Communitas and charisma in a black church service.

The authors describe the midweek evening service of an independent black church which employs prayer, testimony, and spirit possession. They compare this religious group experience to the theoretical model of the healing community and emphasize the concepts of "communitas" and "healing charisma." The authors suggest that the model of a healing community, as represented by this form of the black church service, represents culturally relevant and functional therapeutic assets for some black people.