Lexical and Performative Cues for the Provocation of an Altered State of Consciousness in the American Evangelical Church

Lexical and Performative Cues for the Provocation of an Altered State of Consciousness in the American Evangelical Church

Jasmine Walker

The charismatic preaching style synonymous with several denominations within the Evangelical church is known for inducing physical responses with a perceived supernatural origin from pious congregants known as “Spiritual Gifts.” This article focuses on lexical and performative cues for the provocation of an altered state of consciousness (ASC) in the American Evangelical church, specifically members of the Pentecostal denomination. The research aims to determine whether preachers in the church use institutionalized homiletical devises to guide members of their congregation into two forms of invocation of spirit known as “Catching the Holy Ghost” and Glossolalia or “speaking in tongues,” which often happens in conjunction with one another. Preachers’ motivations come into question in terms of whether they are actively trying to induce the reception of Spiritual Gifts to legitimize their claims as mediums between god and their congregants to use as empirical proof of being “anointed” (officially chosen by god to be a representative on earth). Aspects of Jon Bialecki and Niko Besnier’s Language and Affect theories are used as a framework of analysis to understand how a preacher’s words can cause a desired response. Ralph Locke and Edward Kelly’s research on altered states of consciousness help to understand exactly what happens when one enters an ASC. Online videos of church services, participant-observation, as well as informant interviews were used to collect the ethnographic data needed for this research. The resulting data suggests that there is, in fact, a prescribed manner of delivery that incorporates specific word choice and stylized performance tools that “build-up” within a congregant, causing them to enter an ASC. This research can be useful in a number of anthropological contexts including semiotics, power and agency, ontology, and discussions on American race and gender.