The Gender of the Church: Conflicts and Social Wholes on Ambrym

There is a strong connection between historical village migration and present day church belonging on Ambrym Island in North‐Central Vanuatu. Church adherence has become an expression of where one comes from and an idiom for the social wholes founded on such belonging. The churches also make manifest the conflict lines between such wholes. The dynamics of such social wholes is tightly related to historical transformations in gendered practice that the traditional focus on male leadership in the church has not sufficiently explored. Through different kinds of fundraising and Christian ceremonies women create new arenas for sharing and community, and women have come to dominate the church movement.