Snipes

Annotated Bibliography

How has the use of technology and Web 2.0 affected and changed Elevation Church?

Austin Snipes Professor Malcolm Campbell English 1102 February 29, 2012

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Annotated Bibliography Furtick, Steven. Sun Stand Still, Colorado Springs, CO, Multnomah Books, 2010, Print Sun Stand Still is the first book written by Steven Furtick, Pastor of Elevation Church. The first couple chapters of the book are mainly just explain what Elevation Church is and how it was started back in 2005. At age 16 Furtick was reading the book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, by Jim Cymbala. On page 23 of the book, Furtick read the quote I despaired at the thought that my life might slip by without seeing God show himself mightily on our behalf. This quote motivated Steven Furtick to be the God driven man that he is today, and he called this his Page 23 vision. The gist of the book explains what a page 23 vision is, and how one can live their vision out in their life. An essential part of this is having audacious faith in God, and that through him, the impossible is possible. This is where the book gets its title. In Joshua 10, Joshua prays that The Lord would make the sun stand still over the Israelites, so they would be able to defeat their enemies. Although it seemed impossible, Joshua had audacious faith in the lord, and through this faith, the sun did not set on Joshua and the Israelites, and their enemies were defeated. After these instructions, Furtick explains how his Page 23 vision was that through him, God would change thousands of peoples lives. This is what motivated him to move to Charlotte along with seven other families to start Elevation Church. Although they all started with nothing, faith was placed in God, and today millions of people all around the world have in some way been affected by Elevation. The book also touches on some highlights for the church, such as its first service, its first video service, and when over 13,000 attended the 2010 Easter service.

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The book Sun Stand Still is a popular source. Since Steven Furtick is the pastor of Elevation Church, and the only sources really used in the book are his personal experiences and the Bible, I would consider him a qualified author for the book. Since he is the Pastor of the church, I would have to say the source is biased towards the church. There are thousands of people who firmly disagree with everything the book has to say, but every stance will always have an opposition, no matter what the topic. The audience in mind for this book is not limited to any certain group. Anyone who needs guidance, is looking for instruction, or a move from God, or just anyone interested in Elevation Church would be the audience for the book. This source is completely unique to all other sources in my bibliography. This is the only other print source in the bibliography. Also all other sources used on the bibliography come from outside sources. This comes directly from inside the mind of the pastor of the church. All others are written by outside observers. Sun Stand Still will be for sure used as a source on my extended inquiry project, and could potentially be my most important source. Since explaining how Elevation came to be, and what it stands for is an important part of my project, this source is filled with useful information. Since I read this book long before I knew this was my topic, it has not changed what I think about my topic. Since my faith is firmly rooted in God, and Elevation is the church where I practice my faith, it would not be easy to change how I feel about my topic. Overall Sun Stand Still is a great source for my topic. Neto, Leon. Contemporary Christian Music and the Praise and Worship Style The Official Journal of the National Association of Teachers and Singing, 67.2 (2010) 195-200. Web. Feb 27. 2012

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This article opens with an attempt to define what Christian music is, and how it has changed over time. Its styles can range from classic Christian style such as choirs, to contemporary Christian music, which is more of a rock n roll style. The contemporary style is what Elevations band, Elevation Worship plays. The article goes on to explain the voice profile that most contemporary Christian singers possess today. The article explains that the profile that most Christian bands look for in singers is a very normal style, because most songs do not have a broad range. After the vocal profile is explained, it goes on to elaborate on the vocal technique. The article takes a shot at these performers, and says that many do not have proper voice training, but since this style of performer is in such high demand, such training is not required for some. The article explains that the repertoire needed to have a career in this form of music is not very diverse, and many people could pursue the career. In fact many universities are starting to offer music degrees in the area of worship. The article concludes that this praise and worship style is one of the fastest growing in the music industry, and in the near future, voice teachers and coaches have a large responsibility or shaping this genre of music into a more polished style than it is now. The author of this academic article, Leon Neto, is a Brazilian producer, musician, performer, and arranger of over 100 Brazilian Christian albums. This article presents an objective stance on the topic, coming from a well qualified author, who has been around the industry for an extended period of time. The intended audience is anyone interested in learning more about the new style of contemporary Christian music, or one who is interested in pursuing a career in the Christian music industry. Compared to the other sources in my bibliography this one is by far the most unique. It is the only academic source that I was able to come across that remotely had anything to do with my topic. It

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also provides much less useful information about my topic, than the other sources in my bibliography. Overall this source has little to no use in my project. The only reason it is remotely relevant to my topic is because this is the style of music played at Elevation. Since my essay is exploratory, this does help me get a better understanding of what Elevation looks for, when searching for worship leaders, but the information is not specific enough to have a use to me. Based on the performers at Elevation, I also must disagree with the author when he argues that the overall voice profiles for singers in the genre are weak. At the singers for the band have some of the greatest voices I have ever heard, not just in church, but on any level (but I may be a little biased). . Smith, Brittany. Elevation Church Brings Back Old-School Holy Ghost Revival Christian Post. Jan. 10. 2012. Web. Feb 27, 2010 This article by the Christian post basically is the preview to Elevation Churchs Code Orange Revival. Starting on January 12th, 2012, Elevation hosted an event, unlike anything it had every done in its existence. Twelve different speakers, on twelve different nights would come into Elevation, and spread the word God laid on their heart. It starts by stating how Pastor Steven Furtick got the idea, and how it was the best idea he ever had, or the worst. The Sunday coming into the revival, pastor preached a sermon to the church called The Anatomy of a Move of God in order to spiritually prepare the church for what was coming in the next two weeks. In the article, it states how Furtick believes that even in a very spiritual city such as Charlotte; there is room for a move of God. The rest of the article reveals some of the speakers and their credentials such as T.D Jakes from The Potters

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House, Craig Groschel from Lifechurch.TV, Perry Noble from Newspring Church, and many others. The article closes by informing that the revival came be viewed anywhere around the world on the Elevation Network, Elevations online source for worship. There are two things that make this a reliable source. First, Brittany Smith wrote this article for the Christian Post, which is a popular source for Christian articles. Secondly a large amount of the information in the article came directly from Pastor Steven Furtick, or an inside source from Elevation, also making this article unbiased. The purpose of this article is to spread the word of the intended move of God coming to Charlotte in the next week. The intended audience of this article would be anyone reading about current events in the Christian world. Also if one had heard of the revival and was looking into more information on it, they would be an audience of this article. Since the Code Orange Revival was such a big moment in Elevation Churchs history, this article is a great source for my project. It also briefly touches on the Elevation Network, which directly on the technology used by the church, and focuses on my Inquiry Question. This helps shape my research, by giving me a very informative article with a large amount of information I can use in my project. Not only does this article not change my viewpoint on my topic, but it further confirms some information I already know, and even provides new information.

"Elevation Church Chooses Sennheiser to Ensure Message Rings True.". 29 Mar. 2011. Web. 2 Feb. 2012. This article opens with a brief history of Elevation Church. It says how 7

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families started the church with nothing, and how it is now one of fastest growing churches in America. Just under a year ago, the church got a complete technological upgrade at all locations, from lighting, video screens, microphones, and almost any other piece to technology. The equipment chosen was Sennheiser wireless microphone technology, which can use "Point to Point Technology" (P2P) to connect all of the locations no matter the distance between. Using this technology, the sound and video quality at all Elevation campuses is the same as the Blakeney location, where everything is recorded live. Overall, Pastor Steven Furtick is pleased with the audio and video quality, thanks to the upgrades, and he is also pleased with the number of people, the technology is helping the church reach. Since this article came from the Technologies from Worship Magazine website, it must be a legitimate source. This article is also fairly up to date, and all of the information is accurate, based on the knowledge I have acquired by attending the church for four years. One of the only problems i see with this article is that the location it was written from is Connecticut, and the church is located in Charlotte, which is in the Bible belt, and where church is treated much differently. This difference in church viewpoint is made up by the interviews and direct quotes from Pastor Steven Furtick. This article can be used in many different ways. It gives me some information about the churches history, but more importantly, it introduces more things I can research, so in a way it just "scratches the surface". This inspires me to look more into some of the terms in the article, such as Sennheiser

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technologies, and possibly I can compare the differences between Sennheiser and other possible choices the church had in advancing their technology.