Every Sunday morning, in less than an hour, the chancel at Southminster Presbyterian Church is transformed. As the traditional worship service draws to a close around ten o’clock, the leaders end worship with restrained, dignified moves that are similar to those with which they opened worship an hour earlier. The congregation sings the final hymn, the robed minister pronounces a benediction, the choir in the balcony sings a response, the formally dressed lay assistant closes the large Bible on the communion table and gathers it in her arms, the robed acolyte extinguishes the candles with her taper, and together the assistant, acolyte, and pastor walk down the center aisle, the organist playing a postlude as they leave. The minute the worship leaders are out the door at the conclusion of the traditional worship service, the leaders for contemporary worship, who are gathered in the narthex, move down the side aisles and begin to rearrange the chancel for eleven o’clock worship. They are dressed in slacks and sweaters and carry insulated coffee mugs with them. They bring out music stands and amplifiers, plug in microphones, and set up a sound board, take guitars out of their cases, lift the lid on the grand piano, and mount an enormous screen on the wall, just to the side of the equally enormous cross that hangs permanently at the front of the church. They scramble to get everything in place quickly, in order to have enough time to rehearse their music before worship. They rehearse until 10:50, when they meet with the pastor, visit with worshipers who have come forward to talk, and light the candles on the communion table without ceremony. The scene is busy and informal. Contemporary worship begins with a brief piano prelude and a greeting from the pastor, who for this service wears slacks, a sport coat, shirt, and tie. Then the praise team takes over, composed of a guitarist, pianist, lead singer, and four other singers. The five singers each hold a microphone. The team leads the congregation in singing three songs. Between the songs the pastor or praise team leader chats informally with the congregation. What is going on here? Students of American Protestantism or liturgy might say that history is repeating itself, and that once again we witness a struggle An earlier version of this article was presented in February 2004, to the Chicago Area Group for the Study of Religious Communities. I am grateful to the members, especially Frank Senn, and R. Stephen Warner, for comments, questions, and suggestions.