Self-othering in the testimonials of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Madrid

Abstract

This article analyzes discourses of conversion involving members of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) in the city of Madrid, Spain. Drawing on the biographies of members and religious leaders and focusing on their testimonials of conversion in particular, I observe how the church’s message of a better life after conversion always relates to a misguided past. I have proposed the concept of self-othering to link the process through which members internalize and interpret their transformations through religion with othering, as the first step, and individual salvation, as the second step. This study observes specific rites of passage, namely baptisms, which induce an individual to become a member of the church. Self-othering as a concept helps to explain how individuals reinterpret their past and present lives through the lens of religious conversion.