Toward a Pentecostal Theological Aesthetic and Practice of Sacred Time

Abstract

Pentecostal ecstatic-aimed oral-aural dynamics, along with other elements integral to the tradition, imply a latent though largely unexplored aesthetic of sacred time. The author begins by assessing this aesthetic through a constructed methodology defined as Pentecostal notions of Festive and Founding Time. From this analysis, he prescriptively delineates five steps for adapting the historic liturgical calendar to Pentecostal spirituality, thereby arguing for a Pentecostal theological aesthetic and practice of sacred time, in a manner related to the tradition’s improvisational aesthetics of oral-aural liturgy. The author concludes by focusing these themes on the notions of aesthetics, suggesting how a Pentecostal theological aesthetic and practice of sacred time may contribute toward an ecumenically shared vision of beauty that transforms worshipers through the Spirit before God in the face of Jesus.