Dreams and visions, prophetic words from God about "dusty souls," speaking in tongues while "in
the spirit"�narratives of these and similar events comprise the heart of Every Time I Feel the Spirit. This
in-depth study of a Black congregation in Charleston, South Carolina provides a window into the tremendously important
yet still largely overlooked world of African American religion as the faith is lived by ordinary believers.
For decades, scholars have been preoccupied with the relation between Black Christianity, civil rights, and social
activism. Every Time I Feel the Spirit is about black religion as religion. It focuses on the everyday experience
of religion in the church, congregants' relationships with God, and the role that God and Satan play in congregants'
lives�not only as objects of belief but as actual agents. It explores the concepts of religious experience and
religious ritual, while emphasizing the attributions that people make to the operation of spiritual forces and
beings in their lives.
Through interviews and field work, Nelson uncovers what religious people themselves see as important about their
faith while extending and refining sociological understandings of religious ritual and religious experience.
Table of Contents
1. God's house in the holy city
2. Religious experience and ritual
3. "Do you really know who God is?"
4. "On the battlefield"
5. "In spirit and in truth"
6. Sacrifice of praise
7. Race, class, and religion
Conclusion : belief, experience, and ritual