An Eternal Pitch

"With fluid pen and discerning ear, An Eternal Pitch shows that broadcasting and recording need not be the enemy of the sacred: they can be its very vehicles. Bishop G. E. Patterson, a religious technophile of the first order, meets his perfect interpreter in Braxton Shelley, a scholar attuned to every nuance of prophetic pitch and transcendent technique."—John Durham Peters, Maria Rosa Menocal Professor of English and of Film and Media Studies, Yale University

"Uniquely groundbreaking in its analysis of media, Pentecostalism, and Black preaching, An Eternal Pitch reimagines the ways in which sonic techniques shape our relationship to spiritual and material worlds. Shelley's deft theoretical interpretation of Bishop Patterson's homiletic afterlife is a must-read, technical masterpiece for all those interested in how 'Broadcast Religion' has touched the lives of millions and reshaped a culture's relationship to the divine."—Marla Frederick, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Religion and Culture, Candler School of Theology, Emory University