African-American Liturgical Traditions
2005 Louisville, Kentucky
2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002
Convener 2005
Scott Haldeman (assistant professor of worship, Chicago Theological Seminary)
Seminar Participants 2005
Barbara Berry-Bailey, Melva Costen, Joseph Donnella, Scott Haldeman, and Mary McGann
Seminar Report 2005
In Louisville the group celebrated the appearance of two major works by members:
- Mary McGann’s A Precious Fountain: Music in the Worship of an African American Catholic Community (Liturgical Press, 2004); and
- Melva Costen’s In Spirit and in Truth: The Music of African American Worship (WJK, 2004).
These two books were the primary foci of our conversations this year. In relation to this, the group would like to acknowledge the generosity and support of Jack Keller of WJK and Peter Dwyer of Liturgical Press who provided copies of these books to us in advance of the meeting.
As is our custom, the seminar spent our first morning reporting to one another about what each of us has written, read, or otherwise done over the past year. In addition to supporting one another in our various vocations, the conversations also help us to gauge the field and to identify areas which still need to be explored. Noteworthy this year were Melva Costen’s announcement of her upcoming retirement from the Interdenominational Theological Center, which led to conversation about the importance of identifying younger scholars to pursue advanced degrees in order to provide teachers for future generations of worship leaders in the Black churches; and our encouragement of Joseph Donnella as he strives to complete his dissertation on the inculturation of Dutch Lutheran worship in the Caribbean so as to be ready to assume a teaching position soon.
“Liturgical ethnography” is the term proposed by Mary McGann to describe the process of deep listening required to grasp the richness of worship in a single community so as to be able to communicate its vital essence to readers with authenticity. She observed the members of Our Lady of Lourdes parish in the Hunter’s Point neighborhood of San Francisco as they encountered God in praise and lament, prayer and song, from 1993 to 1997. As she did so she found herself being drawn into ever deeper levels of participation and understanding, even, as a watershed moment, to the point of being called out of her pew to join the choir for “Perfect Praise” (87). Continuing with them as a fellow pilgrim, from 1997 to 2003, she contemplated and enriched her observations as her notes and recordings and experiences took shape as A Precious Fountain: Music in the Worship of an African American Catholic Community. Such work is not undertaken on a whim but requires and becomes a discipline of love. In fifteen descriptive chapters punctuated by five reflective “intermezzos” and framed by introductory and concluding materials which focus on method and theological implications, Mary lets this community speak to the wider church about what worship may be—life-giving, nourishing, transforming. Honoring the Catholic ordo but embodying it in an African American mode, Our Lady of Lourdes community offers us all testimony that liturgy can be a powerful antidote to the forces of death which threaten and seduce and a source of living water which sustains us in hope. The group expressed its deep gratitude to Mary for her faithfulness and trustworthiness to the community of Our Lady of Lourdes and to the Academy and commends her book to our colleagues.
In Spirit and in Truth: The Music of African American Worship brings together in a single volume a lifetime of wisdom, insight, and research on worship and music in the Black Church. Melva Costen, as musician and scholar, has persevered against considerable odds to bring the best insights of the liturgical reform movement to African American Protestant churches and the vitality and spirit of African American worship to the table of ecumenical conversation. In this book she traces the roots of Black Church music to the motherland of Africa and its subsequent flourishing through four hundred years of history in the Americas. She discusses the major genres: spirituals, hymns, and gospel songs. She reflects on diverse performance styles and the various instruments which have been employed in different traditions. She also considers the relationship of music to the worship event as a whole and the role of musician as minister in African American churches. Appendices provide a timeline of the publication of African American hymnals and another which lists the dates of the founding of important historically black churches and denominations. Where Mary’s book took us deep into the life of one community, Melva’s surveys the overall landscape of issues related to worship and music in African American communities. We commend In Spirit and in Truth as a crucial resource for understanding worship in North America and for teaching about the variety of faithful ways to praise God in all of our churches.
For next year we anticipate discussing Joseph Donnella’s dissertation and the D.Min. theses of J-Glenn Murray and Kathleen Dorsey Bellow which will continue to enrich our knowledge of the liturgical traditions of particular African American Christian communities.