Abstract

This study aims to investigate the connection between religion and immigration. It delves into immigrant religious institutions in an effort to discover how immigrant's sense of belonging to their host and home nations was formed after migration. Within this context, this study will show how religious sites can become powerful sites for cultural reproduction and ethnic identity reaffirmation. Focusing on Haitian immigrants this work will shed some light on the origins of two Haitian Pentecostal congregations in Toronto and Montréal. It will also outline the manner in which members of these congregations conceptualize their belonging in Canadian society by deconstructing my collaborators accounts of their perceptions of the use of language in the church. In particular, I will be looking at the effects of transnationality and state policies. Lastly, the study will show that religion plays a fundamental role in shaping an immigrant's sense of belonging. It will do so by illustrating how ethnic identity reproduction, more specifically how the use of native vernaculars fortified congregant commitment to the institution, reproduce ethnic identity, and engendered a sense of community.