“The come to Brazil effect” : young Brazilians’ fascination with Hillsong

This chapter investigates young middle-class Brazilians’ fascination with Hillsong. It draws on participant observation and open-ended interviews to analyze the role Hillsong plays in the constitution of a transnational religious field between Australia and Brazil. This concept accounts for how global religious institutions affect the everyday lives of temporary residents and migrants, those who stay behind, and those who return. In particular, it investigates ways in which Brazilians imagine Hillsong and Australia before they travel, and how this imaginary is transformed in their everyday life serving and studying at the church.