abstractEvangelism in the United States is a highly sensationalized topic in Western media, with many being familiar with the equally sensationalized Megachurches that are a part of America’s evangelical culture. Despite the media coverage that American evangelism gets, most might not be familiar with the United States’s influence on religion and Christianity in Guatemala. This paper hopes to delve into the long history of American influence on Guatemalan evangelism and the effects we still see in Guatemala’s modern church and religious structures.
American evangelism can be a highly publicized subject matter due to its controversial nature. Whether or not someone is familiar with the religion, they may have heard a thing or two about Christian evangelists and all the elements that come with them, such as their popular megachurches, which can almost be the size of a sports arena. Although it may not be evident, the American evangelical beliefs have started to expand to countries like Guatemala. How have American evangelical beliefs and churches impacted the structure of Guatemala’s Christian churches? American evangelist values have impacted Guatemala’s Christian population through the effects of globalization, colonization, and political motivations. First, it is crucial to become familiar with our understanding of American evangelism and megachurches. According to the Hartford Institute for Religious Research, Megachurches are defined as “Protestant Christian congregations with a sustained average weekly attendance of 2000 persons or more in its worship services, counting all adults and children at all its worship locations” (Hartford Institute for Religious Research, 2020). A majority of these megachurches are located in suburban areas near big cities in the United States. The institute also shares that these churches grow quickly and typically only have one prominent pastor leading their services. Such church congregations frequently hold events and programs to benefit their communities. A survey conducted in 2020 also demonstrated that around 65 percent of megachurches define themselves as evangelical, making evangelism the leading theology of these megachurches. We mainly recognize the rise and wave of the megachurch starting around the 1970s and 80s. However, the journal article “Historicizing the Megachurch” by David E. Eagle argues that the Megachurch in the U.S. has been around for longer than that. The earliest recorded plans for building a significantly sized congregation date back to the 1600s in France, where architect Jacques Perret planned a church building that could hold up to 10,000 people. Many temples built in Europe around this time had multiple levels so that the congregation could hear the sermons better from wherever they sat (Eagle, 2015). The revivalism era in Europe between 1714 and 1770 helped catapult the trend of building churches that held thousands of guests. This era made use of a theatrical form of preaching, attracting non-believers into joining the congregation. Later in the 1800s, American Protestants were inspired by the large congregations of Europe and decided to follow. They approached the task of building churches as if they were building theaters, wanting to take inspiration from Broadway or theater productions. Moving forward, we must observe the relationship between the United States and Guatemala, which has been an evolving process. Also, the United States has a long history of involvement in general Central American affairs in countries such as Guatemala. The journal article “The Export of Fundamentalist Americanism: U.S. Evangelical Education in Guatemala” highlights how American evangelical groups export their beliefs to Guatemala through means of education. The article mentions that there has been an increase in Christian schools founded and funded by American corporations. One particular school curriculum called Accelerated Christian Education, or ACE for short, is based in Texas and exports this curriculum to schools in Guatemala. This educational curriculum promotes itself to conservative evangelists by using fear-mongering tactics stating that their learning condemns communism, among other subject matters. One of Guatemala’s most popular Christian schools is the Escuela Cristiana Verbo, a branch of the large congregational church called Iglesia del Verbo, which holds around 2,000 members. The Iglesia del Verbo, or Church of the Verb, is reminiscent of the large American megachurches as it was founded in 1976 by American missionaries. According to Professor Lauren Turek, Ph.D., evangelical missionaries have traveled to Guatemala as early as the 19th century. Since then, the country has seen a large number of foreign evangelical missionaries. Arguments have been made that missionaries, especially white Americans, can fall into the White Savior mentality, which is almost comparable to colonization mentalities (Escobal, 2022). The White Savior mentality is another term for the White-Savior Industrial Complex, first coined by Teju Cole in an article for The Atlantic. Colleen Murphy, a writer at Health.com, defines the term as “an ideology that a White person acts upon from a position of superiority to rescue a BIPOC—Black, Indigenous, or person of color—community or person” (Murphy, 2021). The ideology of a “white savior” goes back thousands of years. When interviewed and asked about the white savior complex, African American Studies professor Danielle Smith, Ph.D., said, "I think it's been a fundamental underpinning of Western imperialism, and it's been evident in the global empire-building enterprise” (Murphy, 2021). Sometimes, mission trips can do more harm than good as they perpetuate the stereotype that developing countries are “uncivilized” and need saving. The concept of missionaries spreading their beliefs to underdeveloped countries can already be seen as problematic by some people, even more so if it involves politics. The article, “To Support a "Brother in Christ'': Evangelical Groups and U.S.-Guatemalan Relations During the Ríos Montt Regime'' analyzes the political relationship between the U.S. and Guatemala through the lens of evangelists.
To pinpoint a specific time that catalyzed Guatemala’s evangelical rise, we can go back to the 1976 earthquake. This tragic event got the attention of famous evangelical figures like Billy Graham, who, apart from providing aid, also sent evangelical missionaries to spread the gospel. The article suggests that American Christians like Billy Graham viewed the event as an opportunity for mass conversion at a time when people suffering from a tragic event needed solace. A survey conducted in 1989 demonstrates that in just six years, there was a 42 percent increase in the number of Guatemalan people who now belonged to protestant churches. The article also states that the evangelical churches intrigued several Guatemalan people living in impoverished conditions because they provided needed aid to the community that the government did not, such as food and shelter (Turek, 2015). During the Guatemalan civil war years, American evangelists also formed a bond with Efrain Rios Montt, who would later become the president holding the country over a dictatorship. He specifically became acquainted with the members of Iglesia del Verbo and frequently attended this church. Rios Montt believed that “divine will had placed him in power,” leading both American and Guatemalan evangelicals to support his position. They also believed that God had placed him in the position to convert the Guatemalan population, which was predominantly catholic at the time. Throughout the Civil War, Catholicism was even demonized by the evangelical government because they attacked Catholics linked to guerilla groups (Pew Research Center, 2006). In turn, this made people living in rural areas convert to Protestantism out of fear (Pew Research Center, 2006). Analyzing the past is an excellent way to understand the effects of the present day. For this case, it was crucial first to understand how the United States and Guatemala formed a bond over evangelism before examining Christianity in Guatemala today. Over the recent years, Guatemala has garnered the reputation of being one of the most evangelical countries in Latin America (Evangelical Focus, 2016). The website, Evangelical Focus claims that there are over 40,000 evangelical churches in the country. One of the most famous churches is the Casa De Dios church, which has had its fair share of public scrutiny. The official Casa De Dios website claims that there are over 25,000 members in their congregation. Their leading pastor, Cash Luna, has gained a rather controversial reputation over the years. This church has all the characteristics of an American megachurch, with a leading pastor and more than 2,000 members attending weekly services. To put into perspective the impact Americans have had on the evangelical landscape in Guatemala, the original Iglesia del Verbo which opened in 1976, is still open today and now has many different locations all over the country. Overall, the basis of this paper was to observe the religious connections between Guatemala and the United States. The churches are almost just as important as their faith, as it is very interesting to see how Guatemala has adopted the practice of the Megachurch into their lives. It may not seem obvious to a mere observer but the United States has had a considerable role in Guatemala’s politics as well as their religious life. American evangelical values have expanded globally, and we see that being emulated in countries like Guatemala, where they follow almost the same religious structure as Americans in modern times. Works Cited Argueta, Al. “Religion in Guatemala: Maya Spirituality, Catholicism, and Christianity.” Moon Travel Guides, 25 Feb. 2014, www.moon.com/travel/arts-culture/religion-in-guatemala-mayan-spirituality-catholicism-and-Christianity/. Accessed 27 Nov. 2023. Cole, Teju. “The White-Savior Industrial Complex.” The Atlantic, The Atlantic, 21 Mar. 2012, www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-white-savior-industrial-complex/ 254843/. Eagle, D. E. “Historicizing the Megachurch.” Journal of Social History, vol. 48, no. 3, Feb. 2015, pp. 589–604, https://doi.org/10.1093/jsh/shu109. JSTOR. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019. Escobal, Lei Danielle. “Mission Trips Serve the White Savior Complex.” The Diamondback, 24 Feb. 2022, dbknews.com/2022/02/23/mission-trips-white-savior-complex-ego/. Accessed 27 Nov. 2023. “Historical Overview of Pentecostalism in Guatemala.” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, Pew Research Center, 5 Oct. 2006, www.pewresearch.org/religion/2006/10/05/historical-overview-of-pentecostalism-in-guatemala/. Accessed 27 Nov. 2023. Kelley, Peter. “God as a Drug: The Rise of American Megachurches.” UW News, University of Washington, 20 Aug. 2012, www.washington.edu/news/2012/08/20/god-as-a-drug-the-rise-of-american-megachurches/#:~:text=American%20megachurches%20use%20stagecraft%2C%20sensory. Accessed 27 Nov. 2023. Murphy, Colleen. “White Savior Complex Is a Harmful Approach to Providing Help—Here’s Why.” Health.com, 20 Sept. 2021, www.health.com/mind-body/health-diversity-inclusion/white-savior-complex. Accessed 27 Nov. 2023. Rose, Susan D., and Steve Brouwer. “The Export of Fundamentalist Americanism.” Latin American Perspectives, vol. 17, no. 4, Oct. 1990, pp. 42–56, https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582x9001700403. JSTOR. Turek, Lauren Frances. “American Evangelicals in Guatemala.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History, Nov. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.1019. Accessed 19 Apr. 2023. “To Support a ‘Brother in Christ’: Evangelical Groups and U.S.-Guatemalan Relations during the Ríos Montt Regime.” Diplomatic History, vol. 39, no. 4, Aug. 2014, pp. 689–719, https://doi.org/10.1093/dh/dhu039. Accessed 30 Nov. 2023. Comments are closed.
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