Sharing charisma as a mode of Pentecostal expansion

Abstract

The author discusses the emergence of charismatic leaders in Brazilian Pentecostalism and reflects on the exercise of authority through the circulation and transmission of Pentecostal charisma. The authority of Pentecostal charisma depends on its collective expansion, and the author highlights three types of charismatic flow: (1) through its commodification, (2) through family names and (3) through an emotional and bodily channel of energy between pastors and believers, who mimic the leader’s charisma, accessing the capital and acquiring the charismatic habitus not only through participation in the act of worship but also through consumption. To trace the path of charisma is also to trace the manner in which the Pentecostal message flows and is globalized.