on did much, according to the book, to bring religion closer to again to the people. At the same time, however, the "Age of Reason" that had its beginnings in the renaissance, tended to separate the secular and the spiritual. What belonged to "the world" no longer had a place "in church". This differentiation is part of European culture and tends to make it clash with more holistic cultures like African and Amerindian.
African American worship is very much a participatory event. The music, which is highly improvisational and is seen as being "the song of the person", helps the people to reach out to the Holy Spirit as a group. The preacher holds a unique role in bringing the congregation to an emotional high point while interpreting the Bible and applying it to the life situation of confrontation.
The role of the preacher, the unique role of rhythm and music, and the call and response nature of the sermon are all holdovers from African traditions. Slaves kept these traditions alive through secret meetings, and freed slaves kept them alive through independent black churches in the north. These traditions continue to be kept alive by black churches today.
Visitors are often bewildered by a service at a black church if they have only come to witness it. Worship is very much a participatory event. It helps to liberate, if only for a few hours, its black congregation from the poverty, racism, and hopelessness that has pervaded the African-American experience throughout the ages.
Hispanic worship has influences from the native people that resided in the area, the African slaves who were brought to work on the plantations, and the European Catholicism brought by the conquistadors. Because the particular mix varied from place to place, there are many subsections of "Hispanic" culture, making it very difficult to define. Two elements are prevalent, however. One is the importance of community and the popular religiousn...