NCSR 2008 - Urban Diversity and Religious Traditions
13-15 August 2008, Åbo Akademi University

Charismatic Christianity Russianised – Global Neo-Charismatic Movement in Post-Socialist Russia

Maija Turunen, University of Helsinki

The presentation examines small charismatic-evangelical churches in Russia established in the 1990s, mostly as a consequence of Western, mainly American, missionary work. It scrutinizes how the churches have settled in the country after the age of atheism, i.e., how global charismatic movement has been made as Russian and tailored to the Russian atmosphere. Which characteristics of Western neo-charismatism have been adopted and which are rejected as “alien elements that do not fit in Russia.”The discussion considers for instance how and why the churches have adopted current Russian nationalistic rhetoric. The data are produced by diverse material: interviews, observation, and texts that the churches and their umbrella organization: The Association of Christian Churches “Union of Christian”, have produced.