Interview: Contemporary worship music is often billed as the same style of music people listen to outside of church. But Dr. Mark Porter’s new book, Contemporary Worship Music and Everyday Musical Lives explores how this is often not the case, and argues against the idea that music is a neutral canvas.
Interview: Dr. Swee Hong Lim and Dr. Lester Ruth discuss their new book Lovin’ on Jesus: A Concise History of Contemporary Worship. It’s an exploration of the origins of contemporary worship—including contemporary worship music. In our conversation, we discuss the implications their research has on church music today: What should traditional church consider if they …
Interview: Dr. Yun Kyong Kim, organist and choir director at Christ Episcopal Church in Dayton, Ohio, discusses her approach to directing a choir while also playing the organ, planning her repertoire and hymnody, and crafting organ recitals to make the most of an instrument’s unique sound and acoustic space.
In this Music and the Church Moment, Dr. Jonathan Dueck discusses the relationship of congregational music-making with being the Church together. For the rest of our conversation with Jonathan, check out Episode 1.
My doctoral dissertation, “The Right Kind of Music: Fundamentalist Christianity as Musical and Cultural Practice,” is now available!
Church acoustics reflect what a congregation believes are important sounds. Church acoustics also reveal what church leaders think the Hears of the Word should hear. That’s one reason Protestant Reformers changed their church buildings—they wanted to hear different sounds, like a sermon. And today, a church that uses a contemporary worship style will design a …
What’s So Important About Church Acoustics? An Infographic Read More »
I had a very busy few weeks: much as I am a “slow and steady wins the race” kind of writer, I was really pressed for time before submitting my dissertation for my defense.* *no that doesn’t mean finished, just almost finished—the 100% finished line is in April. So even though I kept singing to …
It’s not a coincidence that this winter season is full of scripture readings about light. These are dark, cold weeks, and I, along with many other people, am finding them heavy and full of what Jesus called “wars and rumors of wars.”
Rise and Follow Me: I’ll Make You Worthy Next Sunday’s Gospel reading comes from Matthew—Jesus begins his ministry and calls several fishermen away from their work, saying, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Such a simple but radically life-altering command.
I sing to my infant son whenever we’re in the car together, and since singing whatever comes to mind usually means “Come Thou Found” on repeat, I try to sing songs according to the liturgical year(ish).* *haters gonna hate, but there was a lot of Christmas music happening during Advent—sorrynotsorry y’all!