of the Spirit are spoken by people individually, but are not private because
they are heard above the corporate voice of the congregation. In the Suburban
Church these were spoken from the worshipers’ seats like corporate praise –
while at the Urban church, worshipers were asked to make public expres-
sions of the spirit from microphones at the front of the church.
The public form of speaking in tongues, the interpretation of tongues, and
prophecy were the public expressions of the Spirit enacted during worship.
These spiritual expressions were seen as public because they are expected to
edify the congregations and their leadership. Pentecostals describe them as
messages from God that are delivered by His Holy Spirit through members
of the congregation. Spoken tongues sound like a foreign language made of
familiar syllables that are connected into word-like components and orga-
nized into punctuated streams. They have a poetic character. Since tongues
do not represent any known language, Pentecostals explain that they must
be interpreted divinely either by the person who initially spoke in tongues
or by another person who is present. These interpretations were also accepted
as prophecies. Additionally, spiritual messages that were initially spoken in
the congregation’s native language were defined as prophecies as well.
All revivalistic services observed in our research resulted in expressions of
the Spirit that were legitimated. Pastors legitimated public expressions of the
Spirit by reiterating their meaning from the pulpit. If no appropriate public
expressions of the Spirit were given, a pastor would address the congrega-
tion after the service peaked and remark on the “wonderful feeling of the
Lord” that was evoked during worship. This “feeling of the Lord” was accepted
as a corporate expression of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Thus, pastors
worked to make an expression of the Spirit visible during every revivalistic
service.
The Appropriate “Physical Space”
While the appropriate timing for expressions of the Spirit was found to be
the same for both congregations, the spatial organization of accepted expres-
sions of the spirit during worship services varied. At the Suburban Church,
all appropriate corporate and public expressions of the Spirit were enacted
from a person’s place of worship, meaning from their pew, or from their posi-
tion in the band or choir. Yet, at the Urban Church only corporate expres-
sions were given from a person’s place of worship. All public expressions of
272 • Bonnie Wright and Anne Warfield Rawls