Rites in the Spirit

Book excerpt: Rites in the Spirit is a book about spirituality, ritual, and Pentecostal experience. The volume presents a careful and innovative study of Pentecostal practices and experiences. Focusing on the very important, but often intriguing worship rites that express the spirituality of Pentecostals, Albrecht discovers that these Pentecostal/charismatic rites and their attending sensibilities also function to shape, nurture, authenticate and even transform the spiritual lives of these Christians. Rites in the Spirit seeks to guide Pentecostals, and the charismatically-inclined, toward self-interpretation and a more nuanced conception of, and a deeper appreciation for, their Pentecostal experience. The volume also aims to make a sometimes exotic spirituality more accessible and understandable to those who have had limited contact with Pentecostal/charismatic forms and expressions.