If You’re Too Weird For Asheville,
You’re Too Weird.
Spiritual Expression in Asheville, NC
Anna Lawrence
November 30, 2012
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I.
Introduction
At Woolworth Walk, you can buy a bumper sticker with Asheville’s mantra, “If you’re
too weird for Asheville, then you’re too weird.” As you walk through downtown, from the guys
with Rasta caps playing their djembes to the UNCA costume design students showing off their
newest masterpiece, you meet Asheville’s eclectic population on every corner. Similarly, the
variety of religious expression reflects the variety of its citizens. If one desired, he/she could
worship in a traditional United Methodist congregation one Sunday, a temple worshiping the
divine feminine the next, and still attend Buddhist meditation and teaching the following. In
contrast to the surrounding mountain towns, Asheville is a haven of diversity for those fleeing
from Southern, Bible belt culture. Despite its differences from surrounding areas, Asheville did
not become the town it is today in a vacuum.1
Throughout its development, Asheville has been a cultural crossroads. As such, the
intermingling of common, mountain folks, professionals, wealthy patrons, and immigrants
created a city known for its many peoples and customs. Despite its diversity, mainline
denominations, like the United Methodist Church, have held a role of cultural dominance,
establishing the normative modes of spiritual expression in the city. This role of dominance has
allowed mainline denominations to remain insular to voices outside the churches’ walls and
static in the denominations’ practices. Despite the lack of listening to other voices, the changing
1
To begin the story, one must make several qualifications for how the study of religious practices in the Asheville
area will be approached. This paper will operate from a definition formed by Catherine Albanese’s guidance for how
to study regional religious practices. Deborah Vansau McCauley, Appalachian mountain religion: a history,
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1995), 54 quotes: “Regional religion may be looked at primarily through the
interplay of what Albanese calls creeds (what people believe), cultuses (how people worship), and communities (the
people who are bound together by shared traditions, history, and place).” This paper will use the community element
of Albanese’s definition as the focal point for discussing how Asheville’s history has influenced a wide range of
belief and worship practices. As such, this paper utilizes a broad definition of religion. When the word religion is
used, it does not mean organized, Christian religion or mainline denominations. It considers religion as a group that
displays the interplays of Alabanese’s definition with a spiritual end driving the group. Although some groups I
interviewed would not consider themselves a religion or religious, such as the Asheville Movement Collective or
Jubilee!, these groups exhibit forms of spiritual expressions or the ability to have a spiritual element in their
practices that leads to their classification in this paper as religious.
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religious landscape of Asheville is challenging these monolithic traditions, since the number of
people who identify as Christian is declining. As non-Christian identifying groups continue to
gain influence in Asheville, these groups challenge mainline denominations, like the United
Methodist Church, to shed its insular perspective and adapt to reflect a Gospel that exhibits a
diversity of place and people rather than its preferred modes of spiritual expression.
This paper approaches the topic from a storied approach, relying on the oral histories of
the people interviewed for evidence to reinforce its conjectures.23 First, it will argue that
Asheville’s geography and history create a natural intermingling of peoples and cultures from
which Asheville derives its diversity of spiritual expression. From there, it will present the
changing dynamics of the religious landscape in the metro area, focusing on the shift of
Christianity from a place of cultural dominance to a place of cultural listening. Specifically, this
section will focus on Christianity in the form of the Methodist Church, since the paper draws oral
support from an interview with Reverend Luke Lingle, pastor of evangelism and discipleship at
2
In addition to starting from a historical survey of Asheville, one recognizes the limitations of a data driven
approach to research on this topic. Historically, many mountain religions rely on an oral history. Charles Davis and
Richard Humphrey Davis, III, "Appalachian Religion: A Diversity of Consciousness," Appalachian Journal 5, no. 4
(1978), http://www.jstor.org/stable/40932240 (accessed November 18, 2012), 391 write:
A further outgrowth of the scholarly consciousness has been the monumental effort to gather data.
Appalachia has been described in the minutest detail. [. . .] As valuable as these efforts may be, they
nevertheless arise from a consciousness which may prejudice the investigator against the mountain man
with his deeply felt sense of person, community, kinship, and story.
Davis and Humphrey argue that an enlightenment, rationalistic perspective when studying forms of mountain
religion may bias the researcher against practices that appear counterintuitive to the researcher’s epistemological
base. As such, a story driven approach that allows a person to speak from his/her own perspective may allow a more
sympathetic reading of practices the researcher views as foreign.
3
In addition to the focus of this study, this paper also has limitations that must be addressed. There is very little data
collected for this paper when compared to how many different forms of spiritual expression are present in Asheville.
For the purpose of this study, I selected groups that appeared to have reasonably different forms of spiritual
expression. Additionally, I had hoped to speak with more mainline Christian denomination leaders for more
contrast. Unfortunately, Central United Methodist was the only group that I was able to contact. As such, this paper
looks at the topic from a United Methodist perspective. Also, as a United Methodist pastor’s child and member of
the United Methodist Church, I have both respect for my denomination and inside knowledge of the ways in which
my denomination fails in its mission. Therefore, there is an inherent bias that comes with being an insider of western
North Carolina, Methodist culture.
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Central United Methodist Church. For years, in city religious life, Christianity has been the
loudest voice, oftentimes drowning out the smaller non-Christian identifying voices, but now, it
is in the unique role of having to listen to other religious voices speaking alongside it. As such,
the second portion of the paper will listen to the non-Christian identifying groups interviewed to
describe the spiritual practices of the group. Then, the paper contends these groups highlight
values that challenge the Methodist Church to return to its holiness roots. In, the final portion of
the paper, Reverend Luke Lingle’s stories about Central United Methodist Church will act as a
point of contrast through which to discuss ways in which mainline Christian denominations, like
the United Methodist Church, are being challenged by these group’s narratives.
II.
A Mountain Crossroad
Historically, Asheville has been a crossroads of ideas, people, and goods. Asheville has
drawn people to it due to its abundance of natural resources, such as timber and coal, and its
proximity to water sources, namely the French Broad and Swannanoa Rivers. Early in
Asheville’s history, it served as a crossroads between points on various drover routes, facilitating
high amounts of animal and human traffic. In Asheville: A History, Nan K. Chase writes:
Geography dictated that the easiest route across the mountains from north to south,
between the pastures and the ports, follow the French Broad River up from its junction
with the Tennessee River, into the mountains, through the center of Asheville, and down
over Saluda Gap.4
As such, Asheville became a crossroads as a matter of geography, since it followed the easiest
route to drive animals to market. Additionally, the high traffic that followed the trade route
highlighted the inadequacy of roads through the region and promoted the need for better roads to
enable trade. Chase describes:
The primitive stock road, sometimes scorched and dust-clogged, sometimes muddy and
rutted, had to be improved before it could bring about its full economic potential. [. . .]
4
Nan K. Chase, Asheville: a history (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2007), 16.
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Construction of the Buncombe Turnpike to supersede the worst of the drovers road north
of Asheville was authorized in 1824; [. . .] it was completed in 1828.5
In addition to an increase in trade, the completion of the Buncombe Turnpike brought an influx
of visitors to Asheville. Four main stage coach roads went through Asheville, exposing visitors
to the charms of Asheville’s mountain culture.6 In addition, a lot of people came up from more
Southern states, such as South Carolina and Georgia, to escape insect borne diseases, such as
malaria, during the summer months.7
Despite the growth of Asheville’s trade and an influx of peoples, Asheville began to grow
into its modern form with the building of the railroad. Chase details: “With the communing of
the railroad in 1880 Asheville began to take the form we know today. [. . .] Millionaires like
Pack, Coxe, Grove, and Vanderbilt drove the development of modern Asheville.”8 The railroad
in Asheville enabled greater travel through the region and facilitated the exchange of ideas,
goods, and persons in a small, mountain city. Additionally, Millionaires brought in money which
enabled large building projects, prompting an influx of artisans and other related professionals.
The broad range of peoples in Asheville from city dwellers to typical mountain folks generated
an intermingling of cultures that reflects Asheville today. Chase outlines:
Of the 1500 permanent residents in 1900, more than a third of them had come from north
of the Mason-Dixon Line. [. . .] Jewish and Greek immigrants began moving to
Asheville, and establishing their own social and religious institutions even as they
blended into the larger civic mélange.9
As such, without a certain level of cooperation, Asheville’s diverse population would have been
unable to function as a community. Therefore, a person would have to accept a diversity of
cultures and have a certain level of openness toward those who are different from oneself to live
5
Nan K. Chase, Asheville: a history (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2007), 17.
Nan K. Chase, Asheville: a history (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2007), 20.
7
Nan K. Chase, Asheville: a history (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2007), 19.
8
Nan K. Chase, Asheville: a history (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2007), 31.
9
Nan K. Chase, Asheville: a history (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2007), 32.
6
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in Asheville. Based on this early attitude of acceptance, the city was conditioned early on to be a
place where weird was normal.
With the introduction of the railroad, Asheville grew steadily until the depression. After
the depression, Asheville became a boarded up ghost town until its revival in the 1980’s. This
revival reawakened Asheville as a cultural crossroads with a thriving business and arts
community. When Howard Hanger, the minister of Jubilee!, moved to Asheville, he says, “It was
a Bible belt thing. Play your blue grass and come to church on Sunday.”10 Then, in the eighties, a
diverse group of people began moving into the downtown buildings. Jubilee was the second
group to move into the shops on Wall Street. Howard describes:
When [I] moved there in 1973, downtown was a ghost town. It was boarded up, literally.
There was chicken wire and boards over most of the downtown windows. [. . .] And the
early eighties, people started [. . .] saying, “We need to do something to this town.” We
were the second outfit to open on Wall Street.”11
According to Howard, the revival brought a myriad of artists as well, because the rent was cheap.
Through the revival, downtown once again became a place of cultural interweaving and
continues to remain that way.
III.
Changing Trends in Methodism
Not only does place contribute to the religious dynamics of Asheville, but Methodism has
also been shaped by its denominational history in the region. In order to describe the roots of
early Appalachian Methodism, one must describe the characteristics of independent holiness
churches, since these churches “stand at the center of the spectrum” of Appalachian religious
10
11
Howard Hanger, Interview by author, Asheville, NC, October 17, 2012.
Howard Hanger, Interview by author, Asheville, NC, October 17, 2012.
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culture.12 These churches were characterized by a singular dedication to the priesthood of all
believers, emphasizing the ability of all peoples to have a role in the ministry of the Gospel.
McCauley suggests:
One of the most important values of the traditional religiosity stemming from plain-folk
camp-meeting religion that was incorporated into independent Holiness churches were
the egalitarian norms its worship life embodied, norms now contradicted by the highly
developed hierarchical institutionalism of the Methodist church as a denomination.13
Without the emphasis on a role for all people in the church, a less educated person was unable to
participate in worship on equal terms, because he/she had not been educated about his/her
beliefs, like the clergy at the top of the denominational hierarchy. Additionally, an educated
clergy group made right thinking a necessary component of belief, which alienated those from
the church who did not have the training necessary to think in this manner. Also, by removing
the egalitarian emphasis, it reinforced societal social orders of dominance and oppression by
creating a church structure that mimicked these same hierarchies. As such, once Methodist
Churches in Appalachia began ascribing to denominational standards, the Methodist Church
radically changed in character.
Despite Methodism’s holiness roots, by the time the first Methodist church, Central
United Methodist Church, was built in Asheville, Methodism in the region was already evolving
into a more institutionalized denomination. In 1837, thirteen years after the installation of the
Buncombe Turnpike, Central United Methodist Church was built in its present location in
downtown Asheville.14 The shift from an egalitarian polity to a structured polity took place
around 1840, and as such, common, mountain folk felt alienated from churches that had
12
Deborah Vansau McCauley, Appalachian mountain religion: a history, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
1995), 54.
13
Deborah Vansau McCauley, Appalachian mountain religion: a history, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
1995), 242.
14
"Church History," Central United Methodist Church A Community for Christ in the Center of the City,
http://www.centralumc.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=41405&PID=549819 (accessed November 29, 2012).
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previously upheld camp-meeting values. Methodism decided to go the route of a highly
organized denomination due to a national movement that transferred the “responsibility of
church life [. . .] from the local congregation and its immediate area to national agencies that
were now supposed to act on behalf of the denominations’ larger memberships.”15 This move
transferred power from local, Methodist congregations up the chain to larger supervising groups
and agencies. As such, instead of regional religious impulses shaping Appalachian Methodist
Churches, the national values of these controlling agencies formed the denomination. Therefore,
with these hierarchical institutions heading the denominations, “camp-meeting religion and its
alternative world view were now fully ‘contra-in-dictated’ by the national goals of the Baptists
and Methodists and the values promoted by their denominations’ highly developed and
unabashedly hierarchical institutional structures.”16 Although the values of the Methodist Church
now differed from regional religious impulses, the Methodist Church thrived in Asheville. One
reason for this growth may be Asheville’s inherent diversity, which created a different cultural
climate from the surrounding areas. Since the population was less homogeneous, there was a
greater range of religious values and mixing of those values. As such, the intermixing of the
values makes it unlikely that Asheville Christianity would directly parallel Christianity of the
surrounding regions. Also, after the building of the Buncombe Turnpike, when an influx of
professionals and educated persons came to Asheville, a church whose authority resided in its
educated clergy would have been more attractive to these people, since it is unlikely a person
who had been educated would respect a small, rural church pastor who is not able to read. When
the railroad was built in 1890, Central United Methodist had “475” members in contrast to
15
Deborah Vansau McCauley, Appalachian mountain religion: a history, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
1995), 114.
16
Deborah Vansau McCauley, Appalachian mountain religion: a history, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
1995), 118.
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Asheville’s population of “10,000.”17 Central represented roughly 5% of the total population
with at least 1 in 20 people identifying as Methodist, and due to the steadily growing Asheville
population, Central grew to 2,000 members by 1924. 18 Therefore, the Methodist Church and
Central as well held a place of cultural dominance in its early Asheville years.
Despite the Methodist Church’s rapid expansion in Asheville, this is no longer the story
of the Methodist Church in Asheville, NC. With the revival of downtown in the eighties,
Asheville’s population has exploded over a twenty year period, but the Methodist Church has
grown slowly in comparison. As society changes around the United Methodist Church, it has
gradually declined, and now, it has reached a crisis point where the denomination may be
extinguished all together. At the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist
Church, Adam Hamilton, pastor of Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, Missouri, quoted
that there is a decrease of “71,000 per weekend in [UMC] church attendance” nationwide, and if
the trend continues at this rate, in forty years, the Methodist Church will be extinct.19 In
comparison to the national statistics, the Methodist Church in Asheville is both growing and
stagnating. According to the 2010 U.S. Religious Census for the Asheville metro area, the
Methodist Church has increased in adherents by “9.2%” from 1980 to 2010.2021 While the
Methodist Church is growing, its growth is not keeping pace with the growth of Asheville’s
“Church History,” Central United Methodist Church, accessed November 29, 2012,
http://www.centralumc.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=41405&PID=549819.
18
“Church History,” Central United Methodist Church, accessed November 29, 2012,
http://www.centralumc.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=41405&PID=549819.
19
Rev. Adam Hamilton, "What Leaders Do and Why," Keynote speech, Leading Beyond the Walls from Western
North Carolina Conference, Lake Junaluska, NC, June 21, 2012.
20
2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study, Collected by the Association of
Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB) and distributed by the Association of Religion Data Archives,
http://www.theARDA.com, (accessed November 27, 2012).
21
Methodism represented .09% of Asheville’s population in 1980 versus .07% of Asheville’s population in 2010.
These calculations are based on the numbers of Methodist adherents and the total population of Asheville for the
years listed, which are gathered from the 2010 U.S. Religion Census listed above.
17
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population which has increased by approximately 50% from 1980 to 2010.22 As such, while the
Methodist Church is still the second largest religious presence recognized by the census, other
categories are growing, and based on current trends, the Methodist Church will continue its wane
in cultural dominance.23 As such, a tension is created by the recognition that other groups are
growing while the Methodist church is losing its cultural relevance which challenges the
church’s current practices.
In contrast to Methodism’s decline, the category of unclaimed people in the survey is
growing. The survey categorizes unclaimed as any person that does not identify with the groups
listed. While the survey contains data from a myriad of religions, it does not include many
smaller groups that may not be affiliated with one of the larger religious groups, such as
Christianity or Islam. Therefore, this category includes a diverse array of people from the nonreligious to the religious. From 1980 to 2010, this group increased by approximately 76% and
represented approximately 46% of Asheville’s population in 2010 compared to 39% of
Asheville’s population in 1980.24 A growing segment of Asheville’s population no longer
Calculation is based on comparing Asheville’s population in 1980, 282,836 people, to Asheville’s population in
2010, 424,858 people, from the 2010 U.S. Religion Census listed above.
23
2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study, Collected by the Association of
Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB) and distributed by the Association of Religion Data Archives,
http://www.theARDA.com, (accessed November 27, 2012).
24
Calculation is based on comparing Asheville’s “unclaimed” population in 1980, 110,387 people, to Asheville’s
“unclaimed” population in 2010, 194,079 people, from 2010 U.S. Religion Census listed above. This number must
be qualified based on several factors. The unclaimed category is somewhat ambiguous in the survey. While the
survey covers a broad range of Christian denominations and even estimates those not in denominations, it is
uncertain whether there may be Christian adherents still in the unclaimed category. Additionally, the major Christian
groups are listed, so it is likely there are not a lot of Christians in the unclaimed category. Despite this, this number
cannot be quantified, so there is a margin of error present within calculated percentage. If the number of nonChristian identifying people was less than 45%, one is still able to make the case for a waning of the Methodist
Church. Regardless, if the unclaimed category grew by 76% from 1980-2010 and the Pew Forum Map
(http://religions.pewforum.org/maps) indicates that about 12% of NC’s population falls in the unaffiliated category
and 5% in the non-Christian identifying religions category, then, the population growth from 1980-2012 would
indicate that there is a rising number of people in Asheville that identify as non-Christian. Also, given that there has
been growth in the number of people identifying as unaffiliated nationally with the group representing “below 10%
from the 1970s through the early 1990s” to representing “17.6%” of the population in 2010, it is likely that the
unaffiliated represent a greater proportion of the unclaimed category and total population in 2010 than in 1980
according to the Pew Forum (http://www.pewforum.org/Unaffiliated/nones-on-the-rise.aspx#ranks). Also, if these
22
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ascribes to the groups which historically have been culturally dominant in the region. As such, if
the Methodist Church is no longer culturally dominant, the value setting entity for spiritual
expression, it is forced into a position of listening and adapting.
In addition to listening and adapting, the new culturally dominant groups are teaching
United Methodists by vocalizing their values, and according to the 2010 U.S. Religious Census,
when combined with the unclaimed peoples category, non-Christian identifying groups are
gaining cultural dominance in a region that historically has had a strong Christian presence.
Within the category of unclaimed peoples, it is difficult to determine the makeup of the nonreligious versus religious peoples. Despite this, in their 2012 survey, the Pew Research Forum
Survey estimated that approximately “19.6%” of United States citizens now identify as
“religiously unaffiliated.”25 If one were to extrapolate from this projection, approximately 20%
of the unclaimed group might describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated while
approximately 35% might have some religious affiliation.26 Despite this, a lot of smaller groups
are non-reporting, so I was unable to find reliable data to confirm these projections. Regardless,
there is a high probability that Asheville’s population to some extent reflects these national
projections given its diverse culture. Also, even though approximately 20% might claim to be
numbers were applied to Asheville, it would indicate that the unaffiliated category grew by 200% in Asheville, a
rate much faster than Asheville’s total population growth. In contrast, even though the number of Christian groups
included in the census grew, the Christian numbers in the census were proportionally less of Asheville’s total
population in 2010 (53%) than in 1980 (60%) growing at a rate of 31%. As such, one can make a case for
Asheville’s Christian population’s influence beginning to wane due to this downward trend, and given the Methodist
Church’s history, an even more dramatic case for Methodist influence.
A second margin of error in the calculation is fewer groups were included in the 1980 census as compared to the
2010 census. Therefore, if some of the groups who are unlisted in 1980 were actually active, then the unclaimed
number for 1980 would be lower. This would only increase the overall percentage of change in the unclaimed
category from 1980 to 2012, which would just serve to emphasize the point made.
25
"‘No Religion’ on the Rise: 19.6% Have No Religious Affiliation - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life," Pew
Forum on Religion & Public Life, http://www.pewforum.org/Unaffiliated/nones-on-the-rise.aspx#ranks (accessed
November 27, 2012).
26
Based on the previous paragraph’s citation that 55.7% of Asheville’s population belongs to the unclaimed
category.
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religiously unaffiliated, this does not mean that the group as a whole is not religious. In contrast,
the Pew Forum indicates that “[t]wo-thirds of them say they believe in God (68%).”27 Therefore,
while the Methodist Church still has a strong numerical presence according to the 2010 U.S.
Religion Census, there is a large portion of spiritually conscious people in Asheville who are
choosing not to be involved in mainline denominations, such as the United Methodist Church.
While there are many reasons why one might not want to be involved in a religious community,
the Pew Forum states: “Overwhelmingly, [the religious unaffiliated] think that religious
organizations are too concerned with money and power, too focused on rules and too involved in
politics.”28 As such, mainline denominations, like the Methodist Church, with a more structured
polity and doctrinal emphasis are an unlikely choice for people who fall under this category. In
Asheville, due to Christianity’s cultural dominance in the region, this impulse may influence
people who are spiritually inclined to participate in non-Christian identifying groups instead.
Therefore, to determine how the United Methodist Church is changing and adapting to the
morphing religious landscape, one must observe elements of spiritual expression that people are
being drawn to and formed by and how these values are challenging the Methodist Church to
return to its Appalachian, holiness roots.
IV.
Values of Spiritual Expression in Asheville
Although the Methodist Church is technically growing in Asheville, other forms of
spiritual expression outside of Christianity are growing at faster rates. As such, the relationship
between these forms of religious expression and Methodism is one of critique and challenge as
the Methodist Church becomes less culturally dominant and is relegated to a listening role.
"‘No Religion’ on the Rise: 19.6% Have No Religious Affiliation - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life," Pew
Forum on Religion & Public Life, http://www.pewforum.org/Unaffiliated/nones-on-the-rise.aspx#ranks (accessed
November 27, 2012).
28
Ibid.
27
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Historically, mainline denominations have privileged education, valued structured polity, and
utilized an enlightenment centered epistemology. In contrast, the holiness tradition’s emphasis
on humility, a freeform polity, emotional religious experience, and movements of the Holy Spirit
appears to highlight elements that are contra to those elements driving people away from
religious organizations. While the Methodist Church chooses to ignore the surrounding religious
culture, these values have continued to thrive outside of Methodism. McCauley argues:
“Methodist leaders/laity into last decade of the 20th century chose to overlook or discount the
fact that Methodism in Appalachia was surrounded by a religious culture still perpetuating
religious emphases and values it had long ago abandoned.”29 In Asheville, many others forms of
spiritual expression outside of Christianity also reflect values similar to those of the holiness
tradition, values that have been traditionally important in the region, and these values are
continuing to attract others to them. Therefore, to hear the critique of the Methodist Church, one
must listen to the groups which exhibit these values.
One of the groups I listened to was the Jubilee! Community, which does not identify as
explicitly Christian. Instead, its website states: “Jubilee! is not a traditional ‘Christian’ church.
Rather, it is a ‘Christian-centered community of faith.’”30 The community does not recognize a
specific deity, but it does center its community’s actions on the principles of love and
compassion found in Christian teachings. One of the unique aspects of Jubilee! is Howard
Hanger’s, the minister’s, emphasis on liturgy as the work of the people. In each service, he tries
to “shoot for ninety percent participation,” noting that even in his sermons he tries to incorporate
songs and chants that involve his congregation’s participation.31 In addition, Jubilee! also has a
29
Deborah Vansau McCauley, Appalachian mountain religion: a history, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
1995), 243.
30
http://www.jubileecommunity.org/wailingWall.htm
31
Howard Hanger, Interview by author, Asheville, NC, October 17, 2012.
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time of sharing gifts in every service which allows a congregation member to share a poem,
dance, or another element based on a list of weekly service themes given out in advance.32
Likewise, despite a person’s perceived shortcomings or lack of experience, no one is excluded
from participation in the service. For instance, Howard describes an experience of a member
taking communion from a man who lives in subsidized housing. The member says: “I had an
experience that I don’t think I’ve ever had or will ever have again. I took communion from a guy
who smelled like BO, wearing cardboard dog ears, while we were singing a grateful dead song.”
This radical inclusivity is a trademark of the Jubilee! community. In contrast, in the Methodist
Church, often the pastors or designated ministers perform most aspects of a service.33 If the laity
is utilized in worship, the laity is relegated to very small roles, such as, reading Scripture.
Typically, the laity does not preach or offer thoughts of his/her own to the service. In this
respect, Jubilee! highlights an element of the holiness tradition that the Methodist Church has
neglected, the empowerment of the laity.
For holiness churches, the empowerment of the laity was the result of a Spirit derived
equality. It was a church “[w]here everybody is somebody and nobody is anybody.” For
mountain people, every person had value, but no one took priority over another. Therefore,
churches avoided organizational structures that privileged clergy over laity. Regardless of
education or social class, the Spirit was able to speak through anyone, so people were open to
wisdom from all peoples. In contrast, mainline denominations offered highly organized
structures that put educated clergy members at the top of the denominational hierarchy. This
hierarchy was seen to restrain the “emotional traditions of religious experience” which were “a
32
Howard Hanger, Interview by author, Asheville, NC, October 17, 2012.
For some of comparisons of the Methodist Church, I am speaking from my own personal story as a person who
has grown up in the Western North Carolina conference of the United Methodist church and has lived in many
places throughout the conference.
33
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sign of false religion, an unenlightened, id-oriented religion, standing in defiance of a super-ego
based religion that sought to restrain and correct such unchecked impulses promoted in the name
and under the authority of the ‘spirit’ of God.” Through this construct, the laity was no longer
empowered to take an equal role in worship and the practices of the church, since to abandon
authority to what was seen as the emotionally driven whims of the people was a dangerous
practice. Therefore, more emotionally expressive movements of the Spirit fell out of practice in
mainline denominations. As such, while traditionally the laity was integral to all aspects of
community life, today, Methodist laity is relegated to supporting roles outside of the domain of
worship. As such, it removes some of the richness that comes from a broad spectrum of input
and makes the Methodist Church appear more homogenous than it is in reality.
In contrast to empowering the laity, Urban Dharma, a Buddhist community, exhibits
elements of being a community in process. Instead of being a place for only the spiritual elite,
Dr. Hun Lye is guiding the community in creating a place for all people to feel comfortable to
explore Buddhism regardless of whether one is a stay-at-home mom, religious dabbler, curious
visitor, or lifelong practitioner. He details:
“For those who are looking for something to anchor their religious life, we have that
anchor for them, and that’s fairly kind of conservative. [. . .] There’s a pretty conservative
program that’s being offered, but for those majority who only need aspects of Buddhism
to enhance what they’ve already found, that they believe will make them better people,
we’re happy to provide that and in some ways it may be more important to do that. But
[we] can’t do that if we don’t have a core group who understands what are the parameters
of Buddhism, [. . .] so here it’s [. . .] wanting to be clear about what is and isn’t Buddhism
without being dogmatic or intolerant.”34
For Urban Dharma, the details of a person’s belief structure are not as important as figuring out
ways to enable people to become better people. In addition, Urban Dharma offers a
34
Dr. Hun Lye, Interview by author, Asheville, NC, October 17, 2012.
Lawrence 16
nonjudgmental environment that allows people to explore Buddhism while, at the same time,
making clear what are the parameters of Buddhist belief.
Despite its tagline of “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors,” the Methodist Church
has become a place for the spiritual elite where one does not ask questions of faith. Reverend
Luke Lingle, a pastor at Central UMC, describes this phenomenon. He argues:
What American Christianity has tried to sell is we know everything and you have to
know everything to be a part. To me, that’s not Wesleyan, and it’s not the least bit
Christian. [. . .] We’ve lived in an America where that’s been the mantra for five decades,
and the [United] Methodist Church was born in those five decades.35
This emphasis on knowing everything has created a church which alienates people who have
doubts, people who are not Christian, and people who are still learning what it means to be a
Christian, because it insists that one must have all the answers to be part of the community.
Conversely, the central characteristic of holiness churches is humbleness. Loyal Jones writes:
We mountain Christians, even while holding firm beliefs across the theological spectrum,
nevertheless usually are humble human beings, holding open possibilities that we might
be wrong and the we are not capable, with our limited minds, of understanding the
magnificence of God and His eternal plan.36
The humbleness to accept that one might be wrong creates a theology that is open to learning
from others’ spiritual practices and beliefs. It creates a welcoming space for a person to work out
what he/she believes instead of being shunned for being a person in process. In contrast to being
a tradition that exemplifies humility, a community that does not have all the answers, the United
Methodist Church, along with many Christian churches, is complicit in propagating the myth that
it has all the answers. In the vision of Urban Dharma, one sees a call for the Methodist church to
return to the humility of the holiness tradition while holding in tension the need to speak clearly
about what one believes.
35
36
Rev. Luke Lingle, Interview by author, Asheville, NC, October 18, 2012.
Mountain Religion, Loyal Jones, 93… same point made also in Appalachian Mountain Religion, 75.
Lawrence 17
Similar to Urban Dharma’s focus on being a community in process, Mother Grove
Temple also reflects wisdom for a struggling United Methodist Church in Asheville, NC. Mother
Grove Temple is a sacred place where people can discover the divine feminine. Although most
of Mother Grove’s adherents are earth religionists, people of all spiritual backgrounds are
welcome to be part of the Mother Grove community. When conversing with the Priestesses of
Mother Grove, one aspect of our discussion that stood out was a real, tangible connection with
the divine. The priestesses lived and breathed the divine feminine in all aspects of their lives.
One Priestess, Teresa Cline, described her initial contact with the divine and the sense of
connection she felt after searching for so long. She expresses:
I left home at 16, and so then I was free to explore my own spirituality. And I explored a
little bit of the eastern religions, Buddhism, and what that really did for me was [. . .] it
gave me a lot more focus on that seeking for the divine and so that’s what I did for the
next several years. It was like I would walk around going, “Where are you? Are you
there? [. . .] Are you here?” And so at twenty I had what I consider an ecstatic experience
with the divine where it was like, “Yes, I am here, and not only that, but I am goddess. [. .
.] It was like, “Ahhh, this is it. This is it. This is what I’ve been seeking my whole life.”37
Although Theresa does discuss that later she did pursue further study and read some books, her
initial experience with the divine is emotion-filled and intuitive. There is no rationalizing in her
account or wondering about whether it is appropriate to follow these divine movements within
her.
In contrast, within the United Methodist Church, it is uncommon to discuss tangible
experiences of the divine, such as sightings of angels or God speaking to a person, and when it is
discussed, a person’s experience is often circumspect. Worship is more structured and less
emotionally driven. Contrariwise, religious experience took primacy over doctrine in mountain
religion. Davis and Humphreys suggests: “Now in Appalachia one is judged to be Christian not
37
Teresa Cline, Interview by author, Asheville, NC, October 17, 2012.
Lawrence 18
by one’s assenting to correct doctrine formulated by the Christian community, but by attesting to
one’s conversion experience.”38 Therefore, while the Spirit may lead people in different
directions, the testing of one’s beliefs would be in whether one has experienced a change in
one’s life. This would not be an intellectual assenting to one’s beliefs, but rather, it would be an
experience that demonstrated a change of heart. Additionally, it would a personal experience that
would be unique to each individual. Therefore, religious experience could not be systematized,
since religious experience would vary from person to person. As such, there was not a set pattern
for belief, so while a person may still be working out elements of his/her faith, a person was
acknowledged as part of the church by his/her desire to follow Christ. This is in contrast to
mainline denominations where right doctrine was considered necessary for right belief.
According to McCauley, the difference in belief about religious experience caused Methodists to
feel “compelled to evangelize and ‘uplift’ through education and social services the mountain
people of the Appalachian region.”39 For mainline denominations, one could not be a Christian
without proper education, such as the ability to read the Bible, to understand the full extent of
what one’s faith means. Therefore, since a spirit-based approach did not teach one the elements
of one’s faith, it could not be one’s only conduit to becoming a Christian. As such, this
precipitated a concern for mountain people’s salvation, even though the people would have
already considered themselves Christians. Also, this privileged educated persons over those less
educated, since if one was better educated, one could better understand the beliefs of one’s
denomination and by association be a better Christian. Setting a standard for religious experience
is dangerous in this regard, because it alienates those peoples who do not fit the denominational
38
A Diversity of Consciousness," Appalachian Journal 5, no. 4 (1978), http://www.jstor.org/stable/40932240
(accessed November 18, 2012), 396.
39
Deborah Vansau McCauley, Appalachian mountain religion: a history, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
1995), 339.
Lawrence 19
mold. As such, if the United Methodist Church is to speak to a diverse group of practitioners,
then one needs to provide space for the Holy Spirit to be interpreted within the framework of the
church, for the church not to be afraid to speak about concrete witnesses of the divine. As the
Mother Grove priestesses shared their experiences, congregations need to also share a broad
range of experiences, so a person will know that he/she is not alone his/her experiences.
Besides the need to communicate religious experiences, the Asheville Movement
Collective (AMC) challenges religious practitioners to become embodied in his/her rituals. AMC
practices “the dance wave as a transcendent experience, and acknowledge[s] that this links us to
our individual and collective healing and creates community.”40 The dance waves are one hour
long and loosely follow the five rhythms, “flow, staccato, chaos, lyrical, and stillness,” as
designed by Gabrielle Roth.41 Speaking with Greg Bonin, the executive director of AMC, he
underscored the relationship of embodiment between art and spirituality. He describes:
It’s interesting, because so much of art is observation and response and I think that where
I see art playing a big role in spirituality is through participation, which our event
certainly allows. [. . .] There’s a big difference between participating and feeling like you
are the art as opposed to just viewing it and seeing it as something separate from yourself.
There is a difference between being inspired by something you see, which is certainly
spiritual, and being able to actually participate in the ritual yourself.42
For Greg, an integral connection with one’s spirituality is found in embodiment, actively
participating in ritual. One must connect to one’s beliefs through one’s entire being, and without
that connection, one cannot fully understand one’s spiritual journey.
Commonly, Methodist Churches operate on an observation model where people watch the
pastor carrying out his/her duties. Although one can take part through the observation and
appreciation of worship, this is more of an intellectual assent. While there are participatory
40
"Asheville Movement Collective," Asheville Movement Collective, http://ashevillemovementcollective.org/
(accessed November 28, 2012).
41
Greg Bonin, Interview by author, Asheville, NC, October 18, 2012.
42
Greg Bonin, Interview by author, Asheville, NC, October 17, 2012.
Lawrence 20
elements like communion, these elements are not frequently practiced. For instance, most
Methodist Churches celebrate communion one time per month. As such, while Methodist
worship connects the mind and spirit, it does not practice a full embodiment through people’s
physical participation in the rituals of the church. In contrast, if a lay person was actually
involved with various aspects of the service, such as the sermon, there would an embodied
understanding, an aspect of ritual that comes only from doing. Returning to a richer emphasis on
the Holy Spirit as an active entity in worship is needed to advocate for a fuller ethic of
embodiment in Methodist congregations. The holiness tradition has a deep understanding of how
the Holy Spirit is at work. This manifests itself in a myriad of practices from speaking in tongues
to dancing in the aisles to preaching extemporaneously. McCauley details:
[M]ountain preachers like Brother Coy attest that the Holy Spirit needs to say the same
things hundreds of different ways [. . .] in order to accommodate the kaleidoscopic
varieties of needs and personal histories of the legions of people the Holy Spirit addresses
through such preachers.43
The Holy Spirit spoke through mountain preachers, like Brother Coy, who depended on the Holy
Spirit to direct their speech and actions, and since the Spirit speaks differently to different
people, it was expected that the Spirit’s movement would manifest in a variety of ways. As such,
a rationally focused element was not necessary for spiritual expression. Instead, it was more
important for a person to listen to the whisperings of the Spirit. Therefore, one would expect that
the Holy Spirit would not limit itself to an observatory model. Consequently, it is important to
create rituals that incorporate both observatory and participatory elements to speak in as many
ways as possible. As such, groups, like the AMC, help the United Methodist Church rediscover
what it means to worship with one’s entire body, to be attentive the movements of the Holy
Spirit.
43
Deborah Vansau McCauley, Appalachian mountain religion: a history, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
1995), 78.
Lawrence 21
V.
Listening in Community
While each of the groups interviewed highlighted a different aspect of what draws its
participants, these elements subtly mirror aspects of the Appalachian, holiness tradition that the
United Methodist Church has neglected. In this manner, as Christianity becomes less culturally
dominant, there is a pressure for it to transition from the role of cultural voice to cultural listener.
Part of this listening involves being familiar with people who are not part of the church,
recognizing one’s community does not end at the church’s walls. Often, rather than listening, the
Methodist Church is insular, focusing on its own petty squabbles. In the interview with Central
UMC, Reverend Luke Lingle acknowledged that doctrinal concerns and other things that divide
Methodists are not what the Church is about. Instead, it should listen to how it holds in tension
love of God and love of neighbor. He describes: “The things that divide us as Methodist miss the
point of what it means to be Methodist. [. . .] Wesley held in tension in everything that he did
love of God and love neighbor.”44 As part of holding together this tension, Central United
Methodist Church is trying to become a more welcoming church.
Three years ago, Central opened its Haywood Street campus in a warehouse downtown
away from its established, stone church building. During the week, people from all walks of life
who are close to the building come in for a meal and some stay for a worship service that follows
the meal. What Haywood Street tries to do is to create a safe place where anyone can feel
comfortable to come and worship, something they may not feel comfortable doing walking into
the main, downtown church building. A revolutionary aspect of the worship service that takes
place at Haywood Street is a collective sermon. Luke describes:
So Brian[, the Haywood St. campus pastor,] will introduce some Scripture, maybe share
some thoughts from minds across time or commentaries or that kind of thing, and then,
44
Reverend Luke Lingle, Interview by author, Asheville, NC, October 18, 2012.
Lawrence 22
he opens the floor. He’ll ask a question, and everyone in the room is given a voice. [. . .]
Yesterday was about divorce, and this is just a great example, and he said, “You know, I
was having lunch with a pimp,” and so he talks he like lives and breathes and is with the
folks in that community and allows that to shape rather than talking above or below or
around.45
Not only does the sermon give everyone a voice, but it acknowledges that the Holy Spirit can
speak in different ways through different people. The collective sermon also emphasizes
humility that one has the capacity to be wrong and other people, no matter one’s place in life,
may speak with wisdom. Additionally, it emphasizes the priesthood of all believers by
highlighting that everyone helps everyone else in one’s spiritual journey. It is not a solitary
endeavor. Through this aspect of the service and other elements, such as asking people to
volunteer even if it is the person’s first time there, the value of all voices is lifted up. By asking
people present to help serve meals and participate in certain parts of the service, it empowers a
person and gives a person dignity by having a valued role in a community endeavor. Reverend
Rob Blackburn, the senior pastor at Central, describes: “It’s been just totally a ministry of
empowerment where anybody can get their hands on it, and be a part of it. Leadership is shared.
Somebody it may be their first time they’ll be asked to serve communion”46 Through allowing
everyone to pitch in and sharing leadership, Haywood Street creates a more flexible
denominational structure that creates meaningful roles for the laity and promotes humble
leadership. It helps remove obstructions between people, such as education and social class,
which prevent the church from creating authentic community. These changes in structure at the
Haywood Street campus demonstrate the United Methodist Church listening to a changing
culture in Asheville and the larger U.S, one tired of struggles over power and doctrine. Although
45
46
Reverend Luke Lingle, Interview by author, Asheville, NC, October 18, 2012.
Reverend Rob Blackburn, Interview by author, Asheville, NC, October 18, 2012.
Lawrence 23
the Methodist denomination may continue to wane, by being less culturally dominant, the church
has the opportunity to listen to and learn to value voices it has sought to drown out in the past.
VI.
Conclusion47
If you were to interview any of Asheville’s numerous residents, one would uncover
spiritual journeys as diverse as the city itself. Due to its geographical location, Asheville has
become a patchwork of beliefs and peoples that has arisen from the intermingling of cultures. As
such, while Christianity in Asheville has historically held a voice of cultural dominance, as
people continue to move to Asheville, this interweaving of peoples continues to grow. As a
virtue of this growth, non-Christian identifying groups’ voices are growing louder in the cultural
mix. Therefore, these voices are challenging Christian practices, and as such, Christian groups
are having to change and adapt to meet the challenges of interacting in such a diverse
community. Specifically, the Methodist Church is challenged by the stories of its community to
refocus on its roots in the Appalachian, holiness movement. Central United Methodist is taking
on this challenge through its renewal of listening to the Holy Spirit and emphasis on the
priesthood of all believers. Through the story of Central, one experiences a story that illustrates
how a changing religious landscape in Asheville is affecting Christian forms of spiritual
expression, and as the city continues to change, the ability to adapt and a willingness to listen
will remain essential components for any religious practitioners.
47
Some areas where I would like to continue my research would include more specificity into ways in which
Asheville’s arts culture influences spirituality in the region. Particularly, I was intrigued by a comment by Reverend
Luke Lingle about the consumerist dimensions of Asheville’s arts community. Luke explained there is an element of
the arts culture that is all about a person’s individual pain and desires. As such, while this did not fit the scope of my
paper, I find that it would make an intriguing topic to write on later.
Also, I would like further research what is the actual break down between the various non-Christian identifying
groups. I am unsatisfied by the specificity of the data I was able to find on the subject. In addition to the data aspect,
I would like to collect a greater number of stories to expand my study of religious expression in the area, so I can
continue to understand the complexities of Asheville’s religious landscape. Right now, this paper is shallowly
skimming the surface of what is a spiritually diverse city.
Lawrence 24
VII.
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Chase, Nan K.. Asheville: a history. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2007.
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