Part 3—Select Seminar Papers
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petition, and more, as well as consider the informal and intimate character of these different kinds of prayers, but we also see instances where prayer is layered with other acts of worship. In his report on the conference, David Manuel relates an occasion when he happened to be in the conference planning office interviewing volunteers when “prayer-time” rolled around. Based on his description, we can presume that there was a set time of prayer each day, as everyone seemed to congregate without any prompting or announcement. This points to the importance that prayer holds in Charismatic piety. What is of note here, however, is what happened during this “prayer time.” Consider Manuel’s description: The meeting began with a moving, minor-key, Hebrew-type song, “The Lord is in His Holy Temple”, which everyone but me seemed to know. Dan De Celles, the conference director, reminded us to keep it down, out of consideration for the law firm, which also occupied part of the upper floors. “Make up in worship what you tone down in volume.” There was some singing in the Spirit then, soft and beautiful, and in the quiet that followed, this word of prophecy came…37
While marked as a time of prayer, we see that this occasion of prayer incorporates acts of worship that we might otherwise classify under the categories of “music” (both singing composed songs and singing in the Spirit) or “preaching” (receiving prophetic words as from the mouth of God). These acts of worship all seem intertwined, and while they exist intelligibly on their own, they seem to flow naturally together in Charismatic worship. If Charismatic piety takes a fundamentally prayerful approach to all aspects of worship, how does this affect the way that researchers study “Charismatic prayer”? What sorts of boundaries may be drawn around various types of prayer, and on what basis? How do Charismatics themselves understand these different forms of prayer? Does the category of prayer continue to be a useful one in the study of Charismatic worship, or is Charismatic prayer simultaneously so diffused and prevalent that new language must be found to describe what Charismatics are doing?
Preaching James White writes that “for most Protestants, preaching is the most lengthy portion in the service.”38 At the Kansas City Conference, participants were told to expect to receive “the word of the Lord” through “readings from Scripture, prophecy, testimony, exhortation, preaching and teaching.”39 The schedule lists a few “speakers” for each night, along with a “main address.” The speakers seem to move fluidly between all the activities listed. It is difficult to discern from the data whether all of them were understood to be preaching, or if preaching is simply one aspect of what they were doing, and if so, what the boundaries of that activity were. Regardless, what seems clear is that whatever else preaching might be, it is intended to convey a timely word from the Lord. A New Wine article reporting on the conference was entitled “Thus Says the Lord… What God said in Kansas City.”40 It summarizes the prophetic messages given each evening, including messages from the speakers alongside prophetic words delivered by the Word Gifts Group.
