Journal of the American Academy of Religion Advance Access originally published online on April 14, 2009
Journal of the American Academy of Religion 2009 77(1):16-54; doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfp008
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Jesus Freak and the Junkyard Prophet: The School Assembly as Evangelical Revival
Jonathan H. Ebel, Department of Religion, 3080 Foreign Language Building, MC-160, 707 South Mathews, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
E-mail: jebel{at}illinois.edu
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Abstract |
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The Christian Wrestling Federation (CWF) and You Can Run But You Cannot Hide (YCR) are two evangelical revivalistic ministries working through popular forms—professional-style wrestling and rock music—to convince young men and women to become Christians. Each group also stages character education assemblies in public schools across the United States. This article describes the activities of these two groups, places each in the broader context of the history of American revivalism, and discusses some of the issues raised by their inclusion in public school curricula. Conservative evangelical discontent with American public education is amply documented, as are attempts by local, state, and national organizations to make more room for Christianity in schools. Revivalist character educators have received almost no attention as part of this "Christianization" effort, yet their work helps frame and answer persistent questions about approaches to moral education, the place of religion in public education, and the much-studied relationship between evangelicalism and popular culture. The history of English and American revivalism, a history in which these ministries partake fully, offers potential answers to these questions—answers that encourage caution on the part of the educators and revivalists who embrace the school assembly as a moral educational venue.
I would like to thank Mark Chancey, Rick Layton, Kathryn Lofton, Erik Owens, S. Brent Plate, and my unfailingly patient wife, Meredith, for reading and commenting on drafts of this piece. I am also grateful to the JAAR's anonymous readers for their thoughtful, constructive comments. This article is dedicated to Robert L. Ebel, my grandfather, and to Jerald Brauer, a grandfatherly influence during the first years of graduate school. The former made a career studying education and introduced me to the joy of tractor rides; the latter devoted much time and energy to thinking and teaching about revivalism, and gave me the best glass of wine I will ever drink.