New Names Old Gods: A look at Seeking Rituals in Pentecostal and Gullah Religions

By: Reverend Delvin J. Moody

The Case for Structural Ritual Transcendence

Religious rituals and cultural traditions are often not isolated practices. In that I mean, most religious traditions can find root in various cultural and societal practices. In some cases, entire rituals can be survivals from other religions, or blended expressions of culture, tradition, faith, etc. One example of these, are African-American religious traditions. These religious traditions are often described as blended faiths, exhibiting intersectionality between tradition, culture, and religion. Many religious practices in the African-American community are a bricolage of various cultural and religious intersections; a kind of hybrid. Evidence of such can be found in Christian, Islamic, and even Judaist traditions.

In terms of Christianity, most scholars have often pointed to the antebellum south and African slaves as significant evidence of some hybrid practices we see today. This paper does, however, suggest that the antebellum south and slavery gave way for the development of new religious traditions and practices via a blending of Africanisms from slave culture and theological premises taught them from various missionaries visiting slave plantations. This in many ways created new blended religious traditions, of which portions can be seen today. While this paper focuses on the blended Christian practices that extend from this time, there is evidence of other traditions that can in some way find lineage among African-American Slaves. However, we are often limited on an anthropological level to substantiate clearly, and or determine precisely, such progressions and development of that religious history.

Some often struggle to trace a progression from invisible slave institutions like Hush Arbors to visible institutions like Praise Houses, then to the modern black church. However, through analysis of rituals, in particular, the seeking ritual, we can show a historic connection between African-American Slave traditions and modern African-American Christian tradition (IE. The Pentecostal Black Church). While the African-American Pentecostal Church and Slave Religious Traditions, such of those of the Gullah People, may differ theologically, there remain rituals among the two that prove a connected history and a structural ritual transcendence. By structural ritual transcendence, I coin the phrase to suggest that there maintains a structural and functional continuity in the performance of like rituals that are, nevertheless, interpreted in significantly different ways. Even if the religious traditions being examined are completely different. To further that point, I present information that suggests that rituals entirely transcend theological premise and can maintain such function.

We will see this among the Gullah Tradition that extended from the seas-islands of the Carolinas and The African-American Pentecostal Church, which at times may be referred to as the Black Church. While the Black Church and the Gullah Tradition share a common ancestral history, being that most congregants are decedents of former slaves, there are clear theological differences. Despite having no direct lineage, the presence of the seeking ritual in both traditions speaks to a connected history. The seeking ritual in both religious traditions is structurally and functionally similar; and for both traditions, seeking is a rite of passage into a church or community. The ritual involves communication with the divine, validation by a spiritual leader, and testimonial-given by the individual in the ritual. The seeker is separated from the community sent on this seeking ritual then returns to the community for approval.

While this paper does not focus entirely on theological differences, it aims to emphasize the connected history of both traditions as a way to show the origin of the seeking ritual itself. While the ritual survived, the same theological basis of the ritual did not. Thus proving, that rituals can maintain structural continuity regardless of theological convictions. This paper will review and analyze a ritual from both slave traditions and the modern Pentecostal black church. Through reviewing this ritual, we can in some way substantiate two claims. First, that there is a connection between slave traditions and the black church. Secondly, that rituals can transcend theology and maintain similarities both structurally and functionally. Throughout the paper, we will further these points utilizing Arnold Vann Gennep and Victor Turner who provide a theoretical lens in the discussion of rites of passage and more broadly the pre-liminal, liminal, and post-liminal stages of such rituals.

Gullah and Pentecostalism

This paper examines such ritual and or Rite a passage into the Praise House known as “seeking”. We also examine this ritual as presented in the Black Church particularly the Pentecostal denominations. As previously articulated, this paper will show a connection between the Gullah faith and Pentecostal church through the category of rituals and through the theoretical lens of liminality, rites of passage, and functionalism. While doing this, we show the link between the Pentecostal church and Gullah Religion. In particular, utilizing the House of God Church, Church of the living. While most present a connected history between the Black Church and slave traditions hinged on ancestral and cultural bounds. By showing the seeking ritual as being structured the same and functioning similarly, one can validate a further connection that previously is not entirely accepted.

The Gullah People are slave population or the descended of slaves that were brought to America from various parts of Africa mainly from Angola and Sierra Leone. The Gullah people were brought to be slaves on rice plantations in the low-country of South Carolina, North Carolina, and the parts of Georgie. These rice plantations were entirely on sea-islands which were distant from the mainland. This unique characteristic gave the Gullah slaves a limited freedom that becomes a microcosm for various institutions. One of which being the Praise House. Slaves often met for various purpose in the antebellum south. These meetings were done in secret as to not alert plantation owners of their gathering. These meetings become a silent institution known as Hush Arbors. The Hush Arbors to the Gullah morphed into a visible institution known as Praise Houses. The limited supervision from overseers on the sea-islands provide the slaves to meet together and thus form institutions with religious and social impact.

While Hush Arbors were a silent institution for social organization and organizing, some slaves were able to have more public means of gathering and even self-governing. In the Sea Islands of the Carolinas and Georgie, Praise Houses became a cornerstone of life on the plantation. In these parts, the Gullah People were slaves who lived on plantation Sea Islands separate from the mainland. While yet slaves, the Gullah People experienced less observation and even given the opportunity to worship and gather in such Praise Houses. These churches became to function as not only the center of religious life but also a social and judicial hub. Praise Houses were used to create social rules and enforce these rules when disputes arose. It is here, in the Praise Houses, you see the birth of the Gullah Religions, which blended Christianity and Africanism, often to create newfound faiths and various new traditions. Praise Houses were essential to life and thus admission into such was in a way admission into full integration into Gullah traditions. The same can be found in churches today; particularly the House of God Church-Keith Dominion.

The House of God, Church of the Living God, The Pillar and Ground of the Truth Inc. was founded in 1903 by Bishop Mary Magdalena-Lewis Tate. She is noted as being the first African-American Bishop in the world. This particular organization was founded in Nashville, TN with various dioceses (jurisdictions) in numerous parts of the country; even including Rochester, NY. This church is one of the earliest African-American Pentecostal churches and also has deep roots of origin in the south. However, to both the Gullah and the African-American Pentecostals seeking is vital to each of the religions. We will examine the theological premises in subsequent sections, however, it is important to note the structural and functional similarities of both seeking rituals.

Structural Ritual Transcendence

While both rituals differ ideologically, the functionality of the two are the same. Both rituals serve as rites of passage. In the House of God Church, like most services similar to the Gullah Tradition in Praise House, include huge levels of charisma and energetic liturgy. Sermons tend to be very spiritual and speak to the coming of Christ like many mainstream Christian denominations. The tenets of the Pentecostal church are fundamentally the same as other Christian denominations, but differs in the sense that Salvation is through the acceptance of Christ and the endowing the Holy Spirit. In order to be a part of the church or the body of Christ, you have to be full of the Holy Ghost and produce certain signs like Speaking in Tongues, Shouting, etc. For some Pentecostal churches this rite of passage, is done through prayer with various degrees and styles. Due to the charismatic nature of the Pentecostal Church, this ritual is done with extended periods of prayer, trances like conditions, communication with the divine, visions, etc. This is similar to the Gullah, in that, admission into the Praise House was not inherent through attendance, one must go through the seeking ritual. To this end we can look at the rituals in light of Arnold Vann Gennep and Victor Turner.

Arnold Van Gennep suggests rites of passage as having three main phases in its structure. Separation (Pre-liminal), Transition (Liminal), and Incorporation (Post-Liminal) respectively. For the Seeking tradition the Pre-Liminal and the Post-Liminal are socking similar. The liminal stage given its nature presents a difficulty to see overarching trends as in each ritual the experience is based heavily on individual experience. Victor Turner recapitulates the nuances of liminality in his writings. For Victor Turner, the Liminal stage is a phase where the person is “betwixt and between”. Victor writes,

“The attributes of liminality or of liminal personae (“threshold people”) are necessarily ambiguous, singe this condition and these persons elude or slip through the network of classifications that normally locate states and positions in cultural space… As such, their ambiguous and indeterminate attributes are expressed by a rich variety of symbols in the many societies that ritualize social and cultural transitions. Thus, liminality is frequently likened to death, to. being in the womb, to invisibility, to darkness, to bisexuality, to the wilderness, and to an eclipse of the sun or moon.”

The Pre-Liminal stages of seeking both derive from to be included in a community. For the Gullah, the seeking ritual was blended from early Methodist in the slave quarters (hush-arbors) asking African slaves if they would “seek” Jesus after hearing sermons. This in time blended with Africanism that created a process required for admission into the Praise Houses. In the Pre-Liminal stage of seeking to Gullah, they are sent into the wilderness and physically separated from the community and guided in part by a “spiritual parent”. This is also evident in the Pentecostal Black Church. Where by a person looking to join the church would have to come to an altar and be guided by the clergyperson to begin the seeking. Coming to the altar or being sent to the wilderness show a separation and even a belief that one most go to a particular place for the ritual to work; axis mundi.

The Liminal stage of seeking is this important and in the Pentecostal church and the Gullah tradition it is heavily important. In actuality, while liminal stage is experienced difference between the Gullah and Pentecostal church is has the same function and even substantiate Victor Turners view of the liminal stage. What occurs in the liminal stage to the seeker determines admission into the community. The Post-Liminal stage in contingent on the experience and even communal validation of the liminal stage. In the Gullah Tradition, the seeker experiences various stages of interaction with the divine and ancestors. Communication with Ancestors is a vital component, as the ancestors are consider guides to the seeker. They the seeker through personal development and conviction. This can be considered similar to processes of repentance for the seeking ritual in the Pentecostal Black Church. In the liminal stages, the seeker in the black church also has this communication with the divine and in this individualistic manner goes through repentance and spiritual conviction. The seeker is expected to be “godly sorry” for their sin and after this repentance one can be empowered with the Holy Spirit. Both the Gullah and Black Church share this structural essence of spiritual nuance. For the Gullah people, the liminal stage is the wilderness and the for the Pentecostals the Liminal stage is being “born-again” through seeking for the Holy Spirit on the altar. Such symbols are articulate as clear liminal imagery according to Victor Turner.

The Post-Liminal Stage of Incorporation is key. In this part with see distinct similarity between the Gullah and the Pentecostal Black Church. Particularly, in terms of communal validation and acceptance. During the liminal process the seeker is physically disconnected from the certain parts of their community. In the Gullah this is being sent to the Wilderness and in the Black Church this is coming to the Altar. In the Post-Liminal when the seeking is incorporated into the community we see the requirement of communal validation. In the Gullah, the seeker has to stand before the elders of the Praise House and describe what occurred and what message was told them from the ancestors or God. This has to be approved by the Elders as a genuine experience and one may even be asked question as to ascertain such validity. This is exactly duplicated in the Pentecostal Black Church. After the clergy has observed certain “signs” the seeker has gone through the proper processes. The seeker is picked up from the Altar placed in front of the church to “testify” as to what occurred. The elders of the church listen and to validate that the seeker has received the Holy Spirit. In both instances of the Gullah and Pentecostal Church, going through seeking ritual is not enough. The Communal Validation is unique structural component particularly in a church environment. For a church to use terminology of seeking, to use the ritual functionality as a rite of passage, and to include structural component unique to the Gullah Tradition, overwhelmingly validates a claim that both tradition extend from a connected history.

Furthermore, the in each ritual the theological premise is fundamentally different. The Gullah place huge importance on communication with ancestors and placement of ritual in the wilderness. While theologically, Pentecostals place huge importance on personal repentance and receiving of the Holy Spirit. Even the role of Ritual is slightly different on a theological term. While both use the seeking ritual as rite of passage and forms of admission. To not go through the ritual to the Gullahs means no admission into the Praise House and thus the community. However, to not go through seeking in the Pentecostal Church would mean one has not obtained the Holy Spirit and thus will not enter Heaven. It is a matter of salvation to the Pentecostal that is not entirely, if at all, evident in the Gullah Tradition. The evidence in this paper exhibit clear that rituals in fact can transcend theology and maintain a structural and even functional continuity.

The Seeking Practice to the Gullah

​Seeking is an essential part of Gullah traditions and particularly the Praise House. The role of this ritual serves as rite of passage and functions as the tool for admission into the Praise House and ultimately the Gullah Community. It is important to note that the spiritual aspect of Seeking presents some difference of experience interns of what the ritual means to every person. However, this notation is no different than any other religion. For many religions, iconography or symbols can mean a host of things for people. Yet, if one should analyze the seeking ritual in terms of Victor Turner or Arnold Vann Gennep you can see a structural continuity both in the Gullah traditions and in the Pentecostal church.

​Seeking in the slave religion of Gullah was ritual that proceeded full-emersion baptism which is another key to admission into community. Seeking symbolized the death of the old person and the birth of a new person. The origins and the nomenclature of seeking actually came from Methodist ministers who after preaching would ask slaves if there were anyone who would “seek Jesus”. However, over time this ritual began to blend with Africanism to create the Gullah Seeking tradition. The ritual was a solitary and individualistic ritual into the wilderness that was led by a spiritual leader called a “Spiritual Parent”. The ritual included prolonged prayer and meditation. During this process, the seeker would go into a trance and speak with natural objects, ancestors, and God. Often these are done via dreams and other visions. The seekers would then have to return to the community and give an account of what happened. This would have to then be reviewed by the elders of the community and be confirmed as a genuine spiritual experience. The ritual involves much ideology and activity related to ancestors and being spiritually guided. This is depended not on a ritualistic format but speaks greatly to the liminality Victor Turner speaks of.

​What is very interesting is the theological premise of the ritual. While simplistic in structure you see a unique paralleled in Pentecostal in the way the ritual happens. Essentially, the ritual is about a seeker that goes on a trip into the wilderness, has a dream, comes back, tells that dream, and if the elders agree the seeker, is accepted. However, the theological culture aspects of this ritual provide resemblance of seeking in the Pentecostal churches. For the Gullah People, being blended provides the language of Christianity but the belief of survivals from African religions; or with no real basis at all. By that I mean, they maintained the language of Christianity but associated them with things other than typical Christian thought. Jesus could have been God but also If asked who Jesus was it could have been a slave master or plantation worker.

The Seeking Practice to the House of God

There are numerous comparisons among the Pentecostal experience of seeking and the Gullah Faith traditions. It is important to note that this ritual can be called various things in the Pentecostal church i.e. tarrying, seeking for the Holy Ghost, Laboring at the Altar, or simply praying. However, I utilize The House of God Church — Keith Dominion as our case study for various reasons. First, there is no direct link between the Gullah Tradition and this particular church. This is important because it eliminates any rebuttal which might suggest that the reason the seeking ritual has survived is due to a direct link. The House of God Church, Church of the Living, was founded in 1903 by an African-American woman in Greenville, Alabama and Nashville, Tennessee. The Gullah Tradition, while certainly significant to African-American, we see no real influence wide spread. We see connectivity to Africanism present in slave populations and persons of African descent. Therefore, while I am not asserting that the Pentecostal Church derives from the Gullah Faith, I am suggesting that both the Gullah faith and the African-American Pentecostal Church extend from a complex process of slave trying to grapple with Christianity and some survivals from African culture.

Secondly, I use The House of God Church Inc. — Keith Dominion because it is a mainstream denomination that uses similar nomenclature and ritualistic structure of the Gullah People. Terms like seeking, seekers, vison, are used in explaining the ritual theologically. And the ritual’s structure mirrors- in many ways- the Gullah practice. While, our paper does not provide scholarship toward just what both the Pentecostal and Gullah church extend from, our paper does capitulate an argument that ritual can transcend theology and maintain its structure.

The Seeking Tradition in the House of God Church is structurally similar because it focus on a few aspects similar to the Gullah Tradition. The “preacher” serving a dual role as a “spiritual parent” and “Elder” like in the Gullah Tradition. The individualistic characteristic of the process. The experience of the seekers in both tradition including a communication with the divine, and visionary experiences. Also, the affirmation aspect of the seeking process which provides admission into the church or community is duplicated in both traditions. The setting of the seeking process is important to note. In most services, after the preaching, the Elder or Clergyperson of the church would do what is called an “Altar Call”. Two types of things can happen during this time. One, a person can simply go up for individual prayer or for corporate prayer. However, if one desires to be filled with the Holy Spirit the clergyperson would begin the seeking ritual. This is important because one must note that the seeking practice in the Pentecostal Church is not just a general prayer. It is initiated under special conditions like in the Gullah Tradition. Also, like in the Gullah Tradition, the Preacher at the beginning of the seeking tradition become a spiritual parent. While observing this ritual at a local parish of the House of God Church Inc., The preacher acting a coach and guide began to instruct the seeker to close their eyes, focus on Jesus, picture him on the cross. They are often instructed to get in a praying position and begin to “seek” the lord and cry out to him, confessing their sins. When asked many seekers experience seeing Jesus and having dialogue with him. In this trance state, you see many parallels to the Gullah People which experience seeing ancestors, angels, and various persons. In fact, these vision have a principle of guiding the seekers; the same is evident in this Pentecostal Tradition. During, this time the preacher is also singing and clapping. Other who have already gone through the process and are members of the church create a circle around the seeker and begin to clap and sing spiritual songs, hymns, etc. The theological premise to this is that the strong of the church should support this seeker and also stand as a physical shield against spirits (the devil) that will come to distract the seeker while he/she is seeking the lord. The preacher watching attentively at the movement of the seeker and the sincerity of the seeker would then instruct the seeker to begin “calling” on the name of Jesus. During this process of seeking, it is called tarrying (calling on the name of Jesus), this is done by saying the names Jesus repeatedly. This is said to keep your mind focused on Jesus.

After the seeker has gone through the process of seeking, and certain actions has occurred like dancing, or speaking in tongues, or personal affirmation. The seeker is then picked up off the altar or if stand is escorted to the front bench of the church or a chair by the preacher. At this point, the preacher ask the seeker certain questions as to ascertain if the Seeker had been truly filled with the Holy Spirit. They would ask things like “How do you feel?”; “What happened to you at the altar?”; “Do you believe God touched you tonight?”. This is very similar to the structure of the Gullah Tradition, where testimony is given before the Praise House and questions asked to confirm if the seeker had in fact been through the process successfully. The same happens in the Pentecostal church, while the seeker is talking, the preacher listens and makes suggestions as to if the seeker should return to the altar the next time or if this is sufficient. If the seeker has proven to be filled with the Gift of the Holy Spirit the church rejoices, like in the Gullah Tradition, and extends the “Right Hand of Fellowship”. In the Pentecostal church, one often cannot hold any church position unless that are filled if the Holy Spirit and thus they would have had to go through some sort of seeking process.

A Connected History

For much of the history of black people America, the “Black Church” has played a pivotal role in their history. Insomuch, that the “Black Church” worked as epicenters of religious, social, and communal activity. In the height of the civil rights movement and even in Post-Antebellum America the Black Church was often used as a location for organizing meetings and gathering support for various social justice activities. In many instances, Pastors and African-American preachers used the pulpit as an unfiltered platform to oppose racism and oppressive policies in the country. The institutionalized black church, also provided an opportunity where by which African-Americans could theorize and form new theological belief that centered around a God who would one day liberate them from their oppression. Organizations like the National Baptist Association, The African Methodist Episcopal Church, The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, The House of God-Church of the Living God, are examples of these institutions.

While, the Black Church various ways extends from old slave institutions like Hush Arbors and Praise House, it is important to note, that in no way am I suggesting a social morality exclusive to the Christian faith. However, it is heavily documented the theological persuasion of many slave being rooted in Christianity. Thus, the Hush Arbors and Praise houses of the Sea Islands in the Carolinas are examples of institutions that held greater significance in the community. While these institutions served as religious bodies they also functioned as hubs into the greater scheme of community. Thus admission into these institutions served as admission into the wider community. Such can be exhibited in the African-American Black Church. Rituals like “seeking” serve a dual function of being both a religious and societal rite of passage. While there is no clear line to show historical progression anthropologically through examining the rituals of each religion we are able to show a historical connection. The Structural Ritual Transcendence of seeking further validates the second argument of this paper; that of connection between two distinct religious traditions.