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Assembling the Orthodox Soul: Practices of Religious Self-Formation Among Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy a Dissertation SUBMITT

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Assembling the Orthodox Soul: Practices of Religious Self-Formation among Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Daniel Alan Winchester IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Adviser: Penny Edgell July 2013 Daniel Alan Winchester, 2013 © Acknowledgements It’s probably the classic sociological trick of the trade to take a phenomenon that appears purely individual and then demonstrate all of the collective, social work that went into constructing it. While my name appears on the title page of this dissertation, a multitude of others helped see this project through to completion. It takes a village, it seems, to finish a dissertation. So, to the members of my village… First and foremost, it’s obvious that this project would have been impossible from the start if not for the generosity of the many people in the Twin Cities’ Eastern Orthodox community who took time to speak with me about their journeys to the Orthodox Christian faith. Not only did they agree to interviews, they also asked me to join them for coffee or dinner, educated me on the finer points of Orthodox history and theology, and made me feel welcome in their churches and homes. While I can’t say that I’ve missed the hours of standing during liturgy since completing my fieldwork, I have missed seeing the warm and welcoming faces of these people on Sunday mornings. They displayed the Christian virtue of hospitality in abundance, and I thank them for sharing such a significant part of their lives with me. In graduate school, students go through their own processes of formation, and I have been very lucky to have several great mentors who have helped develop my academic self. The members of my dissertation committee – Drs. Penny Edgell, Douglas Hartmann, Teresa Gowan, Kathy Hull, and Jeanne Kilde – deserve special mention. Penny has been a trusted academic adviser since Day One at the University of Minnesota. Penny has helped me in numerous ways: providing invaluable feedback on papers, teaching me about the “hidden curriculum” of professional academia, hiring me as a i research assistant, writing countless letters of recommendation for me, and being a vibrant intellectual conversation partner. She’s always believed in my abilities as a sociologist, even when I wasn’t so sure myself. It’s hard to ask for more in an adviser and mentor. Doug has been another steadfast supporter, mentor, and friend. Some of the most engaging intellectual conversations I’ve had have been held in Doug’s office. Doug shares my passion for sociology as “fieldwork in philosophy” as well as a love for big ideas, and I’m looking forward to continuing our conversations in the years to come. As an ethnographer, I’ve been lucky to learn from one of the best in Teresa Gowan. Teresa has a passion for the craft of fieldwork that is only equaled by her passion for her students, and I continue to be amazed by her abilities as a researcher and a teacher. I count myself very lucky to have been able to work with and learn from her. Kathy is a brilliant cultural sociologist who has also been a great supporter of mine. Kathy, I’ll fondly remember the culture club meetings and being a veteran member of the TASC force. Thanks. Last but not least, Jeanne Kilde helped turned me on to the vibrant, interdisciplinary field of religious studies. The term “outside committee member” doesn’t do her justice, as Jeanne has always been willing to give great words of advice, write a letter of recommendation, and comment on both fellowship applications and dissertation chapters. Outside of my committee, there have been other great faculty members who have played important parts in my graduate school career. Chris Uggen is the consummate cheerleader for the Minnesota sociology department, and he has definitely cheered me on a time or two, especially during the dark days of the academic job search. It was great to be able to get to know Chris better as a member of the Contexts editorial board. He’s one ii of the good guys. Ann Meier, current Director of Graduate Studies, was also extremely helpful during the job search process, and I thank her for her leadership and support. Thanks also to Professor Carolyn Liebler for being a great person to work for as a teaching assistant (and letting me borrow some of her great slides for my own courses!). Many thanks go to Professor Kreg Abshire at Johnson & Wales University in Denver for hiring me as an adjunct instructor of sociology so I could help pay the bills while completing this dissertation. Thank you also to my many students at JWU for bearing with me after my daughter, Ella, was born and I was severely sleep-deprived. I’m also continually grateful to Mary Jo Neitz at the University of Missouri for being an amazing mentor to me during my time there, and for continuing to be a great friend and advocate. I would also like to acknowledge the Minnesota sociology department’s wonderful office staff: Mary Drew, Ann Miller, Hilda Mork, Holly Schoonover, Yoonie Helbig, Robert Fox, Kerri Deef, Karl Krohn, Tony Odufuye, and Becky Drasin. These individuals are not only incredibly good at their jobs, they also care about and go the extra mile for grad students. I’m very grateful to have had them in my corner these past seven years. The friends I’ve met in graduate school at both the University of Minnesota and the University of Missouri have made even the most trying moments of the PhD slog worthwhile. I can’t put into words all of the ways these wonderful people have made a positive difference in my grad school experience and life in general. I can only hope I’ve returned the favor to each of them in some small way. Daniel Delgado, Jessica Anderson, Mike Vuolo, Janet Vuolo, Shannon Golden, Nick Wilson, Heather McLaughlin, Jeremy Minyard, Ryan Alaniz, Kirsten O’Brien, Will O’Brien, Danielle Docka, Wes Longhofer, iii Sonya Haw, Meg Krausch, Jesse Wozniak, Steve Kehnel, Julian MacDonald, Elizabeth Marino, and Kevin McElmurry, I count myself lucky to call each of you friend. Thanks for everything. This research received invaluable assistance from three sources of funding: the Anna Welsch Bright Award from the Department of Sociology, the University of Minnesota Doctoral Dissertation Award, and the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship with the University’s Institute for Advanced Study. A special thanks to the faculty, staff, and my fellow graduate student fellows at IAS for being such great intellectual conversation partners during my time there. Most importantly, I want to express my deep gratitude and love for my family, all of whom have never wavered in their support of my education (no matter how long it has taken to complete). Thank you to my parents, Teresa Dixon and Gregg Winchester. Thank you to my brothers, Darren and Derek Winchester. Thank you to my grandparents, Charlene Winchester and Bill and Dutch Ratliff. Thank you to my aunts and uncles, John and Tracy Baker, Nicki and Steve Eichel, Susan and Jerry Potts, and Kent Winchester. Thank you to my cousins, Nicholas Eichel, Zachary Baker, Jessica Potts Laskowski, and Jared Potts. Your love and support has meant everything. Thank you also to the wonderful family who’ve adopted me as part of the Sennott clan: John Sennott III, Kellie Sennott, Shane Sennott, Lisa and John Sennott IV, and Heather and Mark Sennott. I love you all. Finally, the best thing that I did as a graduate student at Minnesota wasn’t finishing my PhD. Instead, it was falling in love with and marrying Christie Sennott. Christie and I now have a beautiful daughter, Ella, who makes everyone smile, especially iv her parents. Ella, you have made me a very proud and very happy papa. Christie, your love and encouragement has meant the world. You’re my favorites. v Dedication --For Christie and Ella, the two great loves of my life. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments i Dedication vi List of Figures viii Introduction 1 Research Overview, Design, and Methodology 20 Converting to Continuity: Temporality and Self 39 in Eastern Orthodox Conversion Narratives Of Bodies and Souls: Fasting and the Moral 68 Topography of the Orthodox Self “They’re a Part of Who I Am”: Icons, Emotions, and the 101 Role of Material Things in Assembling the Orthodox Soul Conclusion 129 References 149 vii LIST OF FIGURES An Orthodox View of Christian History 38 A Small Icon Corner 126 A Much More Elaborate Icon Corner 126 An Example of a Travel Diptych 127 Saint John Maximovich 127 Saint Elizabeth the New Martyr 128 viii Chapter 1 Introduction The Project This dissertation is the result of a multi-sited ethnographic study of conversions to Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region of Minnesota. In conducting this study, I spent over a year with former Evangelicals, Catholics, Episcopalians, Pentecostals, New Age devotees, and even atheists and agnostics from varied walks of life who all came to call the Eastern Orthodox Church their spiritual home. I met Blake 1, for example, a former atheist who told me that in converting to the Orthodox Church he came to realize that he had really, deep down, been an Orthodox Christian all along. I ate Lenten dinners with Abby and Jacob, a young couple who came to understand the sinful natures of their souls through the ascetic discipline of fasting. I learned about the establishment of a seemingly unlikely relationship between two women named Elizabeth – one a Minnesotan school teacher, the other an Orthodox saint who was murdered by Bolshevik revolutionaries in 1918.
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