We Are One Forever

© Clelia Carbonari - Image from the We Are One Forever photography project © Clelia Carbonari - Some kids under the stage are dancing at the music of the Sunday mass. © Clelia Carbonari - Image from the We Are One Forever photography project View all images ↓
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To speak about faith is to speak about mystery. On one side, it is a mystery why 84% of the world’s population identifies with a religious group, meaning that he or she decides to belong to God, an entity that cannot be seen or empirically proven. On the other side, it is a mystery for the believers to see so many people not to accept God as the only truth of the world, not feeling its presence in everything.

Today in Rome, the capital of Catholicism, the Christian evangelical community ‘Equippers’ is witnessing an ever increasing number of participants. This community was born in 2000 in New Zealand, by pastor Bruce Monk, nowadays it counts 40 churches all around the world with the only Italian location based in Rome.

Francesco Basile, the pastor of the Italian church, defines the community as “a church as you wouldn’t expect it, a church that believes in joy and it is thought for the young people”.

Pop music, neon lights and big stages are part of the Sunday service, social media are used as a tool to “spread the word of God”, preaches are live streamed on Facebook, events advertised on Instagram and music shared via YouTube. The contemporary look catches the attention of many teenagers, some of whom got to know the church via social media, choosing to actively take part to the activities of the church. It is an opposite trend compared to the catholic church, who is witnessing a decreasing number of believers aged between 15 and 30.

I started photographing the Equippers community in November 2018, I was curious to see how the pop world could communicate with the Christian teachings, it seemed so profane compared to the catholic culture we Italians grow up with. However, even if all these free aspects are what make the teenagers stay and engage to the community, the Equippers teachings are deeply rooted in the Bible. Reading and prayer are the two fundamental practice for any believer, in order to create and develop a ‘personal relationship with God’.

In We are one forever I decided to play on the contrast among sacred and profane, reaching for God through pop means. Is it a paradox or are these two faces of the same coin? Joining a church nowadays, is it a divine call or just an action of falling into the trap of the best seller of happiness on social media? And, going back on a personal level, can a kid be part of such a strong community and still maintain his/her personality?

The project is divided in two blocks of photographs, the first part is a visual narration of spontaneous moments in the Church and a record of social media activities, the second one is a series of portraits, decontextualized from the church activities, willing to recreate a sense of meditation and calmness.

© Clelia Carbonari - Image from the We Are One Forever photography project
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Amir is DJing in the Equippers Church during a Friday night event organized by Arca Youth, the teenagers group of the community.

© Clelia Carbonari - Some kids under the stage are dancing at the music of the Sunday mass.
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Some kids under the stage are dancing at the music of the Sunday mass.

© Clelia Carbonari - Image from the We Are One Forever photography project
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During the mass the pastor always quotes some verses of the Bible. Reading the Bible collectively or alone is one of the most important activities for evangelical believers, it is the book where all the truth is stored.

© Clelia Carbonari - Image from the We Are One Forever photography project
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The Equippers community doesn’t do any Eucharistic, however trough games they teach the meaning of certain gesture for the Christians. During an Arca Youth event Maria is eating some food as part of a game.

© Clelia Carbonari - Image from the We Are One Forever photography project
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Prayer is the fundamental way to develop a “personal relationship with God”, as the pastor Francesco Basile always says. During the mass he often suggests to pray for each other. Here, the adults are praying for the younger ones.

© Clelia Carbonari - Events and the main activities of the church are promoted through Instagram stories and Facebook posts.
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Events and the main activities of the church are promoted through Instagram stories and Facebook posts.

© Clelia Carbonari - Image from the We Are One Forever photography project
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Every mass and event starts with music, many of the songs are written by the band and they are often recorder and posted on Youtube.

© Clelia Carbonari - Image from the We Are One Forever photography project
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Every mass is live streamed on Facebook, in order to reach new people and for the community members who cannot attend can follow the function online, comment and share it with their friends.

© Clelia Carbonari - Kids playing the Master Chef game during an Arca Youth event.
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Kids playing the Master Chef game during an Arca Youth event.

© Clelia Carbonari - Some teenagers are talking together during a break.
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Some teenagers are talking together during a break.

© Clelia Carbonari - Girls are dancing during an Arca Youth event.
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Girls are dancing during an Arca Youth event.

© Clelia Carbonari - eKids group organizes activities for the younger ones, aiming to educate on Christianity in a playful way.
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eKids group organizes activities for the younger ones, aiming to educate on Christianity in a playful way.

© Clelia Carbonari - Image from the We Are One Forever photography project
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Prayer during an Arca Youth event. Evangelical believers don’t follow a specific structure or mantra while praying, they say whatever come to their mind, asking God for help, strength and often just thanking God.

© Clelia Carbonari - Elisa, 14 years old, she goes to church since she was a kid with all her family.
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Elisa, 14 years old, she goes to church since she was a kid with all her family.

© Clelia Carbonari - Image from the We Are One Forever photography project
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Alessio, 18 years old, is part of Equippers since one year. He discovered the community online and since then he actively participates to many events, especially the ones of Arca Youth.

© Clelia Carbonari - Image from the We Are One Forever photography project
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Nati, 19 years old, goes to church with her aunt and uncle, she is not sure to call herself a Christian however, she says that it is helping her to overcome some fears she had about her life and herself.

© Clelia Carbonari - Image from the We Are One Forever photography project
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Amir, 18 years old, from Iran, goes to the church even if he doesn’t understand italian. Here he finds a welcoming atmosphere and he finds it a good way to make friends.

© Clelia Carbonari - Image from the We Are One Forever photography project
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Jasmine, 19 years old, goes with her family since Equippers started in Rome. She is a professional dancer and she often appears in music videos of the Equippers band.

© Clelia Carbonari - Image from the We Are One Forever photography project
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Clara and Nicole printed this t-shit as a symbol of their friendship. Nicole goes to church with her mum and her younger sister, and Clara goes with her when they are together.