Global Forum on Arts and Christian Faith (E-Journal)
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111 research outputs found
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Art and Mission: Four Questions
No full textThis paper explores four central questions around the topics of art and mission: what is Christian art about? What is quality art? Why don’t Christian communicators use art more? What is art for
Creativity, Liminality, and Metaphor in Songwriting
No full textSongwriting has been a central part of ethnodoxology since its humble beginnings. But how much do we actually know about the process of theory of songwriting? In this study, I look at creativity, liminality, and metaphor as they relate to songwriting. I begin with a discussion of creativity in songwriting. Considering a few case studies from the Western pop songwriting process and a failed Scottish mass, I explore how the systems model of creativity, optimal distinctiveness theory, and stable and malleable theory can be used to analyze songwriting. I go on to explore how the songwriting process can be considered liminal, and how increasing the liminality of the process may produce better results. Finally, I use Peircean semiotics to describe how metaphor works to create an emotional and identify-forming response
A New Jesus: Christ for Any Nation
No full textThe global reality of Sunday schools prompted the conveners to promote a “new version of Christ” throughout the week, a Savior “who died to save the entire world” (“World-wide Sunday School Work” 1909, 415–16). To that end, the convention featured a missionary exposition that offered participants a chance to see and be inspired by a Jesus who redeemed all the people of the world. The thousands of viewers who filed through the National Rifles’ Armory every day between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. that week got a glimpse of all kinds of artifacts and curios from around the world—tokens that spoke of Jesus’s capacity to embrace even the most “exotic” man, woman, and child. Visitors were also given an image of Jesus and the Nations from the Sunday School Times Company. The organization had commissioned O. A. Stemler to paint a picture that would capture the spirit of the Sunday School/Mission Convention: a new portrait of Christ that conveyed his love and concern for every child in the world (Brewer 2005, 109). This chapter will explore the transnational enchantment with this “new version of Christ,” and how translations of it, first across the Atlantic and then the Pacific Ocean, allowed Jesus’s presence and embrace to travel around the world and back
Cloaked Communication: Empowering Women through Visual Arts in East Africa
No full textThe most important thing about communication is to convey the meaning. Generally, language is the most significant tool of communication, because through language, people can convey certain meanings in relatively direct ways. What else can people use to communicate with others? Various expressions and symbols with transferable meanings can also be great tools of communication. A prime example is the arts. Arts are a great medium through which communication can be initiated. Also, because each art form has a unique way of expressing something, art can be a language
Transforming Ethnomusicology: Methodologies, Institutional Structures, and Policies, by Beverly Diamond and Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco
No full textThe Book of Jonah in the Style of Altai Epic Stories
No full textOral Bible translation and biblical performance in local genres is a relevant topic in today’s world of Bible translation. This paper will present the design for a performance in a local genre based an oral bible translation, using the example of the book of Jonah orally translated into Southern Altai and turned into a performance in the style of a traditional Altai epic poem. The paper will initially examine the stages of oral Bible translation, and how Jonah was translated orally by the Altai oral Bible translation team. Then the author will discuss the plots of the Altai epics and the context in which they are performed. This is followed by an analysis of some of the oral rhetorical features of traditional Altai epic poetry, and a discussion about the role of memorisation and improvisation in performance of the epics. It will be demonstrated how the Jonah epic reflects some of the features of Altai epic poetry. Finally, the paper will assess the audience’s reaction to the performance of Jonah and draw conclusions for future experience and research. It is argued that this is one of the most effective way of communicating God’s message with this oral preference community.  
Method for Analyzing Lyrics in Congregational Singing
No full textHow important are the lyrics that we sing in church? Do they necessitate analysis and evaluation? If so, how might ethnodoxologists enable indigenous church leaders to do this in order to assess and improve their congregation’s active repertory? I developed a simple method for lyrical analysis and tested it during workshops with evangelical Christians in the United States, Central Asia, and France. Participants begin by considering why we sing as a congregation, according to Scripture. Next, they analyze song lyrics found in the Bible by asking specific questions of the text. They then apply the same analysis to song lyrics in their congregation’s active repertory and draw conclusions. The final section of the workshop involves stepping back and considering three major “lenses” through which we view worship: the cognitive, affective, and physical dimensions. I believe that this method of lyrical analysis could be beneficial both to ethnodoxologists and to indigenous congregations, because it increases awareness of lyrics, teaches critical thinking, and provides an objective grid for application in both literary and oral cultures
Music and Liturgy, Identity and Formation: A Study of Inculturation in Turkey, by Sue Whittaker
No full textResearch on the worship practices of Protestant Christians in the Middle East is limited. Much scholarly work on conversion studies, missiology, and church planting in the Muslim majority context is available. Yet, little research and resources around worship practices, liturgical studies, and congregational song focuses on Christianity in the Middle East. The Turkish Protestant Church (TPC) sits within this context and is latent with research potential
The Use of Indigenous Musical Instruments in Traditional Christian Worship of the Yoruba, Nigeria
No full textThe use of indigenous musical instruments has played a significant role in the life and worship experience of the Yoruba Christians of Southwestern Nigeria. The early missionaries who brought Christianity to Yorubaland discouraged the use of indigenous songs and musical instruments in Christian worship. They believed that engaging in the singing and playing of indigenous musical instruments may lead the Yoruba converts back to worshiping their formal traditional gods and goddess. The indigenous musical instruments that were regarded as inappropriate for the worship of the Triune God of the Bible have become prominent today in Yoruba Christian worship. This study examines the transformation process of indigenous musical instruments used in Yoruba Christian corporate worship. The study also looks into some of the challenges and benefits of using indigenous musical instruments in Christian corporate worship.