Kommunikation des Evangeliums und Populäre Religion. Annäherung an ein Spannungsverhältnis am Beispiel des YouTube-Kanals „Jana glaubt“

The relationship between religion and popular culture has attracted considerable attention in the field of the sociology of religion. However, church-based religious communication has rarely been explored in this perspective. This in mind, the paper explores the YouTube channel “Jana believes”, a pioneering and also controversial project sponsored by the Evangelical Church in Germany. The argumentation proceeds in five steps. First, Hubert Knoblauch’s concept of “popular religion” is interlinked with the practical-theological perspective of “communicating the Gospel” as well as with more recent approaches to the mediatization of religion. Then characteristic elements and video genres of YouTube communication as part of popular culture are explicated. Against this background, the distinct profile of the YouTube channel “Jana believes” is outlined, with specific regard to the vlog genre. Subsequently, the interplay between popular religion, communicating the Gospel and mediatization of religion is explored in a more in depth-analysis of two exemplary video sequences. Finally, the summary brings together both sides of the interplay in question: On the one hand, the channel videos are designed according to established standards of personalized YouTube communication. In line with the concept of popular religion, the boundaries between private and public become fluid. Public communication of the Gospel is constituted by sharing what is private in life and faith. On the other hand, in the case of this channel the subjective enactment of faith is also shaped and transformed by the involvement of the church. Particularly regarding questions of authenticity and authority, the tension between popular religion and communicating the Gospel at times leads to potentially conflictual negotiation processes.