Events of Charismatic Ritual Performance

The prayer meeting is the central collective event for Catholic Charismatics, and as I have noted the organization of prayer groups and communities evolved directly from the organization of prayer meetings. You can best get a sense of a typical prayer meeting in a moderate-size group by imagining yourself one evening in the gymnasium of the parochial school in a suburban Catholic parish. About one hundred folding chairs are arranged in concentric circles with a small open space in the center, a physical representation of community in contrast to the typical arrangement of church pews in straight rows oriented toward an altar above and in front of the congregation (this physical arrangement on a larger scale appears in pl. 1). Against one wall is a long table that several women are filling with books, pamphlets, and cassette tapes. The people trickling into the room know one another and embrace in greeting. A young man greets you, the newcomer, with a handshake and a smile, asking if you have ever attended a Charismatic prayer meeting and if you know what to expect. He is a "greeter," a ritual office within the group, and is concerned that you are prepared for the potentially unsettling experience of hearing collective speaking (and eventually singing) in tongues for the first time. Someone at the center of the circle begins to play a guitar, and people drift toward the chairs, where they stand and join in singing "Alleluia, give thanks to the risen Lord." You are handed a book of Charismatic songs to help you participate.

After the song everyone sits, except for the head of the group's pastoral team, a man dressed in jacket and tie who stands at the center. He says, "The Lord be with you," and the assembly responds enthusiastically, "And with you too!" This is a greeting borrowed from the Catholic Mass, but endowed with an informal tone in the prayer meeting.

The man welcomes everyone, especially newcomers, reminding participants that they are gathered for the sole purpose of "giving praise and glory to God." He urges everyone to "worship the Lord" in a relaxed way and to "be open to what the Lord might have to say to the group in prophecy." He announces another song title, and the guitarist leads the singing. Afterward, participants sit quietly murmuring prayers to themselves, some with closed eyes. Some of these prayers are short phrases such as "Praise you, Jesus" or "Thank you for your love, Lord," while others utter a stream of glossolalic nonsense syllables, praying in tongues. The leader rises again, suggesting that everyone stand and praise God. Everyone does so, many raising their hands in front of themselves, palms open. The room is filled with a hubbub of voices and clapping, in the midst of which a voice begins intoning in tongues. Other voices join in, weaving a fabric of harmony around the original note, vaguely reminiscent of a Gregorian chant. Some contribute short melodic phrases that emerge from and then subside again into the collective chant. The singing in tongues swells and crests, subsiding after a minute or two back into a murmuring of voices. Everyone sits down.

Once again the leader stands, this time to introduce another member of the pastoral team who will deliver a "teaching" on the topic of "God's love." The man next to him stands and speaks for about ten minutes, quoting from the Bible and providing illustrations of how he has experienced divine love in his own life. The leader requests participants to "thank the Lord" for this teaching and to "be open to any word the Lord might have for them." The room is silent with anticipation, many sitting in the characteristic palms-open prayer posture. The silence is broken by a woman's voice speaking in an authoritative tone: "My children, I love you. I love you, for I am your God. Follow me and I will show you the glory of my love." No one watches her as she speaks; everyone looks ahead or sits with closed eyes. At the conclusion of the "prophecy," understood as the direct utterance of God through an inspired speaker, there are scattered, reverential murmurs of" Thank you, Jesus." Someone in the assembly begins a slow chant of "Alleluia, Alleluia," and the group joins in the simple, familiar melody.

When the chant subsides, a man rises and "shares" an incident from the past week in which he had an opportunity to show God's love to a fellow worker in his office. The theme of divine love is now well established as the focus of the prayer meeting, as a woman stands to narrate how the assurance of this love was helping her to deal with her husband, who was opposed to her participation in the prayer group.

Another woman announces that because of the group's love and concern—divine love incarnated in human caring—the sick relative for whom she had previously requested the group's prayers was now improved. A priest stands to publicly thank God for the love he has experienced since his ordination. The leader then asks if anyone has a prayer of petition for the group to collectively "lift up to the Lord." Several people speak up, following which all once again join in collective prayer, some speaking in English and others in tongues.

The leader now makes several announcements as the meeting comes to an end: the single people in the group are planning a weekend canoe trip, a men's prayer breakfast is planned for the next week, a couple is moving across town and needs help loading their furniture, a Life in the Spirit Seminar for the initiation of new members will begin in two weeks, an introductory talk for newcomers and a session of prayer for divine healing will be held in separate rooms immediately following tonight's prayer meeting. The group sings a final song, and people move from their seats, smiling and embracing one another. Some browse at the book table, others talk in groups, drinking coffee and nibbling cookies. The young man who greeted you earlier appears again, pointing out where the introductory talk is to be given. There with half a dozen others you listen to a group member describe the "Four Spiritual Laws," give some background about the history and organization of the prayer group, and narrate how his life has changed since joining the prayer group and being baptized in the Spirit. He answers questions about the group and about speaking in tongues, prophecy, and faith healing. The evening's activities have lasted a total of two to three hours.

Variations on the basic prayer meeting correspond to the features, described in earlier chapters, that distinguish types of charismatic groups and geographic regions within the movement. A small, casual prayer group is likely to gather around a lighted candle in the living room of a private home; a large group may meet in a gymnasium, with several instrumentalists to accompany group singing, a public address system for the speakers, and control by leaders over who may prophesy or share. In such a large group a second weekly prayer meeting may be held for more intimate communal prayer among core group members. Where groups have included communal households, there are small prayer meetings for the residents, and some covenant communities have adopted a weekly Sabbath ceremony. Where there is a more Catholic, as opposed to an ecumenical, orientation, the prayer meeting is often incorporated into a Charismatic mass, with segments of the liturgy

expanded to include elements of the prayer meeting. Periodic conferences that last several days include multiple prayer meetings, along with workshops on various spiritual and pastoral topics. Finally, committed Catholic Charismatics typically spend a certain period every day in individual prayer, which may take the form of a prayer meeting for one.

The Pentecostal experience of Baptism in the Holy Spirit is understood as an infusion or release of divine, life-transforming power in a person. Initiation to this experience is closely tied to initiation into the Charismatic group (see also Harrison 1975). One need not have experienced the baptism to attend weekly prayer meetings, but even if one has undergone it in another setting or group, participation in the initiation rite is usually prerequisite to attendance at the more private core group meeting. Initiation typically occurs in a series of weekly seminars that meet for seven weeks. The first four sessions explain the "basic Christian message of salvation" and the meaning of Baptism in the Holy Spirit. The fifth week is devoted to prayer with laying on of hands for neophytes to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. The final two weeks are "oriented toward further growth in the life of the Spirit." These Life in the Spirit Seminars are led by experienced group members following the format of a published manual.^[3]

Each session consists of a carefully prepared talk, following which participants break into small "discussion groups" segregated by sex. The discussion group leader gives his or her own "testimony" of personal religious experience and encourages the participants to speak openly about, or share, their own spiritual background and personal lives. During the week preceding the special session of prayer for Baptism in the Holy Spirit, the discussion group leader has a private interview with each of his or her charges. The critical fifth session is a rite within a rite. Following an introductory explanation, participants make a formal "commitment to Christ," pray collectively for "deliverance" from evil spirits in a reiteration of Catholic vows made at sacramental baptism, receive individualized prayer with laying on of hands for Baptism in the Holy Spirit, pray collectively as a group in praise of God, and listen to a closing exhortation. Additional prayer group members are often enlisted to help the team members with laying on of hands, so that in the individualized prayer there are two men with each male initiate and two women with each female. At this point the neophytes are distributed about the room awaiting personal attention by the teams of two. The seminar leaders' manual advises the team to encourage a background noise of soft vocal prayer to create a sense of privacy for each initiate.

A good deal of excitement is generated on the seventh and final week of a Life in the Spirit Seminar, when the new members are introduced to the rest of the group at the weekly prayer meeting. They have assimilated a basic message that the world is in a state of sin and requires salvation, which can ultimately be obtained only by commitment to Christ. Thereupon the deity bestows the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts on the faithful, initiating their spiritual growth into a life that can be most ideally and fully lived within a Christian community. The expected effects of the Holy Spirit are the desires to pray, to read the Bible, and to frequent mass and the sacraments; experience of gifts of the Spirit such as speaking in tongues and prophecy and fruits of the Spirit such as feelings of love, peace, and joy; and experience of the "presence of God" in daily life as well as in ritual settings.

The seminars expose neophytes to the repertoire of Charismatic ritual practices, to a specialized vocabulary and genres of ritual language, and to a mode of thinking about divine action in life that are expected to lead to transformation of personal consciousness and adoption of a distinctly "Christian" way of life.^[4]   As we have seen, the initiation process is considerably expanded in some covenant communities, where as many as two years of seminars may be required for full membership. In addition, in some groups rites of passage marking changes in state of life are used to mark new phases of commitment to the group. Charismatic weddings emphasize the new couple's place in the community, and some communities recognize a parallel state of celibacy called being single for the Lord. Finally, the initiation of new group leaders is typically marked with some degree of ritual observance. In all cases, the crucial gesture of confirmation of new status is the traditional Pentecostal laying on of hands.

Charismatic healers tend to specialize in one of several types of healing prayer (healing from physical illness, inner or emotional healing, and deliverance from evil spirits), and ritual healing may take place in four relatively distinct types of events: large public services with multiple patients, small services following prayer meetings, private services for the benefit of a single patient, and solitary healing prayer for oneself or absent others.^[5]   In large public healing services the principal healing minister, unless he or she is traveling as a guest in an unfamiliar region or country, is typically assisted by a staff. Members of this staff serve as ushers for those coming forward to receive prayer, "catchers" for those who may be overwhelmed by divine power and fall in a sacred swoon, musicians, and members of small prayer teams. Each patient receives

at least a few moments of personal attention from either the principal healer or one of the prayer teams. Staff members of several well-organized "ministries" may be identified during services by a sash or jacket worn over their clothing, or by regular street clothing with a common color scheme.^[6]   In a typical scenario, the service begins with the leader walking up and down the aisles of the church, using a liturgical instrument called an aspergillum to sprinkle holy water on the assembly, and pausing periodically to lay hands on a person's head or shoulder. Returning to the front of the assembly, the leader delivers a sermon on divine healing, and a music emsemble composed of members of the staff leads the group in Charismatic songs. Several participants are solicited to share or "witness to" previous healings they have experienced. The body of the service consists in each participant coming forward for a minute or two of private prayer, much as they come forward for the Eucharist in a mass. Each is anointed with sacramental oil and "prayed over" with laying on of hands.

In prayer groups, healing prayers for self or others may occur in a segment of the weekly prayer meeting. Better-organized groups may have a selected team of "healing ministers" who, following the meeting, conduct prayer for individual supplicants in a separate prayer room or "healing room." Several pairs of team members dispersed through the room each see one patient at a time. They listen, talk, lay on hands, and pray for healing. Other patients wait outside the prayer room and are admitted one by one by another healing team member who acts as gatekeeper. The post-prayer meeting healing room session stands in contrast to the large service in its relative privacy, in the increased amount of time spent with each patient (10 to 20 minutes instead of 2 to 3), and in the greater likelihood of healers and supplicants having an ongoing relationship within the group.

Based on the recommendation of the healing room prayer team, on the recommendation of another prayer group member who senses that a person is troubled, or on one's own initiative, a person may arrange a private session with a more experienced healer or healing team, within or outside the group.^[7]   Private healing sessions typically take place in a home or counseling center but sometimes occur over the telephone or in hospital visits. Private sessions may last an hour or more and may be conducted by healers within the group or by those with broader reputations. Healers either stand over the seated supplicant with hands laid on head, shoulder, back, or chest; or they sit facing the supplicant, sometimes holding hands. Private sessions are infor-

mally structured into alternating segments of talk or "counseling" and of actual "healing prayer," though some healers regard the entire session as prayer. Multiple sessions over time on the model of psychotherapy are performed by more "psychological" healers who hold that healing can be a divine augmentation of gradual, natural processes, although more "fundamentalist" healers object that God's power or willingness to heal is slighted if lengthy, multiple sessions are held. Finally, healing prayer for oneself or others may be practiced in the solitude of private devotion. To my knowledge there is no formal procedure to such prayer, and it can obviously not be observed directly.

Along with prophecy and speaking in tongues, healing is regarded by Charismatics as one of the spiritual gifts, or charisms. However, the structure of healing events as cultural performances is essentially different from that of the prayer meeting and its variants. This is because the gift of healing is understood as the mediation of divine power through specific individuals, rather than as collective access to the divinity through worship and inspiration. Even though prophecy is also a mediation of divine power by an individual, and even though its message may be uniquely interpreted by each listener, anyone in a prayer meeting may be inspired with prophecy, and everyone hears the same prophetic utterance. The asymmetrical relationship among participants in healing, constituted by one person "ministering to" others, persists even when there is a group of healers working in teams. Only rarely is divine power given a collective locus, with the leader instructing all participants to lay hands on each other.^[8]   Thus, although movement leaders exhort participants to "focus on the gift, not the man," there is nevertheless a perception that some healing ministers are more gifted than others, and those in attendance at public healing services often show a preference to be "prayed over" by the service leader instead of by one of the teams of assistants.