(RNS) — The legions of dudes who crowded into the Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Missouri, for the recent Stronger Men’s Conference, sponsored by a Pentecostal megachurch, were treated to a monster truck, a boxing match, pyrotechnics and a standoff between a pair of celebrity pastors.
Women who attend James River Church’s women’s annual conference later this year, by contrast, will get what looks like a Holy Spirit Barbie party.
A promo for the men’s conference begins with images of a roaring motorcycle, a wrestling match and a shouting preacher pacing across the stage like a lion, urging men to get ready to fight. The promo for the women’s video begins with the image of a pink record player, followed by the voice of the late televangelist Kathryn Kuhlman, urging women to give their worship to God — then breaks to scenes of joyful women dressed in stylish pink, dancing with joy as balloons and confetti fall from the sky.
The two conferences reveal both the showmanship of charismatic megachurch worship and the rival messages given to men and women. Men are warriors filled with fire and vinegar, while women are icons of femininity — dressed to the nines and concerned with building a happy home for their husbands.
The James River Stronger Men’s Conference made national headlines recently and launched viral videos over the inclusion of an act by Alex Magala, an acrobat and sword swallower who has appeared on “America’s Got Talent” and has had a side hustle as a dancer at clubs.
Alex Magala, an acrobat and sword swallower, performs at the James River Stronger Men’s Conference in Springfield, Mo., in April 2024. (Video screen grab)
After Magala’s performance at the conference, Mark Driscoll, the former pastor of Seattle’s Mars Hill Church who has reinvented himself as a Pentecostal preacher in Arizona, denounced Magala from the stage, saying his performance was homoerotic and a sign of pagan worship and a “Jezebel spirit.” (Jezebel is the name of a biblical queen and the enemy of the prophet Elijah whose name is often invoked to denounce someone as a temptress.)
In response, James River pastor John Lindell kicked Driscoll off the stage.
“You are done,” Lindell said. The two later appeared to mend fences during the conference but any truce was short-lived, with the church sending the media links to a video of Lindell calling Driscoll to repent. As of Wednesday (April 24), the link is no longer public but clips of the call to repentance are still posted on YouTube.com.
A spokesperson for the church did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The dust-up between Lindell and Driscoll had all the earmarks of a pro-wrestling-style feud, leading to speculation that it had been staged — an accusation fueled by Driscoll promoting his book, “New Days, Old Demons,” which warns that an “evil Jezebel spirit is destroying America,” after the conference.
Driscoll, who once paid his way onto the New York Times bestseller list and crashed a John MacArthur conference to promote another of his books, is known for his preaching about hypermasculinity and his willingness to criticize fellow pastors.
Scholar and author Jessica Johnson is among those who are skeptical of the controversy over Driscoll’s appearance at the Stronger Men’s Conference.
“Knowing that Driscoll is the promotional master that he is, it just had very much a wrestling kind of feel to it — where the whole thing was staged,” said Johnson, author of “Biblical Porn,” a study of Driscoll’s former evangelical empire at the now-defunct Mars Hill Church in Seattle.
Pastor Mark Driscoll preaches on “How to Overcome the Jezebel Spirit.” (Video screen grab)
Johnson said the gendered conferences at James River Church reflect a theology where men are aggressive and in charge and women are both joyful and submissive. She found the promo for the women more disturbing than the spectacle of the men’s conference because it sent the message that women’s only role is to worship and be female — while leaving all the leadership to the men.
“I mean, what were these women doing other than dancing?” she said.
