“Music and Meaning: Meaningful Encounter with the Holy Spirit Through Music"

Pentecostal spirituality values music as an affective and experiential means of expressing worship to God, but also as a medium through which divine-human encounter can be mediated. As such, the importance of music and worship for Pentecostals should not be underestimated. The challenge is that this importance is often implicitly understood and appreciated, but not explicitly explained. This paper highlights the Pentecostal emphasis on music and worship as a context for divine encounter, then attempts to frame the meaning of this encounter in theological terms. Specifically, encounter with the Holy Spirit through music may be viewed as an expression of elemental meaning, which is meaning contained in experience rather than defined in conceptual categories. The significance of this is that music and worship can act simultaneously as a medium for divine encounter, and an expression of the elemental meaning of that encounter in affective terms. In the interest of managing your expectations as the reader, this paper will not provide the definitive theological analysis of Pentecostal worship, or even the definitive formula for moving from an experience of worship to a theological formulation. Rather, it is more like a prolegomena to a Pentecostal theology of worship, and will highlight some areas for further exploration.