Music and the Church

Image description: book cover of "A Peculiar Orthodox: Reflections on Theology and the Arts" by Jeremy Begbie

A Peculiar Orthodoxy – Thinking about Music with Theologian Jeremy Begbie, on Music and the Church Ep. 38

“The great thing about a chord – you’re already dealing with something people enjoy. You’re not telling people God is a problem to be solved – you’re saying that the Trinity is a reality to be enjoyed.” – Jeremy Begbie I knew our conversation would be theologically rich—Dr. Jeremy Begbie IS a theologian, after all—but …

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Image description: Photograph of J. J. Wright, wearing a blue suit and tie. For an interview on the podcast Music and the Church on sarah-bereza.com

An Interview with J. J. Wright, Director of the University of Notre Dame Folk Choir

This month’s episode of Music and the Church features a conversation with Dr. J. J. Wright. J. J. directs the University of Notre Dame Folk Choir, one of America’s most influential Catholic music ensembles. He is a Grammy Award winning jazz musician, composer of O Emmanuel, an album which debuted at the top of the …

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Image description: book cover of The Devil's Music: How Christians Inspired, Condemned, and Embraced Rock 'N' Roll by Randall J. Stephens. Cover image is black and white photo of men with 1970s longer hair, holds their hands and some Bibles up.

The Devil’s Music, an Interview with Author Randall J. Stephens

How did American Christians go from hating rock ‘n’ roll to embracing contemporary worship music? One reason is Pentecostalism’s influence. On Music and the Church, we’ve explored how important Pentecostalism was in making the change, and how influential it continues to be on contemporary worship. (Check out this episode if you’re curious.) But Pentecostalism also …

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Image is photograph of Pastor Lisa Heffernan. Shows face and sholders of a white woman with brown hair wearing glasses. For the podcast Music and the Church at sarah-bereza.com

Welcoming People with Disabilities in Church Music Ministry, with Pastor Lisa Heffernan, on Music and the Church Ep. 35

We believe that people all people are made in the image of God. Full stop. So, when we are talking about how to make our churches more inclusive, we aren’t talking about welcoming people even though they have disabilities (or even though they are children, as we talked about in last month’s episode). The goal …

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