Religious institutions as alternative structures in post-conflict Solomon Islands? Cases from Western Province

Abstract

"...this essay draws on postdoctoral research carried out in the Western Province of Solomon Islands and in the Solomons capital of Honiara over four months in 2006-07 and in October 2007, as well as extensive prior research carried out over the past decade that has focused on the Western Province island of Ranongga. Following a general overview of Solomon Islands Christianity, I describe the three predominant churches in Western Province: the United Church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and the Christian Fellowship Church. This discussion highlights significant differences in the organizational structures of the churches, in the ways they manage economic resources, and in the degrees to which church members embrace trans-local forms of identity. I then turn to a few of the bewildering array of new denominations and sects that are gaining adherents. Working effectively with churches requires understanding not only the importance of the historically dominant churches, but also why some adherents are seeking new options. Like other historic churches in the Solomons, the United Church has a bureaucratic structure that allows extensive local participation; moreover, of all of the Western Province churches discussed here, its structures and ideologies appear most congruent with the secular liberal attitudes that inform the ‘good governance’ agendas of Australia and some other donor nations. Why, then, are some adherents of the United Church seeking both salvation and worldly connections through newer and smaller religious groups? ... "- page 2