Courtney Tepera | College of Charleston (original) (raw)

Articles by Courtney Tepera

Over the past fifty years, American Protestant churches have witnessed a significant shift in sac... more Over the past fifty years, American Protestant churches have witnessed a significant shift in sacred music. Christian contemporary music (hereafter CCM), a blend of rock and pop with religious lyrics, became a familiar presence both on the radio and in the church. While many excellent studies have detailed the musical and lyrical characteristics of CCM as well as the features of its history, theology, liturgical use, and industry practices, few studies have explored the role of CCM in the daily lives of listeners. This study begins to fill that gap, to understand how listeners are using CCM and the role they ascribe to devotional listening. To do so, I draw from focus-group interviews at four churches. In these interviews both laity and clergy were asked about their personal religious music listening habits outside of church. The answers given reveal that music is a powerful force in listeners' religious lives. By listening in the background of daily life, they create an atmosphere that shapes their emotions and reinforces their faith. They find greater ease in their attempts to engage in other devotional practices and in their experience of God. I find that underlying this practice of devotional listening is the respondents' conception that music was uniquely created by God to be a tool for spiritual engagement. In these congregations, being created to worship means also being created to sing.

Conference Presentations by Courtney Tepera

Though Christian contemporary music, or CCM, is not a theologically dense medium and despite its ... more Though Christian contemporary music, or CCM, is not a theologically dense medium and despite its origins in an branch of Protestant Christianity characterized by relative silence on the issue of heaven, there remains significant theological nuance in the lyrics, including definitions of heaven not often cited in popular studies of the afterlife, and these various definitions encourage particular types of religious behavior in the here and now.

With the rise of digital media, new technologies to record and disseminate music have spurred a f... more With the rise of digital media, new technologies to record and disseminate music have spurred a flurry of changes in the music industry. No longer does an artist need to be picked up by a record label to get market share, now they can reach their audiences with the click of a button. These changes in media technology have also lead to changes in religious ritual practice. Protestant contemporary worship music, once the domain of publishing houses, is now increasingly being produced by individual churches. A survey of albums produced by American Protestant church worship bands shows three important shifts in practice. First is that these changes are happening the fastest in certain denominations and geographical areas. The geographical trends show a strong relationship to areas marked as centers of R. Florida's creative class, a growing group of professions that emphasize presentation and cultural production. Second, the albums all reflect a great concern for music written by the church, rather than covers of mass production worship music, which is the typical fare in the majority of Protestant worship services. Thirdly, nearly half of these churches identify themselves as multi-campus churches. These trends appear to be linked. I theorize that the creative class, as producers of cultural forms, have a higher facility with the linguistic and cultural skills deemed charismatic by religious groups (Csordas), and as a result are more likely to produce changes in religious ritual practice such as the early adoption of new technologies, the production of new worship material, and the creation of new ecclesiastic structures.

Waco, TX, a church started just a few year prior by students of Baylor University. They become an... more Waco, TX, a church started just a few year prior by students of Baylor University. They become an overnight success, becoming one of the most influential bands in the Christian contemporary music scene, selling over a million albums in 13 years. This is not an unusual story. Over the past fifty years, Christian contemporary music has become big business. Just as the genre has matured economically, it also has matured in audience, becoming the source of liturgical music for many Evangelical congregations. In light of these facts, an understanding of the themes of this musical genre can help provide insight into the forces shaping the identities and theologies of American Evangelicals, as well as the nature of religious change. While the basic story of David Crowder*Band is common, their music provides a glimpse into an emerging Evangelical postmodernism couched in the terms of mysticism, grounded in the recombination of historical concepts and genres. Context: I am using postmodernism and mysticism as provisional analytical tools, knowing they are debatable. For postmodernism, Paul Heelas' work is my frame of reference. In this context, modernism refers to the movement in Western culture towards differentiation, such as the division of sacred from secular, and the categorizing scientific mindset. Postmodernism is characterized by de-differentiation, the whole that underlies the differences of modernism,

Teaching Documents by Courtney Tepera

Office hours are the best way to contact me, followed by email. Drop in without an appointment du... more Office hours are the best way to contact me, followed by email. Drop in without an appointment during office hours or to make an appointment for another time. I usually respond to email within 1 business day.

Other Published Writing by Courtney Tepera

Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, 2015

Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, 2015

Nova Religio: Journal Of Alternative And Emergent Religions, 2016

Over the past fifty years, American Protestant churches have witnessed a significant shift in sac... more Over the past fifty years, American Protestant churches have witnessed a significant shift in sacred music. Christian contemporary music (hereafter CCM), a blend of rock and pop with religious lyrics, became a familiar presence both on the radio and in the church. While many excellent studies have detailed the musical and lyrical characteristics of CCM as well as the features of its history, theology, liturgical use, and industry practices, few studies have explored the role of CCM in the daily lives of listeners. This study begins to fill that gap, to understand how listeners are using CCM and the role they ascribe to devotional listening. To do so, I draw from focus-group interviews at four churches. In these interviews both laity and clergy were asked about their personal religious music listening habits outside of church. The answers given reveal that music is a powerful force in listeners' religious lives. By listening in the background of daily life, they create an atmosphere that shapes their emotions and reinforces their faith. They find greater ease in their attempts to engage in other devotional practices and in their experience of God. I find that underlying this practice of devotional listening is the respondents' conception that music was uniquely created by God to be a tool for spiritual engagement. In these congregations, being created to worship means also being created to sing.

Though Christian contemporary music, or CCM, is not a theologically dense medium and despite its ... more Though Christian contemporary music, or CCM, is not a theologically dense medium and despite its origins in an branch of Protestant Christianity characterized by relative silence on the issue of heaven, there remains significant theological nuance in the lyrics, including definitions of heaven not often cited in popular studies of the afterlife, and these various definitions encourage particular types of religious behavior in the here and now.

With the rise of digital media, new technologies to record and disseminate music have spurred a f... more With the rise of digital media, new technologies to record and disseminate music have spurred a flurry of changes in the music industry. No longer does an artist need to be picked up by a record label to get market share, now they can reach their audiences with the click of a button. These changes in media technology have also lead to changes in religious ritual practice. Protestant contemporary worship music, once the domain of publishing houses, is now increasingly being produced by individual churches. A survey of albums produced by American Protestant church worship bands shows three important shifts in practice. First is that these changes are happening the fastest in certain denominations and geographical areas. The geographical trends show a strong relationship to areas marked as centers of R. Florida's creative class, a growing group of professions that emphasize presentation and cultural production. Second, the albums all reflect a great concern for music written by the church, rather than covers of mass production worship music, which is the typical fare in the majority of Protestant worship services. Thirdly, nearly half of these churches identify themselves as multi-campus churches. These trends appear to be linked. I theorize that the creative class, as producers of cultural forms, have a higher facility with the linguistic and cultural skills deemed charismatic by religious groups (Csordas), and as a result are more likely to produce changes in religious ritual practice such as the early adoption of new technologies, the production of new worship material, and the creation of new ecclesiastic structures.

Waco, TX, a church started just a few year prior by students of Baylor University. They become an... more Waco, TX, a church started just a few year prior by students of Baylor University. They become an overnight success, becoming one of the most influential bands in the Christian contemporary music scene, selling over a million albums in 13 years. This is not an unusual story. Over the past fifty years, Christian contemporary music has become big business. Just as the genre has matured economically, it also has matured in audience, becoming the source of liturgical music for many Evangelical congregations. In light of these facts, an understanding of the themes of this musical genre can help provide insight into the forces shaping the identities and theologies of American Evangelicals, as well as the nature of religious change. While the basic story of David Crowder*Band is common, their music provides a glimpse into an emerging Evangelical postmodernism couched in the terms of mysticism, grounded in the recombination of historical concepts and genres. Context: I am using postmodernism and mysticism as provisional analytical tools, knowing they are debatable. For postmodernism, Paul Heelas' work is my frame of reference. In this context, modernism refers to the movement in Western culture towards differentiation, such as the division of sacred from secular, and the categorizing scientific mindset. Postmodernism is characterized by de-differentiation, the whole that underlies the differences of modernism,

Office hours are the best way to contact me, followed by email. Drop in without an appointment du... more Office hours are the best way to contact me, followed by email. Drop in without an appointment during office hours or to make an appointment for another time. I usually respond to email within 1 business day.

Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, 2015

Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, 2015

Nova Religio: Journal Of Alternative And Emergent Religions, 2016