Global Forum on Arts and Christian Faith (E-Journal)
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111 research outputs found
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Performance of the Biblical Book of Ruth as a Means Towards Trauma-healing: an Empirical Study from Cote D’Ivoire
No full textIn the past two decades, the Bete people, along with all the populations of Côte d’Ivoire, have experienced two painful civil wars, leading many to experience various kinds of physical and emotional trauma. To help them in their vulnerability, we organised a one week seminar which sought to take advantage of this ethnic’s group love of song and dance to address the needs of a limited group of women (of varying ages and backgrounds). We wished to see how arts and performance (music, dance and drama), combined with exposure to a specific biblical book, could contribute to the women’s healing and ignite hope.
The book of Ruth was chosen as our focus because of its strong message of God’s hesed (loyalty and love), its many parallels to Bete culture, and the various points of connection (story line and main characters) which the text provides. While in alignment with many theoretical constructs of trauma-healing, our study suggests that an indirect, less intrusive approach to trauma healing can have very positive results
Singing from Our Soul: Worship music development in Latin American Vineyard Churches (1994-2017)
No full textThe purpose of this article, besides highlighting some of the history of Vineyard worship in Latin America, is to bring to the table a discussion about the use of translated songs and their influence in the development and maturation of Vineyard worship music in the region. This analysis is done from the points of view of the complexity of the esthetic problem that song translation creates; the signification of worship music as a turning point in a process of rupture with the past of Latin American worship leaders and musicians; and the role that song translation plays in musical localization. The final section is a call to reconsider diversity and the need to create new worship music from the realities and contexts where Latin American Vineyards are immersed, according to the variety of possibilities that the continent offers to local congregations, theologians, composers, and musicians, for missional reflection and agency, and for poetic and musical composition in different indigenous styles and themes
Struggling to be Creole: A Case Study of Musical Contextualization in the French Caribbean Evangelical Churches
No full text“Neither Europeans, nor Africans, nor Asians, we proclaim ourselves Creoles” (Bernabe 1993, 75). This famous claim of the Creolists1 is a useful way to begin any critical discourse in the field of creole identities. African slaves, European colonizers, and Indian and Chinese free workers have all shaped a plural and multiracial society in which descendants of slaves and their owners, the colonized peoples and the colonizers, share the same geographical space: the Caribbean archipelago
Crying Ukhai: Engaging the Mongolian Church with the Folk Rock Genre
No full textThis article is based on the work of a Mongolian worship leader named Nasaankhuu Aduuch, who has developed a Mongolian folk-rock style of worship music. His work is an amazing example of creating worship music with local, cultural artistic forms in order to both lead God’s people more deeply into worship, and to share Christ’s love with his community in ways that make sense to them. This paper explores his work from three perspectives. First, it introduces the artistic genre of Mongolian folk-rock, in order to understand the larger cultural conversations going on around him. Second, it looks at his work and how it compares to his non-Christian peers—both what’s the same, and what he decided needed to be changed. Finally, it explores some of the Missiological implications Nasaa’s music has for the larger Mongolian church. Is it going to work? And if so, what will it change
Teaching across Cultures: Contextualizing Education for Global Mission (James E. Plueddemann)
No full textThis book review on Teaching Across Cultures highlights James E. Plueddemann's approach to education in cross-cultural settings. His effective metaphor, the two-runged rail fence, can be applied in many settings for connecting theoretical content to the practical needs of students across the board, while his recommendations to be learners first go a long way to bridge possible cross-cultural misunderstandings. 
The Zande Akpaningba as a Source of Identity, Unity, and Joy
No full textMade by local craftsmen players among the Azande in central Africa who bring the form and sound of the instrument to life, the akpaningba of the Azande serves as a source of cultural identity, unity, and joy. Seen in the context of the Zande circle dance genre the kpaningba, the akpaningba forms the center of the performances, leading the singers and dancers in exuberant expressions of happiness, longing for a better life, and even demonstrations of discontent. This article explains the creation of an akpaningba, its role as the center of its host genre, and how this cultural symbol exemplifies the worldview of the Zande people. The author details how a local church and a traditional dance group based in a small Zande village made efforts to safeguard the instrument. Concluding with thoughts concerning the future of the akpaningba, the author explains several threats to the sustainability of the instrument, sharing ideas on what would be lost from Zande culture if this instrument and the kpaningba dance genre lose their important role
Returning to Nunusaku through Songwriting: Imagining Moluccan Identity and Reconciliation in the Songs of John Beay, Christian Tamaela, and Pontong
No full textDrawing on several published sources as well as my own experience living in Ambon and working under the Gereja Protestan Maluku (GPM) from 2008 to 2018, this article will focus on songs composed by Christian Tamaela and John Beay since the end of the Moluccan civil war, as well as those written by the members of Pontong
Wallpaper Worship: Why Church Music Sounds Better, Fewer Are Singing, And What to Do about It (Danny Byram)
No full textBook review by Michael Balonek: Author, Christian recording artist, and worship leader Danny Byram looks at the trend in modern Western churches to relegate music to background filler, something to enhance the beauty of the room, but not the focal point of the gathering of God's people. He provides a Theology of Worship, looking both at the Bible and at Church history, and makes a call for pastors, elders, worship leaders, and others within the church to reevaluate our current practices and return worship to its due place in the Christian experience
Lifting Hearts to the Lord: Worship with John Calvin in Sixteenth-Century Geneva (Karin Maag)
No full textIn Lifting Hearts to the Lord: Worship with John Calvin in Sixteenth-Century Geneva, Karin Maag, director of the Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies, addresses ways in which the sixteenth-century Protestant reformer from Geneva can speak to Christians in all cultures regarding their cultural and musical choices for worship. The book is part of a series that uses case studies to discuss the history of Christian worship. This volume explores Calvin’s teachings on worship, regularly quoting long sections from Calvin’s primary materials, with commentary and thoughtful questions in the margin