Getting the Holy Ghost : urban ethnography in a Brooklyn Pentecostal tongue-speaking church /

This four-year ethnographic study of a small African American church in Brooklyn, a revision of the author's PhD dissertation, is exceptionally well organized. Sociologist Marina (Univ. of Missouri-St. Louis) highlights what he sees as "exotic" aspects of Pentecostal worship, and is most interested in the processes of religious conversion, which he relates to speaking in tongues. He uncovered tremendous diversity of opinion within church members' thoughts concerning glossolalia. Earlier researchers (e.g., Felicitas D. Goodman, Speaking in Tongues, CH, Mar'73) examined glossolalia as a form of altered states of consciousness, but Marina offers mainly sociological explanations and ultimately argues that church members understand tongue speaking primarily as a form of social empowerment. He also insightfully analyzes church organization, outlining the formal and informal structures of the Holy Ghost Church with attention to charismatic authority. Earlier studies of Pentecostalism (e.g., Margaret Poloma, The Assemblies of God at the Crossroads, CH, Apr'90, 27-4487) predicted that church authority would become increasingly bureaucratic over time, but Marina convincingly argues that leaders in smaller Pentecostal congregations are better able to maintain their claims to charisma. The author's presentation is clear, his attention to ethnographic detail exemplary, and his scholarship sound. A significant contribution to the study of African American Pentecostalism. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. S. D. Glazier University of Nebraska--Lincoln