WEBSITES OF CHURCHES AS RELIGIOUS MARKETPLACE: THE CASE OF THREE GHANAIAN CHARISMATIC CHURCHES

Selorm Agbesi, Mohammed S. Issahaku, John K. Sibite

Abstract


The purpose of this paper is to explore how three Ghanaian charismatic churches rhetorically construct identities for themselves in their website texts. The three churches considered were Action Chapel International, International Central Gospel Church, and Perez Chapel International. The website texts studied were the churches’ history, beliefs, vision, and mission statements. Qualitative content analysis, guided by Constitutive Rhetoric Theory, was employed to explore the constructions that are embedded in the texts. Various identity constructions were found embedded in the texts of which the main ones are as follows: ownership of the church (especially in the history and vision narratives), the church as a collective or community, the church as a solution centre, the best church, and a call on audience to take action to perpetuate the ministry of the church (mainly in the Mission Statement). Through these constructions, each church presents itself as the best with the obvious aim of attracting and maintaining membership. This makes them appear as business competitors scrambling for new members in the religious marketplace. The study has implications for further research.


Keywords


Constitutive rhetoric; Identity construction; Charismatic churches; Pastors; Website

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/14008

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