Media, Milieu, and Community Forms of (Media-based) Vergemeinschaftung within and beyond the Association of Vineyard Churches

Abstract

This article examines the role of media in the process of religious communalization (Vergemeinschaftung), drawing on the example of the Evangelical Association of Vineyard Churches. It argues that a direct connection between media production, media use, and integration in the community is too shortsighted. Instead, the empirical study will demonstrate how different media – including those produced by various Vineyard churches – circulate in a specific milieu. It is within this milieu, with its constellation of local celebrations, Bible studies and regional events, that the members of Vineyard churches (re)construct their religious belonging in a complex interplay of face-to-face and media-based communication. In the end, the analysis highlights the multilayered role of media within and beyond the Association of Vineyard Churches and provides a contribution to the conceptual clarification of ‘community’.