“Creating an environment so someone can come to Christ”: "Relevant” environments, audio/video technology, and ritual practice

Date

2011

Authors

Baker, Laurie

Journal Title

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Volume Title

Publisher

Illumine

Abstract

The expansion in the U.S. of a House of Worship (HoW) market has seen the increase in professional audio and video devices use by evangelical denominations and corporate practices of designing, manufacturing and marketing specifi c devices for this niche consumer. This paper explores how HoW personnel are taught to conceptualize the use of professional audio and video devices to create culturally “relevant” worship environments. Amidst vectors of control, mastery, and militarized and nationalist discourses, personnel learn particular dispositions towards device use, and niche products are marketed to HoW users. The tensile nexus of these discourses and their attendant practices converge in performative aspects of ritual.

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Citation

Baker, L. (2011). “Creating an environment so someone can come to Christ”: "Relevant” environments, audio/video technology, and ritual practice. Illumine, 10(1), 16–35. https://doi.org/10.18357/illumine101201110724