ABSTRACT
Although raised in a white Protestant milieu, Oriah Vaughn (age 44) from Virginia nolongerattendschurchservicesoridentifiesasaChristian,explainingthatshe has “cobbled together my own spiritual beliefs from a variety of religions . . . I believe every religion has something to teach us.” Like many other urbanites, her spiritualpursuitsconnecttoself-realizationandreflecttheworldwideprocessof thesubjectivationofpresentday“believing”(HeelasandWoodhead2005).As a jazz enthusiast, Oriah visited the Saint John Coltrane Church in 2011 during a trip to San Francisco and described her immersion in the soundscape of Coltrane’s music as
. . . an expression of worship that was moving beyond any other experienceI’veeverhadduringanyotherchurchexperience.Everyonewasfilled with joy and expressed that to everyone who walked in the doors. I felt spiritually lifted and elated . . . I left the sermon in a slightly altered state of consciousness.1
