Leadership, Power and Ethnicity in Iglesia Filadelfia (Philadelphia Church) in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz): God wants us to move to that temple

Abstract

This article presents part of the results of an ethnographic research program we conducted within the largest evangelical gypsy congregation from Jerez de la Frontera. Among other objectives, the research we are developing aims to explain the reasons why the main congregation, the mother church of the town, refused to join the Federation of Cultural Christian Associations of Andalusia —Federación de Asociaciones Culturales Cristianas de Andalucía— (FACCA). Our research also aims to unravel the role played by the variables ethnicity and religion in the decision to maintain their autonomy as a congregation linked solely to the Iglesia Filadelfia’s structure (Philadelphia Church). If they had alternately decided to join the FACCA they would have gained significant economic and political advantages. In order to accomplish our task we use E. Goffman’s notion of frame, which allows an approach to the meanings involved in the organization of experience, as well as the contributions of H. Velasco et al. and D. Gambetta on relations of trust and cooperation. The case presentation will be preceded by an analysis of the mechanisms of religious diversity management designed by the Spanish public administration, which will be contrasted with the ideal of laicism by J. Maclure and C. Taylor.