Evangelical Worship An American Mosaic

Say the words “evangelical worship” to anyone in the United States -- even if they are not particularly religious -- and a picture will likely spring to mind unbidden: a mass of white, middle-class worshippers with eyes closed, faces tilted upward, and hands raised to the sky. Yet despite the centrality of this image, many scholars have underestimated evangelical worship as little more than a manipulative effort to arouse devotional exhilaration. It is frequently dismissed as a reiteration of nineteenth-century revivalism or a derivative imitation of secular entertainment -- three Christian rock songs and a spiritual TED talk. But by failing to engage this worship seriously, we miss vital insights into a form of Protestantism that exerts widespread influence in the United States and around the world.

Evangelical Worship offers a new way forward in the study of American evangelical Christianity. Weaving together insights from American religious history and liturgical studies, and drawing on extensive fieldwork in seven congregations, Melanie C. Ross brings contemporary evangelical worship to life. She argues that corporate worship is not a peripheral “extra” tacked on to a fully-formed spiritual, political, and cultural movement, but rather the crucible through which congregations forge, argue over, and enact their unique contributions to the American mosaic known as evangelicalism.

Melanie C. Ross is Associate Professor of Liturgical Studies at Yale Divinity School and Yale Institute of Sacred Music. Her research lies at the intersection of ecumenical liturgical theology, North American evangelicalism, and the worship practices of contemporary congregations.

Acknowledgements

Introduction: The Significance of Evangelical Worship

Part I: Constancy versus Change

Chapter 1: ?My Worship Has Been Hijacked?: Forty Years of Worship Wars

Chapter 2: ?Stately and Set Apart?: Upholding Tradition in Boston

Chapter 3: ?Suddenly We're in a Different Era?: Navigating Transition in Chicago

Chapter 4: ?Something Better Has Come Along?: Championing Innovation in Atlanta

Part II: Consensus versus Contestation

Chapter 5: ?How Can We Catch Fire??: Prophecy and Activism in the Vineyard

Chapter 6: ?You Can't Make Me Sing?: Resisting Authority in Portland

Chapter 7: ?Not to Sing is to Disobey?: Submitting to Paradox in Nashville

Part III: Sameness versus Difference

Chapter 8: ?One Voice in Many Languages?: Pentecostal Praises in the American Southwest

Chapter 9: ?Navigating the Beautiful Tension?: New Frontiers in Evangelical Worship

Appendix A: Research Methods
Appendix B: Demographic Information
Selected Bibliography
Index