Praisepit

A praisepit is a colloquial name given to a mosh pit which occurs at a pentecostal Christian church service. [Smith, E. "Planetshakers Conference 1998", Press Release, Planetshakers 2 February 1998]

The phrase was first coined in the late 1990s at the Planetshakers conference in Adelaide, South Australia [ Hewitt, M, 2001. 'A study in Secular Influence' in M.Howard and A.Law (eds)" How to Reach Out- Successful Pastors and how they do it", Koorong, Perth, Pg 56-75. ] , as a response to criticisms within the church regarding the increasingly secularised manner of youth worship activities.

Since then, the term has entered popular usage among young Australian pentecostal Christians, with some major west Australian conferences like Festivale and Phenomena using the word heavily in advertising. ["Festivale 2007 Christian City Church" 2007. Retrieved June, 14, 2007 from http://ccchh.org.au/festivale/]

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