Joseph Perry Comm. 312 Dr. Hill nites Postsermonie Rhetoric This essay argues for the existence of Postsermonie genre in the rhetoric of the mega- church, Fresh Life Church. This article highlights the desire of Fresh Life Church 10 istinguich ielf fram traditional church values a the smifiing principle far thie genre Analysis of three sermons from Fresh Life Church and the "Fresh Life Code” reveal the defining characteristics of the Postsermonic genre to be cultural relevance, audience response, purposed stage design, and an interactive weekly altar call 1. Introduction: In the wilds of Northwest Montana, Fresh Life Church meets every Sunday moming. This church is unique and something one definitely wouldn't ‘expect to find in Montana. Since it began in 2007, Fresh Life Church has grown ‘exponentially. What began in a single theater, now has eampuses in nine cities spread across the entirety of Montana. It owns and operates a radio station, Fresh Life Radio, which plays teachings from prominent Christian leaders and alternative Christian music. It is very common to see a “FLR 91.3” bumper sticker on vehicles. One could even say it is uncommon to see a ear without a Fresh Life bumpersticker. Fresh Life Church also oversees two outreach events, ‘Skull Church and the O2 Experience. Skull Church is a traveling evangelistic event that features a concert and a simple Gospel message. The 02 Experience is 1 traveling event focused on purity and evangelism. A service at Fresh Life Church also looks quite different than a traditional church service. For instance, Fresh Life Church actively pursues unique meeting spaces. ‘They have met in movie theaters, bas, and performing arts centers. Additionally, the sevice is the epitome of a modern church service. The stage always sports a hip design, the bass ruffles people's clothes, and there are more skinny jeans and anchor tattoos than tes and slacks, Fresh Life Church i, in essence, a mega-chureh, Ml. Rationate: Genre theory claims that there are certain patterns of speech exhibited fat certain times. It states that certain situations will elicit predictable forms and expressions of rhetoric. ‘This idea traces its roots tothe thee divisions of elassical thetorie made by Aristotle: the Deliberative, the Forensic, and the Ceremonial Inside each of these areas, there are sub-genres of more specific types of thetoric. Forcuanps ne he Foeste pane ie Senos gee Seen eis Uspock he eit of cmon nds cn a te specs of ih inpac e ‘Luther King Jr. and others. | will use the rhetoric of Fresh Church to argue for the fdas) emanate sora seme aor hearye P87 Highlight the gyor xitional Sermonic rhetoric. There is a need for a cl in Scholarship Su bck thr re mg Wel ye check = Sve me ch 1 nore Yu. “Cobain: ‘The Hetero coneepiray oege huss i very Gifferent than ied typology of this thetrie. I willbe using Fresh Life Church to create an inital gene for mega- church shetorc, which can be used as a stating point for application to ther Grey reyes Aysceurkyo ley at ae phtericel sohelarship Mt, Sgn deca? Arbors sotloring inega-hurches andthe developmen of wniteral gene of mega-chuch tre (haven't decided yet, but Tam considering calling the gre “Postsermonic”) Thesis: tn this essay, Iwill use gente ciicism to argue that Fresh Life Church exhibits etaric thal can be classified through the development of anew genre, the Postermonic. Iwill argue tht th rhetoric of Fresh Life Church uses cultural relevancy, audience response, purposed stage design, and an interactive weskly sarc singh om nite hae. Epon Se Mle ey doer it mater Body ofthe paper: [AL Gente Criticism arose as response to Neo-Arstotelian critics from Eabwin Black in 1965, B, In my essay, examine four texts. The three main texts ae archived videos of sermons delivered at Fresh Life Church, “Catching Fite: A Contolled Bur” (4/13/14) and "Comeback Kids: Practicing the Presence of Gd” (11/15/2015) ae sermons delivered by Levi Lusk, the founder and head pastor of Fresh Life Church, He isthe main speaker at resh Life Chueh and is largely responsible forthe establishment of i's thetorc. However, the rhetoric of Fresh Life Church i not limited to his sermons alone. Talso examine “What Does God Require of Us?" (1075/15), whichis a sermon given at Fresh Life lurch by visiting pastor, Jefferson Bethke, My final text of analysis isthe “Fresh Lite Code” This is olletion of twelve statements that serve as & auide for how the church functions. T wil use the “Fresh Life Code™ as & Supporting txt for conclusions gleaned from the sermons. CC. My analysis ofthe text revolves around thee defining characteristics, which 1 will establish as the defining characterise of the gente. They ae: 1. Cultural Relevance. The rhetoric of Fresh Life Church is extremely relevant. If one isnot aware of eurent pop culture and celebrity news, i is easy to miss a majority of the stories and anecdotes used. Cultural relevance is shown through stories from pop culture, references to Celebrities, lating sles, grooming choices, and language use 2. Audience Response, A defining part of a Fresh Life Church sermon is the high degree of audience involvement. A typical sermon will contain numerous moments of audience feedback (eilher verbal response of clapping). Moreover, the audience is conditioned 19 provide this feedback, Its asked fr and its given. 3, Purposed Stage Design. The stage design is ever changing at Fresh Life CChureh. I bears more resemblance ton etge one would fied ata theater than at a traditions! church, Tt festures items made of steel pipe, geometric backdrops, and a vibrant us of color. 4, Interactive Weeldy Altar Call. Every sermon at Fresh Life Church ends with an altar call. The ell snot always about salvation, Is just eal to respond to the message of the sermon. The usual dsied action a physical act (cither standing or standing and walking to the front.) Thre of thes. fur choractrshs Store try simular to a Black arch expirine Enghasice tnigue ues mere op fics bere closely on the stoge designaaa 4 paessay 0 Conner mcs existe . The establishment of the Postsermonie genre for Fresh Life Church will serve as a springboard for the establishment of a genre for all mega-churches. Futher research should study if his genre exists and what define it VL. Conclusion: Ths essay is legit. ~ Jeseph -yoare shill erweg