The Secret Masonic History of –Nothing Really

October 17, 2013 By Arlene Sánchez-Walsh

Outbursts of religious zealotry are par for the course in my line of work. Having studied and worshiped with Pentecostals for nearly 20 years, most of these outbursts are not of an overtly political nature—unless you count the “prophetic” word someone once yelled out to watch more Christian T.V.—which I immediately categorized in my own mind as not only aesthetically questionable, but certainly emanating from a political agenda. So a couple of religious outbursts have caught my attention of late—one,... Read more

Survey says: we’re still Catholic, Democrats, and increasingly Nones

October 5, 2013 By Arlene Sánchez-Walsh

New research released last week tells us a couple of things about the Latino/a community in the U.S. You can read it here:http://publicreligion.org/research/2013/09/hispanic-values-survey-2013/ 1) researchers really need to stop using the term “Hispanic” since its really not a good descriptive term for the diversity of the community and its origins in the Nixon administration’s attempts to define us in the US. Census is old news 2) That being said, the findings here are interesting: A majority of Hispanics identify as... Read more

Bienvenidos! Again

October 1, 2013 By Arlene Sánchez-Walsh

I’m not gonna write too much today–for many reasons 1) all the good stuff about the Breaking Bad Finale has already been said–I will miss that show 2) I am new to this page and I guess I want to re-introduce myself in hopes of gaining new readers? 3) my primary job is as an academic–so writing is what I do all the time, and I admit to sometimes not having time to update this blog because… 4) I am... Read more

Pope Francis–Is Sick and Tired of the Culture War Too

September 20, 2013 By Arlene Sánchez-Walsh

This is the time when with the start of a new semester, my blogging often comes to a crawling halt–I will continue to try and write something, even if it’s brief…and I hope that next time I am writing, I’ll be writing from a different “location” so my not-so-unique perspective as a progressive Latina Pentecostal/charismatic/born and raised Catholic/but finds herself at home in charismatic churches–and really likes Episcopal churches–will have a broader audience among my progressive brethren… For now…. Pope... Read more

Outliers: Interviews w/ Progressive Pentecostals

September 6, 2013 By Arlene Sánchez-Walsh

First in a series…with Pentecostals skewing the norm–and disturbing the universe An interview with my friend and colleague Rick Waldrop, whose mission work in Ecuador hints at a progressive Pentecostal future that I’m thrilled to report on and even more excited to support financially. I hope if this interview impresses you as much as it did me, you’ll consider supporting the Waldrop’s work To read more about Rick’s work: http://cogwm.org/projects/rick-and-janice-waldrop/ Read more

End of the Summer Musings

August 30, 2013 By Arlene Sánchez-Walsh

Been doing lots of posts on culture and music—because sometimes you just have to unplug from the news. And it’s summer! And it’s now over…so Portland is a phenomenal city-vacationing there reminds me that the Northwest—a bastion of the “nones” is a great place to live. I got lots of writing done on lots of little projects- I’m happy about that! Things I’m less happy about: harassing children for singing the national anthem in Español. Classless hatred at its worst.... Read more

Remembering Elvis…and the Pentecostal War on Rock n Roll

August 16, 2013 By Arlene Sánchez-Walsh

This is the anniversary of The King’s death. I’ve been to Graceland, and I must say that aside from the garishness of it all, it was moving to see the reverence folks have for him. Most people know that Elvis had a religious background, and even recorded some pretty good gospel albums, what most do not know was that Elvis was a member of the Assemblies of God, and in his youth, was even an Ambassador for Christ–the Assemblies’ youth... Read more

Outliers: Musings from Millennial Evangelicals

August 1, 2013 By Arlene Sánchez-Walsh

Today’s guest post is one of those posts that you find when you spend way too much time on Twitter and and realize that there are so many varied voices out there that are never voices that the media uses when they want to “analyze” evangelicalism, media types usually trot out the same old folks–and with the current obsession over why (white) millennials are leaving churches–I thought it would benefit readers of this page to read one person’s response–this was... Read more

Journeys Through Pentecostal Subcultures: Sacred Steel pt 1

July 25, 2013 By Arlene Sánchez-Walsh

Today we’re continuing to look at Pentecostal music on our summer journey. This tradition is called sacred steel. Here’s a sample of this exhilarating music–hope you enjoy this and the next few weeks installments! Sacred Steel is used mostly in the African American Pentecostal Church and is its own unique brand of American Folk Music–whether for worship or other types of performance, it is one of the most energetic and remarkable contributions to Pentecostal music history. It, like much of... Read more

Journeys into the Pentecostal Subculture: Dress Codes Pt 2

July 18, 2013 By Arlene Sánchez-Walsh

Continuing our trip through the Pentecostal subculture–particularly, the Oneness/Apostolic branches, many of whom still require adherence to dress codes for men as well as women, for women though, the focus is modesty, where for men, the focus seems to be professional dress. This promotional video is from a company whose tag line is “where fashion meets modesty.” This video was put up a few days ago and offers tips on basics of Pentecostal wardrobe–for women ... Read more