Defining "evangelical"

[Birgitta Johnson, PhD]

Hi All,

I'm look for a really clear and somewhat neat definition for the term
"evangelical" in the U.S. Is there a source or scholar(s) who handles
the topic well and in historic context? Where do Christian people of
color fit into the rubric?

Thanks,


Birgitta Johnson, M.A., Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow in Ethnomusicology
Syracuse University
308 Bowne Hall
Syracuse, NY 13244

[Anna Nekola]

Hi everyone,

I've used the following sources to help define and problematize the term "evangelical." 

Randall Balmer, Blessed Assurance: A History of Evangelicalism in America (Boston: Beacon, 1999)

George Marsden, Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1991)

Larry Eskridge, "Defining Evangelicalism," Institute for the Study of Evangelicals (rev. 2006) <http://www.wheaton.edu/isae/defining_evangelicalism.html#How%20Many>

"Evangelical Christians," The Barna Group < http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Topic&TopicID=17>

Donald W. Dayton and Robert K. Johnston, eds., The Variety of American Evangelicalism (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1991)

Re your question about how people of color fit into evangelicalism, I found the following source to be interesting reading:

Edward Gilbreath, Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical's Inside View of White Christianity (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2006)

Looking forward to reading more replies,

Anna Nekola

[Monique Ingalls]

Hi Birgitta and all,

Ever the tricky term!  I second the sources Anna sent along--they will be very helpful.  Anna already mentioned this one, but the most succinct definition I'm aware of is Larry Eskridge's on the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals' website:
http://isae.wheaton.edu/defining-evangelicalism/defining-the-term-in-contemporary-times/  (Eskridge helpfully relates the term to fundamentalism & pentecostalism, though the relationships between these are certainly contested as well.)

The question about the application of the term to Christians of color is a good one, and complicated. Here are a few additional suggestions:
* Michael O. Emerson & Christian Smith. Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America (2000)
* Elaine Ecklund, Korean American Evangelicals: New Models for Civic Life (2006)
* Soong-Chan Rah, The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity (a personal and pastoral account, but still possibly helpful) (2010)

Hope these are helpful for your project!

Best regards,
Monique Ingalls



 
 

[Shawn Young]

Along with my previous suggestions (Hatcher, Wacker, Bebbington, and
Balmer), you should consider George Marsden. Eskridge is good as
well. Just keep in mind that many of these differ slightly. And some
(not mentioned in this list) believe that evangelicalism does not
truly exist, as it has no *finalized* or *official* core statement, no
central authority, which is part of its populist nature. Thus, since
it does not exist, it is (according to some) merely conservative
Protestantism.

There are evangelical manifestos, which may prove useful.

Shawn David Young, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Visual & Performing Arts
Clayton State University

http://a-s.clayton.edu/vpa/Faculty/Young.htm

http://www.interfolio.com/portfolio/ShawnYoung
http://experts.patheos.com/expert/shawndavidyoung/
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/shawn-young/13/777/763

--
Shawn David Young, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Visual & Performing Arts
Clayton State University

http://a-s.clayton.edu/vpa/Faculty/Young.htm

http://www.interfolio.com/portfolio/ShawnYoung
http://experts.patheos.com/expert/shawndavidyoung/
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/shawn-young/13/777/763

[Duncan Vinson]

Looking at the question of evangelical definition from another side, you might find useful these sources:

- William M. Shea, The Lion and the Lamb: Evangelicals and Catholics in America (Oxford, 2004) - from a Catholic perspective

- The Evangelicals: What They Believe, Who They Are, Where They Are Changing, ed. David F. Wells and John D. Woodbridge (Nashville: Abington Press, 1975) - dated, but good for showing how Evangelical-Catholic relations were much more suspicious before they found themselves on the same side of the 1980s culture wars

My own research and performing experience has been in the so-called "mainline Protestant" world, which is a similarly slippery and contested label that no one agrees on a definition for. It seems to me that in practice "mainline" often means "not evangelical" and "evangelical" means "not mainline", but few think carefully about what substance these terms have in themselves without reference to a rejected alternative.

Best wishes,

Duncan

--
Duncan Vinson, PhD - educator and church musician
Director of Music, First Congregational Church, Melrose, Massachusetts
duncan...@gmail.com
http://duncanvinson.blogspot.com

[MAC HG]

Of course “evangelical” essentially and traditionally, since the 16th-century Reformation, meant “centered in the good news of Jesus.”  Today’s usage among many Christians, emanating from 18th- and 19th-century social movements, has mutated the term into sociological jargon which like any other such jargon has become hardly meaningful at all.  Many “mainline” (established historic denominational) Protestant churches, and even some Roman Catholic parishes, consider themselves “evangelical” by their own definitions, some using the term in a manner more like the Reformation meaning and others more in the modern American sociological sense.

The National Association of Evangelicals (http://www.nae.net/church-and-faith-partners/what-is-an-evangelical) initially provide the following fairly acceptable definition:

Evangelicals take the Bible seriously and believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. 

The site soon thereafter introduces the contemporary baggage the term has acquired in the attempt to suggest some aspects of theological unity among churches that identify themselves as evangelicals.

Herbert G. Geisler, Ph.D.

Chair, Department of Music

Director of Musical Activities

     Professor of Music

Concordia University

1530 Concordia West

Irvine, CA 92612-3203

949-214-3412

[Deborah Justice]

Hi Brigitta and everyone,

What great questions and a nice resource list we're compiling here!

In addition to the resources already suggested (which have probably
largely covered what you were going for!), I would also recommend
historian John Turner's "Bill Bright and Campus Crusade for Christ: The
Renewal of Evangelicalism in Postwar America." (UNC Press 2008) It
provides a nice overview of changing definitions of evangelical,
fundamental, and pentecostal and the cultural implications thereof.

Monique also modestly didn't list her own dissertation as having a nice
discussion of the topic.

Following Duncan's introducing the related subject of mainline vs.
evangelical...that distinction, although previously oddly theological
(odd following Herb's pointing out that nearly all Christians are
technically evangelical) has become more of a cultural marker of
difference within white Christian circles. I cover that issue in a
sub-chapter of my dissertation (which is currently waiting for
administrative balls to get rolling for a defense). I've touched on
this briefly in some publications, and the upcoming Oxford Handbook of
World Christianities should have a number of relevant articles.

But, sorry, I've got nothing on evangelicals and Christian people of
color that hasn't already been put forward here.

Good luck with your project, and please let us know when/where we can
read it/listen to it!

Best,
Deborah Justice

Quoting Duncan Vinson <duncan...@gmail.com>:

--
Deborah Justice
PhD Candidate, Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology
Indiana University

[Deborah Justice]

Hi everyone,

I have a literature/personal research experience question for the list.

Think Worship Wars, think of Traditional and Contemporary worship
musics. If you think Contemporary, what would you describe as "typical"
instrumentation? How would your expectation of instrumentation change
if you're thinking in Sunday service vs abstract Contemporary "ideal?"
In a more baited question, are you expecting a guitarist or a keyboard
player to be leading worship? Would this expectation change given a
mainline vs. evangelical context? (yes, I know these [can] overlap)?
Feel free to comment on various racial/ethnic settings (although my
research focuses on mainline Protestants [~98% white]) Do we have any
literature that points toward these expectations?

Thanks very much,

Deborah Justice
Indiana University

[Shawn Young]

As for literature, one that comes to mind immediately is Donald
Miller's Reinventing American Protestantism: Christianity in the New
Millennium...but that might be a bit dated now.

As a former worship leader, I would say what was "typical" for us (at
least what we sought, depending on availability) was drums, electric
guitar, bass guitar, acoustic, keys (electric or acoustic) and
*perhaps* horns, such as sax. But this seems to change with
mainliners. As one who now affiliates more with
mainline/liberal/progressive I find that historically, the better
bands are part of conservative, evangelical congregations (as well as
Pentecostal/Charismatic). There is a great lack of modern music in
progressive churches, and hopefully that will change.

Shawn David Young, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Visual & Performing Arts
Clayton State University

Shawn...@mail.clayton.edu
(678) 466-4758

http://faculty.clayton.edu/syoung26

--

[Duncan Vinson]

Actually I don't like the terms "contemporary" and "traditional", for reasons I don't want to get into right now.

But following the usual usage, the church where I work has both "traditional" music (choir and organ) and "contemporary" (praise band). I suppose we have "blended worship," but no one uses this term. This church is a Congregational (UCC) church, suburban, mostly white, vibrant by New England standards but small to a Southerner or Midwesterner. The praise band is primarily thought of as a ministry for teenage members. It participates in the service once a month.

Eventually, I would like the praise band to function as worship leader on the weeks that it performs. At present, however, it only performs the introit, anthem, etc. and the choir still leads the hymns. For example, tomorrow the praise band is playing "Come, Now Is the Time to Worship" as introit and "Forever" as anthem.

Our instrumentation: 1-2 guitars, bass, drums, 1-2 electric keyboards, alto sax, 4 singers who sometimes play hand percussion. I am not sure if this is "typical", but it works for us. I get up from the organ bench and play either bass or keyboard, depending on what is needed. But one of the guitarists (father of two teenagers in the congregation) is really the leader of the praise band, and I am careful to play a supporting role without taking over.

I think the main differences between our setup and that of the evangelical churches I have visited are that 1) the band is in the back of the sanctuary on the choir risers, and 2) we don't have projection screens.

Best wishes,

Duncan

On Sat, Jan 28, 2012 at 1:10 PM, Deborah Justice <drju...@indiana.edu> wrote:

[Shawn Young]

One mistake some mainline churches make is to assume that the
"contemporary" service is for the youth. Then any attempt comes off
as "forced." Whereas in some of the mega churches, the modern rock
band is enjoyed by the adults in the main service...and these bands
are often quite professional. Think Phil Collins meets Creed.

Shawn

--

[Monique Ingalls]

Hello Deb and all,

One source that might provide some help on this question is Stephen Ellingson's The Megachurch and the Mainline: Remaking Religious Tradition in the Twenty-first Century (2007). It does contain some descriptions of contemporary worship in US mainline Protestant churches, though maybe not in the instrumental detail you're looking for here...

Best regards,
Monique 

[Anna Nekola]

Hi everyone,

I second Monique's suggestion and would add one example that I think both summarized and further popularized the popular discourse on trad vs. contemporary instrumentation:

Michael S. Hamilton, "The Triumph of Praise Songs: How Guitars Beat Out the Organ in the Worship Wars," Christianity Today 43:8 (12 July 1999).

You're probably are already familiar with this article but I think it plays into furthering expectations, etc., especially because of its wide readership in CT.

Also, a few of Chuck Kraft's columns from _Worship Leader_ in 1993 specifically discuss the "organ vs. guitar" divide in worship (his words, not mine).  I'm not sure of exactly when the "organ" gets set against the "guitar" in the discourse of the worship wars but these columns seem to indicate that this wording is a common assumption among contemporary worship advocates by 1993, a year after the founding of _Worship Leader_ magazine.

(Deborah--let me know if you'd be interested in these and I can send you PDFs since I'm guessing German libraries might not have _Worship Leader_ in their collections.  But if I'm wrong, I'd be interested to know!!)

Hope this helps!

-Anna

---

From: Deborah Justice <drju...@indiana.edu>
To: Sacred/Religious Music SIG <SRM...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2012 1:10 PM
Subject: Re: [SRM-SIG] Defining "evangelical"

[Carr P (CCI)]

Hi Anna

 

I too would find PDF’s of these articles very useful if they are available. I have a couple of students doing dissertations in this subject area.

 

Kind Regards

 

Paul

 

Dr Paul Carr

Head of The Music Academy

Room CA409

Cardiff School of Cultural & Creative Industries The Atrium

86 - 88 Adam Street

Cardiff

CF24 2FN

Tel. 01443 668617

Mob. 07824623572

http://paulcarrmusings.wordpress.com/

[Deborah Justice]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the helpful and interesting responses.

I know that the category labels Contemporary and Traditional are
problematic and assume various meanings/connotations with relation to
various ethnic groups/scenes/etc. However, as this discussion has
teased out, these terms are just beginning to be the subject of
critical unpacking within ethnomusicology. The Worship Wars and
Contemporary-Traditional are by no means applicable to all Christianity
around the world (or even within North America). However, this doesn't
mean that we should/get to avoid dealing with them. Addressing these
categories in terms of white mainline worship is, in my opinion, just
as important as addressing them in the context of a
hegemonically-corrective counter-narrative. If we don't talk about
their applications in various contexts, we'll never get anywhere. So,
thanks very much for the helpful suggestions in positioning these
musics alongside all others as the legitimate objects of ethnographic
study.

Best,
Deborah Justice