Come for Friends, Stay for God

• In Event: 2384 - Section on International Migration Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 16. Religion and Migration Aspirations

Abstract

This paper looks at the phenomenon of Chinese immigrants’ conversion to Christianity in the United States. Without pre-migratory exposure to Christianity, the high conversion rate of Chinese immigrants makes a unique case in the study of immigrant religion. While religious conversion is always framed as an individual choice or self-awakening, this paper adopts a sociological perspective to explain how mundane social acts within a Chinese American Christian community generate both social solidarity and religious commitment. People may join the Christian congregation for various reasons but in this case study of a Chinese church, religiously indifferent individuals are drawn into the congregation for social needs and stay for the reconstruction of a religious self. Following the Interaction Ritual (IR) theory by Collins (2005), my analysis shows that interaction rituals, including inviting, socializing, and conversing, generate social bonds that lay the foundation for religious messaging. In one single congregational activity, religious expectations and social bonding gradually increase through four major dynamics: inviting, attending, messaging, and establishing mutually focused attention. Religious rituals and interaction rituals work simultaneously to introduce religious symbols and their associated meanings. The gradual heat-up of religious temperature prevents individuals to feel overwhelmed and normalize the religious context where the focal point switches from social to religion. The simultaneous strengthening of both social and religious solidarity keeps newcomers in the congregation but also lay a ground for further intensification of religious expectations. Once the religious focal point is established, interaction rituals then create pressures to force newcomers to take a stand regarding their take on Christianity. It is then evident that one can only remain in the congregation if they accept the religious commitment. Such, the congregation successfully transform individuals from nonbelievers to religiously curious seekers.

Author

• Ashelee Yang, University of California-Los Angeles