Bringing Worship to the Streets

Chapter 4 examines what happens when congregational music “goes public” through the lens of the praise march, a public procession in which evangelical Christians sing contemporary worship songs in the streets of their cities. It examines two consecutive praise marches in Toronto—the March for Jesus and the Jesus in the City Parade—as public congregations whose participants use contemporary worship music to engage in spiritual warfare, to imagine and embody the global evangelical community while creating new intimacies, and to unify area Christians across ethnic, national, and denominational difference. In examination of the sonic practices and values at these praise marches, two models of the public congregation emerge, characterized by differing performance and ethical ideals. Evangelicals use contemporary worship music in public spaces not only to define their public image, but also to delineate the boundaries of their regional community and manage diversity within those boundaries.