UC Irvine

To contribute to broader discussions about how Pentecostalism is expanding in the United States despite a general decline in religiosity, this paper investigates how a Pentecostal church attracts adherents in the religious marketplace of Orange County, California. Based on over 260 hours of participant observation at worship services, small group meetings, Bible classes, volunteer activities, and informal social events, I find that the church helps believers solve three shared problems. First, believers claim that the church promotes a style of prayer that enables them to come into direct contact with the divine, igniting sparks of sacred mystery in an otherwise mundane world. Second, the church encourages congregants to draw on the therapeutic ethic when discussing their intimate relationships, providing them with a tool to work through personal issues. Finally, the church enables congregants to sacralize their occupations, making even the most trivial jobs profoundly meaningful. I contend that addressing each of these shared problems helps congregants adapt to broader changes in society. Prayer helps congregants charge up with emotional energy in an increasingly disconnected world. The therapeutic ethic helps congregants maintain their traditional beliefs while accommodating the growing empowerment women have experienced in the United States over the past 50 years. And sacralizing their occupations allows congregants to persist at jobs amidst deteriorating labor conditions. I conclude that guiding believers through major structural transformations in American society allows the church to effectively compete for adherents in the religious marketplace of Orange County.