*Prototype?

In the middle of reading about Collins' interaction ritual theory (2004), which promotes a concept called 'Emotional Energy,' as it is applied to religion and ritual. The particular paper I was reading applied the theory to megachurches in America. I began to wonder, just for fun, if the concert-like aspect of these rituals, or 'services', in contemporary megachurches could have picked up a cue from 1992:





And from Sister Act 2 (1993):



Albeit these clips are limited to the choir, contemporary church performances also make good use of pop references, entwined with religious phrasing, and create an atmosphere of positive "emotional energy" as these performances from Sister Act (1992) has sought to do. Now, there is well deserved commentary from African-American based Gospel or Baptist churches, which have done similar things to enhance mood and "emotional energy," and how their history of praxis might have influenced the development of popular church services today. Further commentary comes from the post just before this one about oxytocin; how the production of this neurochemical creates moods of trust. 'Feel good' stories of heroism or triumph over struggle become prominent themes that can produce neurochemical cocktails with oxytocin at its base. An additional component comes from a sense of community and others appearing to be experiencing similar emotions.

The idea of taking a "traditional" form of worship - for the two films it was Catholic - and pumping it with red bull or some other "high octane" energy drink, which came in the form of Sister Mary Clarence aka Whoopi Goldberg, is a "modern" way of increasing church attendance and creating religious fervor or "emotional energy." There is much more that needs to be discussed here regarding what goes into ritual and what the parameters of "ritual" itself is insofar as definitions go. And the discourse is much more dynamic and richer than what I have simply, and perhaps naively, stated here.

Nor can I really make a case that the movies from '92 and '93 have made an impact on the changes of contemporary religious worship or what the historical progression actually look like. It was really a simple thought marked by associations from a long gone childhood and how the incorporation of pop references have assisted in the endeavor of creating "positive vibrations" within a religious atmosphere.

There is a parody of modern evangelical church services floating around the internet that I thought I would put up here (I have never been to an evangelical megachurch service so I don't know the extent of its accuracy regarding the form of such services but the parody seemed to note the structure of using popular songs as vehicles for songs of worship): 



And we have the endearing Westboro Baptist Church with their own renditions:





(*apparently the girl in the video was disowned by her family: http://youtu.be/50r0CnKq7_k)