Project Proposal: Resurgent Evangelicalism
Project Proposal: By Santral Combs
National stereotypes that depict Evangelical Christians as fanatic Bible thumpers out to rule the political sphere conflict with the reality of a new diverse and in many ways progressive evangelical resurgence. Many of these new evangelicals are young as well as politically, economically, culturally, and socially diverse. They are Biblically conservative, but socially and politically progressive. As a young evangelical Christian in America today one must take issue with the stereotypical view of Christians within secular society. We care about the environment, the poor, sick, and the unborn. Evangelicals are more complex than society gives them credit for. Thus, my end of the year project will be a site for individuals to learn more about evangelical Christianity in America Today. As well, as serve as a forum for evangelical Christians to post testimonials and thus contribute to the reality of a more diverse evangelical movement. Many evangelicals are breaking stereotypes of what it means to be an evangelical Christian in America today. Depictions of evangelical Christians as an insular homogenous lot, views on biblical theology not withstanding, no longer suffice.
The previous paragraph not only details the purpose and or argument of my end of the year project, but it will also appear on the About Site page on my web site; giving individuals a concise description of the site. In addition to the About Site page, there will also be a section devoted to Youth. This will be an area containing things of interest to those in the 16-26 year old demographic. There will be links to other sites of interests as well as information important to this age range; including facts and pictures about Creation Fest, the largest Christian festival in the United States. Along with this section there will also be a portion of the site center around Christian music. Links to official web pages of contemporary Christian bands will provide users with a broader sense of the youth movement within the church. The history page of the site currently contains the prospectus for my research on resurgent Evangelicalism in America today. Eventually the site will include my master’s thesis as well. This are of the site will be an avenue through which individuals may learn more about the history of evangelicalism and the new resurgence of Evangelicalism within the United States.
In addition the site will include a survey that I have developed using Survey Monkey. The survey includes questions regarding demographical data as well as information on ones faith and involvement in their respective churches. I have already begun building my site using Dream Weaver and Survey Monkey as mentioned above. I developed the site in such a way that it will attract users of all ages, but most importantly those within the demographic previously described. I chose this type of site because my paper for Research Seminar is on Resurgent Evangelicalism; with a focus on young evangelicals, mega churches, and progressive evangelicals. Thus creating a site that would attract those involved in the movement would help my research as well as serve my own interests.