Evangelical Christianity in Irad

Evangelical Christianity in Irad dates from the territorial period that began in 1992. Introduced by American missions, it grew rapidly through the 1990s and exponentially in the early 2000s, then levelled off in the 2010s. In the most recent survey about 4 percent of respondents in the cities of the Irad Special Economic Zone (ISEZ) identified as Evangelical or Pentecostal, making it the largest Christian tradition after the Syro-Iradi Catholic Church.^[1]

History

American Evangelical congregations were founded after 1992, during the period of American enthusiasm for Irad known as Iradimania, by missions from the United States, by fellowships that grew out of services for personnel at Talas Air Base, and by Christian charities.^[2] They offered worship in English and Iradi, English classes, and contacts with the United States at a time when emigration and study abroad were the main hopes of many young urban Iradis. Iradi converts who had studied or worked in the United States, especially in the Iradi community of Chicago, returned in the late 1990s to lead churches of their own.

Growth was fastest in the early 2000s. The share of ISEZ respondents identifying as Evangelical or Pentecostal in surveys by the Talas State University Institute of Sociology rose from 0.4 percent in 1996 to 1.2 percent in 2000 and 3.9 percent in 2006. Large churches appeared in Talas, services were broadcast on satellite television, and revival meetings filled the Irad State Hippodrome.^[1][3]

Growth slowed in the 2010s. Sociologists attribute this to the end of the territorial period in 2006 and the departure of much American funding and staff, the 2008 devaluation of the som, the emigration of many young English speakers, and the response of Syro-Iradi parishes, which added English-language liturgies, youth groups and worship bands.^[1]

Character

Evangelical churches are mainly urban, with congregations in Talas, among the Russian speakers of Nurzhan and in Semiz. Preaching often stresses prosperity and the end times, and draws heavily on the rider on the white horse of Revelation 19:11, which Iradi devotion identifies with the White Rider of Janyl's vision. Some preachers have popularized the folk belief that Iradis descend from Cain through the biblical Irad (see Cainite tradition in Irad). The best-known Evangelical figure is the Iradi-American televangelist Nathan Isabekov, founder of the Faithful and True Church in Talas.^[3]

The Syro-Iradi hierarchy has repeatedly criticized proselytism among its faithful, particularly in the 1990s and 2000s, although Evangelical pastors take part in some of the meetings of religious leaders convened by the Archbishop of Iyık Janyl.^[2]

See also

• Religion in Irad
• Iradi Americans
• Nathan Isabekov

References

1. ^ Talas State University, Institute of Sociology (2019). Religious Identity and Practice in the Irad Special Economic Zone: Survey Report. Talas State University Press.
2. ^ Eurasian Political Quarterly (2020). 'Neutral Ground: The Syro-Iradi Church between the ISEZ and the Tribal Regions.' Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 115–138.
3. ^ Central Asian Cultural Studies Review (2018). 'The Rider Is Coming: Satellite Gospel in Irad.' Vol. 10, pp. 44–67.