Sonic Theology

" ...so when I sat down at the piano in my classroom I opened the scriptures to John 6. I just began to write down what I was playing and singing. Pretty soon the bell rang and I knew I had to move into the Great Hall. I tossed the manuscript in the waste paper basket because I thought, 'This is not it!'"

Obviously, it was "it" as sixty years after its publication, Suzanne Toolan’s “I Am the Bread of Life” remains one of the most beloved and enduring hymns in Catholic worship. Read the rest of her story, in her own words, in our latest article. ⬇️

Melissa Greene says people in the industry always knew there were gay artists in Christian music: 'They just thought, as long as the audience doesn't know, it's fine.' https://churchleaders.com/news/2218790-avalon-melissa-greene-jen-hatmaker-christian-music-q***r-people.html

“Worship music can move and manipulate emotions, even shape belief. Songs with lengthy interludes slowly build anticipation toward a familiar hook. Or the band drops out so voices sing out when the chorus hits.

But current concerns about the manipulative power of worship music seem to have less to do with musical style and taste than with the people and institutions involved in the making and performance of it,” wrote Kelsey Kramer McGinnis in 2023.

The question we should ask is “whether those of us responsible for the worship set were trustworthy stewards and shepherds of the experience.”
https://chrst.today/4s2DjLr