Overview

This dissertation explores the experiential contours of Pentecostalism as a liberative praxis. The connection between Pentecostalism and social change is a burgeoning line of inquiry, particularly in the Global South, but this study focuses on the history of Pentecostalism in the US, beginning with the production and circulation of the African American Spirituals. Bringing theories of affect into conversation with ritual studies, this interdisciplinary work traces personal stories and experiences from the author and examines them in light of Pentecostal traditions that stem from the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California, the birthplace of the Pentecostal movement. William J. Seymour's vision at Azusa was egalitarian and transgressed the societal boundaries and norms of race and gender in the early twentieth century. Pentecostalism was and is informed by Black, queer, female, and other voices often silent or rendered invisible. Without this representation, Pentecostalism is simply one tradition among many co-opted and appropriated for the ongoing colonial projects of the modern Western world. Therefore, this book explores Blackpentecostal tradition: specifically, The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM), a predominately Black LGBTQ+ movement that integrates Pentecostal worship and theology with an inclusive, liberative theology.

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9781666791808

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Reviews

"""Vivid, resonant, and profound, R. Shea Watts's Where the Spirit Is adds to the growing literature on feeling Pentecostal. Watts deftly combines affect theory, ritual studies, and liberation theologies, producing a generous study defined by its acute attention to the embodied interactions of race, sexuality, gender, worship, sound, and justice."" --Donovan O. Schaefer, University of Pennsylvania ""Where the Spirit Is is a unique and fascinating work in which R. Shea Watts uses his own personal and very complex experience growing up Pentecostal to explore the work of the Spirit. . . . This book conducts a very complex dance, interweaving searing personal experience with sharp insights into academic analysis. Watts dances away from simple condemnations or praise and keeps pressing the fundamental question of liberative praxis: 'What then can be done to flesh out freedom in the present age?'"" --Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, Chicago Theological Seminary, emerita"

""Vivid, resonant, and profound, R. Shea Watts's Where the Spirit Is adds to the growing literature on feeling Pentecostal. Watts deftly combines affect theory, ritual studies, and liberation theologies, producing a generous study defined by its acute attention to the embodied interactions of race, sexuality, gender, worship, sound, and justice."" --Donovan O. Schaefer, University of Pennsylvania ""Where the Spirit Is is a unique and fascinating work in which R. Shea Watts uses his own personal and very complex experience growing up Pentecostal to explore the work of the Spirit. . . . This book conducts a very complex dance, interweaving searing personal experience with sharp insights into academic analysis. Watts dances away from simple condemnations or praise and keeps pressing the fundamental question of liberative praxis: 'What then can be done to flesh out freedom in the present age?'"" --Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, Chicago Theological Seminary, emerita

Author Information

R. Shea Watts is a professor in the Religion and Philosophy Department at Wingate University. He earned a PhD in theology and culture from Chicago Theological Seminary in 2021 and lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his spouse, Kathryn, and their three cats, Sophie, Curly, and Rosalyn.

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