City Church, Tallahassee, Blurring the Lines of Sacred and Secular Katelyn Medic
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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2014 City Church, Tallahassee, Blurring the Lines of Sacred and Secular Katelyn Medic Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC CITY CHURCH, TALLAHASSEE: BLURRING THE LINES OF SACRED AND SECULAR By KATELYN MEDIC A Thesis submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music Degree Awarded: Spring Semester 2014 Katelyn Medic defended this thesis on April 11, 2014. The members of the supervisory committee were: Margaret Jackson Professor Directing Thesis Sarah Eyerly Committee Member Michael McVicar Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! (Psalm 100:1–2, ESV) I thank the leaders and members of City Church for allowing me to observe their worship practices. Their enthusiasm for worship has enriched this experience. I also thank the mentorship of the members of my committee, Margaret Jackson, Sarah Eyerly, and Michael McVicar. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vi ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. vii INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 Time to Rehearse .................................................................................................................1 City Church & The Southern Baptist Convention ...............................................................1 Significance: Guiding Concerns ..........................................................................................4 Background ..........................................................................................................................5 The Sacred and the Secular ..................................................................................................7 Popular Music ......................................................................................................................8 Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) ...............................................................................9 Review of the Literature ....................................................................................................10 Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................................15 Methodology ......................................................................................................................18 Structure of Thesis .............................................................................................................19 CHAPTER ONE: A Brief Historical Overview of Musical Styles Connected to the Contemporary Evangelical Church in the United States Since the 1960s .........................21 “Jesus Music” of the 1960s/70s: Phil Keaggy ...................................................................22 The Emergence of Evangelical Megachurches in the 1980s .............................................24 Contemporary Worship Music of the 1980s & Early ‘90s: Amy Grant ............................26 Modern Worship of the Late 1990s/Early 2000s: Switchfoot ...........................................29 The Hillsong Invasion ........................................................................................................32 Blended Worship of Today: Sufjan Stevens ......................................................................33 CHAPTER TWO: City Church’s Backstage Theology .................................................................37 The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) ..........................................................................39 City Church’s Connection to the SBC ...............................................................................41 CHAPTER THREE: City Church’s Front Stage Hipness .............................................................49 City Church’s Social Setting ..............................................................................................51 The Café .............................................................................................................................53 City Church’s Rock Atmosphere .......................................................................................56 “Walk the Line” .................................................................................................................59 Congregants’ Worship Experience ....................................................................................64 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................69 CHAPTER FOUR: “Blurred Lines:” City Church and the Broader Evangelical Imaginary ........71 APPENDICES ...............................................................................................................................81 A. Artists’ Discographies ...................................................................................................81 B. Watt’s Hymn “Joy To The World” ...............................................................................84 C. IRB Approval Memorandum ........................................................................................85 iv D. Adult Informed Consent Form ......................................................................................86 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................................................88 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .........................................................................................................95 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: The back entrance to City Church inside the mall. ....................................................37 Figure 3.1: Pastor Dean Inserra preaching at City Church. ..........................................................50 Figure 3.2: The front entrance of City Church at the Tallahassee Mall in Tallahassee, FL. ........51 Figure 3.3: City Church members gathering over coffee before the Sunday morning service. ...53 Figure 3.4: City Church’s sanctuary. ............................................................................................57 Figure 3.5: The tech crew working during a church service. ........................................................58 Figure 3.6: The worship band playing during a Sunday church service at City Church. .............58 Figure 3.7: Worship band leader Todd Doss (right) and singer Giana Hall (left) perform P!nk’s “Just Give Me a Reason” (2012) as the opening song for Sunday worship at City Church. ..............................................................................................................................61 Figure 3.8: The City Church congregation standing during a worship song. The right side of the picture shows an adult baptismal fount. .............................................................................64 Figure 3.9: Front view of the worship band singing during a CCM song. The three projector screens display the song texts for the members of the worship band. ..............................66 Figure 3.10: An excerpt from the CCM song “Rooftops” by the band Jesus Culture. ..................66 Figure 3.11: Lyrics from the CCM song “Whom Shall I Fear [God of Angel Armies]” by Chris Tomlin. ...............................................................................................................................66 Figure 4.1: Picture taken from sermon series title advertisement displayed at City Church on the projector screens. .........................................................................................................71 vi ABSTRACT In this thesis I investigate the negotiations of sacred and secular practices among City Church participants in Tallahassee, Florida. City Church is a contemporary evangelical church associated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It uses both contemporary Christian music (CCM) and popular music, or music not originally designed for religious devotion, for worship during its weekly Sunday services. I explore how this community, whose members are connected by participation in common worship practices (explored here as an “evangelical imaginary”), uses its shared aesthetic interests (expressed through choices of music, media, dress, and architecture) to create meaning in the performance of these practices. How does City Church musically define what is sacred when using popular music that employs secular messages? This investigation seeks to understand the ways City Church members construct meaning behind their aesthetic practices, use secular song to reinforce Church ideology, and define what is sacred when using popular music that employs secular messages. I use ethnographic methods such as narrative field notes, interviews, and audio and visual recording to investigate how music and place shape City Church worship experiences.