Digital disruptions and identity renegotiations: From the Children of God to TFI Online

Abstract

AbstractThe Children of God (now The Family International [TFI]) emerged in the countercultural moment of the 1960s on the radical fringe of the Jesus People movement and evolved into a controversial new religious movement that has generated significant scholarly research over the past 5 decades. This article will review the history of TFI, with particular focus on its latest shift to online religion, and reflect on the research published throughout its history and how this has engaged with the cycles of organizational change that have characterized the movement. The history of TFI highlights the dynamic nature of new religions, and their potential to strategically adapt and revise beliefs and practices to accommodate changing cultural contexts. Research of TFI's journey from radical communalism to virtual community offers insights into novel ways in which new religions may be disrupted and socially reconstructed in the digital information age, and the renegotiations of belief, worldview and identity this may entail.