Influenced by the Holiness movement, Pentecostal churches such as the Church of God in Christ, believe that sanctification is a definitive experience prior to the baptism of the Holy Spirit.[11][12] Reformed Churches are amongst denominations that teach about definitive sanctification at the time of conversion, and believers are required to do good works which are … all sanctified by (God’s) grace. [13] Similarly, non-Wesleysan Pentecostals such as Assemblies of God teach about definitive sanctification at the time of conversion and progressive sanctification after conversion. Converted believers are expected to make every effort to live a holy life… Even though Christians may not attain absolute perfection in this life .[14] The event of entire sanctification occurs when Christ comes back and gives us glorified bodies.[12]
Based in Monroe, Louisiana, this fieldwork project aims to record visionary music and ecstatic expression among sanctified parishioners of rural Louisiana and Mississippi. Sanctified means that one has received a blessing beyond being saved that makes one a vessel for the expression of holiness or the Holy Spirit. This requires being filled or baptized with the Holy Spirit. When the spirit dwells within, it may subsequently pour forth through improvised sound making (tongue speaking), holy singing, holy dancing, shaking, and shouting (preaching with ecstatic sound). Sanctified African-American Churches are performance grounds for the expression of the spirit (Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost) through shouting, singing, and ecstatic movement. Songs and rhythms are regarded as the highways, roads, staircases, ropes, and telephone lines to spirit and nowhere is the music more ecstatically vibrant than what is found in sanctified African-American churches.
While all churches are technically sanctified, because “sanctification” means making something holy, when people use the term “sanctified church,” they usually mean a specific branch of Pentecostal Christianity. The sanctified church movement was born among the slaves of the Americas, and it reflects a distinctive cultural and religious tradition which began when slaves were first introduced to Christianity in the New World. Today, many sanctified churches have a large black congregation, although people of all ethnic origins and races can be seen at worship in such churches.
The cornerstone of a sanctified church is that people must achieve grace with God through prayer and good works. Certain individuals may receive a blessing from God known as sanctification, which makes them into vessels for the Holy Spirit. These individuals are used to spread the Word of God on Earth, in a variety of ways which may range from glossolalia to dancing. Glossolalia, incidentally, is a fancy way of saying “speaking in tongues.”
