Paper short abstract:

Gender-specific group activities are common in Pentecostal churches, and play a role in the construction of masculinity, femininity and gender relations. Through two case studies, we show how people are harmed by the imposition of rules, yet perform conformity so as to achieve benefits of belonging.

Paper long abstract:

Gender-specific group activities for the moulding of 'godly' men and women are commonplace in Pentecostal churches. Through moral modelling, emphasis on body care, appearance and self-control, such groups epitomise churches' role in the construction of masculinity, femininity and gender relations (Van Klinken, 2013).

In this paper we draw on our fieldworks in Uganda to discuss such gendered classes, in which hierarchical divisions often appear less visible than in congregational meetings through the language of brotherhood and sisterhood (Maxwell, 2000), as arenas for the making and breaking of boundaries. Creation of "new forms of community" (Freeman, 2012) has been considered one of the main strengths of Pentecostal churches worldwide, yet tensions and fractures are also inherent to these communities and their strict normative teachings. To maintain group norms, individuals may be excluded, or choose to exclude parts of their lives from the group's view in order to fit.

Through case studies of a man excluded from a group for breaking its rules, and a woman striving to fit the rules of another, we highlight how although rule-maintenance in such groups can wreak violence on members' lives, it does not necessarily do so: instead of being harmed by the imposition of strict rules, many Pentecostals criticise rules as unrealistic and hypocritical, yet perform conformity so as to achieve other benefits of belonging. Following Burchardt (2020), we consider this to be due to how such groups allow for aspirations to transgress other boundaries, such as those of social class and ethnicity.