Jesus and John Wayne in the Evangelical Church

This session will reflect on how “masculinity” has shaped elements of white evangelicalism in America, particularly in the last half-century. Through the emergence of the “Moral Majority,” the end of the Cold War, the heyday of the Promise Keepers movement, ongoing turmoil in U.S. politics, and in recent years a renewed interest in racial justice and reconciliation, how has this strand of American Protestants responded? As evangelicals frequently make headlines for their voting patterns and outsized political influence, this discussion will peel back the layers and go deeper—especially on issues of gender equality, racial justice, historic Christian orthodoxy, immigration, and the possibilities and limits for evangelical renewal. American evangelicalism is today navigating an important moment of reorientation and reexamination of its identity, and as our speakers will highlight, it has much to learn from the history and witness of its global counterparts.

Video Highlights