| This research investigates social identities according to the experiences of immigrant believers of Muslim background (BMB) in North America. Henri Tajfel and Nathan Turner's Social Identity Theory and Self-Categorization Theory were utilized to better understand how immigrant BMBs achieve a positive identity, which has implications regarding community, discipleship, and ministry roles. This research also investigates the immigration experience and the search for community, which informs diaspora studies. Three questions guided this research: (1) What were the factors that facilitated a change in religious identity regarding immigrant believers of Muslim backgrounds? (2) What is the relationship between believers from Muslim backgrounds' faith in Christ and identity construction? (3) How do the experiences of immigrant believers from Muslim backgrounds inform social identity theory and diaspora studies?;Twenty in-depth interviews of immigrant believers from Muslim backgrounds and ethnographic research provided the material for analysis of this investigation. While the immigration experience is sometimes deeply emotional, heightening the sense of one's vulnerability, a local church's outreach or significant Christian contacts were among the most effective factors in helping BMBs find faith in Jesus Christ. Questions two and three probed how, when, and where BMBs constructed a new Christian identity.;Analysis using depersonalization and prototypicality helped determine BMB identity gap or congruence. This research concludes that while ethnic and cultural identities are important, experiencing the grace of God in salvation transcends such categories. Christian churches that provide an alternative community in which growing in grace, empowering for ministry, and having a clear understanding of purpose and vision are important factors that help BMBs construct a positive Christian identity. Recommendations inform both theory and practice of church and parachurch ministries in the North American context in order to help foster such church communities, with further implications in the areas of missiology, ecclesiology, and theology. |
