ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I examine the ethical dimensions of musical skill, agency, and bodily presence as it relates to the “vanishing act” of American evangelical worship in the “New Calvinist” tradition. First, I examine the performance/worship dialectic and how this is used to guide ethical discernment around these questions. Next, I propose Hegel's concept of the “vanishing mediator” as a productive model for theorizing worship and presence in American evangelical communities. Finally, I turn my attention to Worship Tutorials, a popular online portal for local worship leaders, as a case study to explore how these issues are worked out among amateur musicians serving local congregations. An examination of Worship Tutorials uncovers the myriad ways that musicians attempt to square the ethical circle between musical skill and spiritual sincerity. In particular, I argue that these “pedagogical” resources designed for worship leaders attempt to alleviate tensions between worship and performance by providing a supplement that renders the musicians and even the congregations ever more absent from the musical frame.
