Ceremonial trance behavior is a private religious experience that occurs in a public setting. Sociologists have long concerned themselves with the distinction between individual reactions to external stimuli and social behavior. While trance states may be individual responses, they also involve subtle forms of social interaction and are dependent upon the context in which they occur. The repetitive format of ritual activities can trigger and help to sustain trance behaviors. Data for this analysis of religious experiences in public settings are drawn from audio and video recordings of worship services among the African Apostles, an indigenous African church. Members' own accounts of the trance states are examined in concert with the recorded materials in order to gain insight into the subjective and social interpretations of collective religious experience.