ABSTRACT
On a balmy March night in Houston, a small group of twelve people meets in the home of Bill and Anna Seemans. 1 It is a modest home in Heights section of Houston, a typical working-class community. All are members of Church in the City (CIC), an inner- city, nondenominational church founded in 1975. CIC encourages members to participate in these small home groups (called “home cells”) that meet during the week. This particular group has been meeting together for over three years. There are six married couples, all in their twenties and thirties. They appear to be very close; members exchange embraces as they enter the Seemans home. There is a smell of coffee wafting from the kitchen, and the atmosphere is casual and warm. One of the men has an acoustic guitar which he extracts from a black leather case. He begins strumming and singing softly as members stroll in with cups of coffee in hand. The couples sit in a circle, some on the floor and others in chairs. The man playing the guitar breaks into song, and the group begins singing spontaneously. The guitarist is an accomplished musician, a former member of a rock band. The song is unfamiliar to me, but hauntingly sweet and deeply moving.
