais, 2011). Thus, a millennial <\/em>integrates on a daily basis the use of digital networks and the use of communication and design technologies, as well as a varying degree of artistic and social skills, either formally or through self-learning. These types of people are the ones who make up the body of leaders and pastors of the churches mentioned in this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the covid<\/span>-19, mosaic<\/span> in Los Angeles had an average weekly attendance of five thousand people, distributed among the three services offered on Sundays. As a result of the social distancing policies caused by the virus, mosaic<\/span> temporarily closed its doors but continued, and increased, the offering of its religious services through its website and other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. <\/em>Currently, remote services are offered on Saturdays and Sundays, seven times a day and in three languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese. According to one of the leaders of mosaic<\/span> we were able to interview from a distance, the transition to digital was not something new for the congregation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I'd be lying if I told you everything went smoothly, the truth is that we were already used to live streaming events through most social apps; what I personally feared was that our audience numbers would plummet once we went fully into lockdown; luckily, we have some of the most amazing people in the world and every time we live stream our services, the combined numbers between Facebook, YouTube and Instagram are pretty close to the five thousand people that usually come on Sundays; on top of that, there are an increasing number of visitors from other Latin American countries (K. Anderson, personal communication, June 20, 2020).1<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\npostdenominational christianity and the coronavirus: religious field and innovation in mexico and the united states<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWhat is post-denominational Christianity?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
COVID-19 and post-denominational Christianity in the U.S.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n