Running the aisles is an ecstatic expression of

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recogniti ...

that occurs occasionally in some contexts of worship in the

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

and

Holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

movements in

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. As the expression suggests, when a person runs the aisles in a worship setting, they leaves their seat and run down the aisles between seating sections or run around the interior perimeter of the meeting house. A biblical basis for the act known as ''running the aisles'' is difficult to establish. Nevertheless, in the Pentecostal worship tradition, spontaneous expressions inspired by the moving of the

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

are highly valued, and in many congregations the spontaneous running of aisles has traditionally been an acceptable expression of joy. Typically those Pentecostals who run the church aisles do not do so unless they feel that they are overwhelmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit at a point in the service when the congregation in general is sensing His moving. It may be reasonable to classify running as a form of dancing. It is worth noting that running occurs at times in modern

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

folk dancing. Opponents of this expression of worship argue that it violates Paul's instructions on orderly worship found in 1 Corinthians 14:26-40, as well as contradicting the idea that one of the "fruits" of the Holy Spirit is self-control ( Galatians 5:23). At its basic level, however, opponents of such a belief hold a different view of the work of the Holy Spirit.

References

{{christianity-stub Charismatic and Pentecostal worship