Jonathan Calvillo Interviewed on His Work on Faith & Ethnicity in Santa Ana
In October, Dr. Jonathan Calvillo’s new book, The Saints of Santa Ana: Faith and Ethnicity in a Mexican Majority City, is coming out with Oxford University Press! In this audio interview, Calvillo explains how his experience of growing up as a child of Mexican immigrants and attending pentecostal churches first directed him to this field of research. In addition, he gives an overview of the chapters of the book, elaborates on his comparative findings on Catholics and evangelicals, and argues for why his work is important for the wider field of World Christianity.
After describing the surprises he uncovered in the historical side of his research, Calvillo closes with a reflection on the similarities between the religious practice of the immigrants of Santa Ana with those of Christians around the world. He urged that “if the Christian church in the US wants to remain intelligible to Christian churches in other parts of the world,” it must look to this “beautiful and wonderful resource in the immigrant communities within our borders.”