New articles in the Global Forum on Arts and Christian Faith
In addition to my duties at the Center for Excellence in World Arts, I am also the Senior Editor of the online publication, the Global Forum on Arts and Christian Faith. The Global Forum features articles and book reviews all on the topic of arts and music in Christianity all over the world. I'm especially pleased with the items we've published over the past couple of months, and I wanted to draw your attention to some very worthwhile reading.
First, look at Dr. Lester Ruth's article, "How 'Pop' Are the New Worship Songs: Investigating the Levels of Popular Cultural Influence on Contemporary Worship Music." Lester looks at how contemporary worship songs reflect and differ from secular pop music, and his findings are intriguing and challenging. In the second half of the article, he shows how spoken language in church and prayer has changed during the 20th century, and then how that changed language made its way into worship songs. It's a great article--check it out, and then send the link to your pastors and worship leaders.
Then read Glenn Stallsmith's article, "Worship from the Nations," which is a response to another report by Scott Aniol (available here). Scott and Glenn are writing about the history of ethnomusicology and missions, up to the current developing field of "ethnodoxology." If you read their articles, you'll have a really clear idea of where the music-and-missions model came from and how it has grown over the past several decades. If you've followed our ministry over the years and heard our presentations, you'll already know some of the facts presented in these articles.
There is a lot of other great content at the Global Forum this year--including Bert VanderMark's reflections on ministry through the visual arts with the women of Mercy Ministries; and a few reviews of noteworthy recent books. I invite you to spend some time at the journal's website: everything is free, and you can share articles and links with anyone else who shares your interest in music, arts, and mission.
First, look at Dr. Lester Ruth's article, "How 'Pop' Are the New Worship Songs: Investigating the Levels of Popular Cultural Influence on Contemporary Worship Music." Lester looks at how contemporary worship songs reflect and differ from secular pop music, and his findings are intriguing and challenging. In the second half of the article, he shows how spoken language in church and prayer has changed during the 20th century, and then how that changed language made its way into worship songs. It's a great article--check it out, and then send the link to your pastors and worship leaders.
Then read Glenn Stallsmith's article, "Worship from the Nations," which is a response to another report by Scott Aniol (available here). Scott and Glenn are writing about the history of ethnomusicology and missions, up to the current developing field of "ethnodoxology." If you read their articles, you'll have a really clear idea of where the music-and-missions model came from and how it has grown over the past several decades. If you've followed our ministry over the years and heard our presentations, you'll already know some of the facts presented in these articles.
There is a lot of other great content at the Global Forum this year--including Bert VanderMark's reflections on ministry through the visual arts with the women of Mercy Ministries; and a few reviews of noteworthy recent books. I invite you to spend some time at the journal's website: everything is free, and you can share articles and links with anyone else who shares your interest in music, arts, and mission.
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