Friday Fruit (06/29/12)

On Fridays, BTSF posts links to some of the week's happenings. 

It's an opportunity for you to read about racial justice & Christianity from other folks, and for me to give props to the shoulders on which I stand...

Weekly Round Up:

• What the SCOTUS Ruling Means for the Health of People of Color

• Three Kinds of White Racist: Which are you?

• Beautiful film about three DREAMers

• Kumbaya Anti-Racism

These are some of BTSF's links of interest this week. What are yours?

Feel free to contribute your own links in the comments section, or submit items you feel should be included during the week. Self-promotion is encouraged. 

See Also:
Health Care Reform
Spiritual Dance: Edification vs EntertainmentChurch for All People

Spiritual Dance: Edification vs Entertainment

Continuing our series about reconciled worship, please welcome back guest blogger, Brittany Browne! Brittany is a freelance writer with Columbus Messenger, and owner of Sapphire Communications, LLC.

Dance has always been a major part of my life. When I was younger, I remember expressing my desire to become one of the world’s greatest choreographers. I was, and still to this day am intrigued by ballet, river dancing, liturgical dance, samba, cha-cha, rumba, mime and other forms of dance from other traditions and cultural backgrounds.

Today, my career path is far from anything that is associated with dance, but dance remains a hobby, a passion, and a communication source that gives life to my spirituality every time I embrace it. There is an immeasurable inspiration that is communicated through varieties of dance, especially in the form of worship, and how it can be a message magnified for the glory of God’s kingdom.

At our very best, as believers we are open to a worship style that is not strategically stagnant in the same style of communication. But too often, we fall into a redundant comfort zone and cease to branch out because of our own insecurities, which in return affects our opportunity to receive the full message of Christ. This is where I am convinced that allowing a multi-faceted worship style that includes spiritual dance, liturgical dance, praise dance, and the like, opens doors for a much richer spiritual message in our time of worship.

Lucinda Coleman, a scholar who has studied praise dance in the Church said, “To worship God in dance is biblical.” Allowing dance in general to be a part of praise and worship is not always welcomed and theological scholars have at times deemed it as being inappropriate. But, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us to honor God with our body; so to use our body in connection with a message that mirrors the Christian walk, can not be inappropriate by any means.

In my opinion, spiritual dance in all styles is indeed a necessary form of worship, if it satisfies three things:

1. Cultivates relationships.
This is a spirit led reward that is received as a symbol that God was in the midst of the style of dance that was ministered. It cultivates the relationship between God and the community receiving it, as well as the servant who is serving through their ministry of dance. It bridges the gaps of multi-cultural worship by allowing movement and the spirit to impart a message beyond words alone. It creates imagery that brings us to a sense of gratitude, and congers memories that an individual can identify with for that particular moment.

2. Is used for edification and not entertainment.
The opportunity to dance for Christ is a gift, not a given. It should not be used for entertainment purposes, as that will only impede the wrong type of attention and focus. When the focus is on an individual, other prejudices cloud the mindset, bringing it to a state of worship that will not edify.

3. Mirrors the message of the Messiah.
Through dance the message can be mirrored without words sometimes better than it can be mirrored with words. It was St. Francis Assisi who said, “Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary, use words.” Dance shows others that we do not always have to utilize our words to bring someone to Christ, or show them that we are Christian. It shows that kindness, a genuine spirit and a relationship with Christ seep through a person in other ways that we do not often recognize.

So, whether it is praise dance, gospel dance, liturgical dance, or dance to a Christian hip-hop song that you never heard of, the message to be received is not dependent on one’s comfortability. It is not dependant on one’s personal beliefs about the person that is delivering the message and is certainly not dependent on entertainment without some sort of edification. Spiritual dance is a ministry in itself and should be used for the edification of the body of believers. It is a spiritual connector that edifies not only the receivers but the giver of the gift as well. It opens us up to the magnitude of God and diverse ways of communicating. When we attempt to omit this particular style of worship, and those three core things that should be associated with it, we have diminished the full beauty of God’s message in multiple ways.

See Also:

Intentionality

Multilingual Worship: Is it Worth it?

In Harmony

Friday Fruit (06/22/12)

On Fridays, BTSF posts links to some of the week's happenings. 

It's an opportunity for you to read about racial justice & Christianity from other folks, and for me to give props to the shoulders on which I stand...

Weekly Round Up:

• Is a “black evangelical” a contradiction in terms? 

• Introducing Congregations to Mulitcultural Worship: Proskuneo's great vlog guide

• IVCF: What Community Colleges Teach Us

• Is my worship conditional?

• The Stories Behind the Picture: Getting to know our neighbors

• Respectful Political Dialogue: Nuns on the Bus Hits Rep. Paul Ryan's Wisconsin Office

• Juneteenth and the Reality of Emancipation

• Adidas ‘Shackle Shoes’ Get The Boot

These are some of BTSF's links of interest this week. What are yours?

Feel free to contribute your own links in the comments section, or submit items you feel should be included during the week. Self-promotion is encouraged. 

See Also:
In Harmony
Multiethnic Worship: What Does God Desire?
Welcoming and Inclusive Worship

Intentionality

Next in our series about reconciled worship, please welcome guest blogger April Sunami. April is a wonderful mother and artist. Check out her work. 

Check out more of April's artwork

I clearly recall looking up at the praise team, which consisted of a racially mixed group. The congregation was dotted and intertwined with the well heeled, the downtrodden and the folks somewhere in between. This place, which would become my church home for the next eight years, was a long cry from any place I’d ever seen (See post: Church for All People).

However naïve it may sound, I thought that our congregation was multi-racial and socio-economically diverse in a completely organic and naturally occurring way. In fact it was quite the opposite. I’ve since learned that it is no coincidence that the musicians were multi-racial or there were multi-ethnic images of Christ on the slide projector.

These days I am one of the folks who select the images for the worship service. It is a wonderful challenge to find pictures that reflect our faith community in addition to providing context to the liturgy. Along the way I’ve learned these three simple things:

1. Diversity is intentional- it is a conscious and deliberate choice. I never gave much thought to the term “intentionality” when it came to diversity in my church, but we all choose where we worship and whom we have relationships with.  

2. Diversity is hard work. Finding commonalities is the way people naturally socialize, so it is no surprise that we all naturally segregate ourselves through race, social background, etc. Yes, we are all one body in Christ and obviously Christians have the common ground of believing in Christ, but unfortunately many of us still carry the baggage of fraternizing only with those who look, dress and talk like ourselves. It takes extra effort to engage and have a meaningful relationship with someone outside of your comfort zone.

3. Intentional representation is a small but important way to encourage diversity. The subtext of having images representing various races, ages, genders, and backgrounds says to the viewer “you are a welcome, relevant, and vital part of this community.”

Multilingual Worship: Is it Worth it?

Continuing our series about reconciled worship, the following was originally published by Royce Morris for Proskuneo:  

Is it worth the trouble to sing in a new/different language if there is only one person there who speaks it? I’d say… YES!

Imagine this… You have grown up as a White American in the suburbs of a mid-size city in the Midwest. You have never traveled. God (via your company) then moves you to a country where hardly any English is spoken… let’s say somewhere in India.

Everything is different there from the way people wash their clothes to the way people drive. You feel overwhelmed by the new culture and language but you are slowly starting to get the hang of it.

You are able to find a solid church where the Pastor speaks Hindi slow enough for you to understand. You even begin to learn some worship songs in Hindi. But what would happen to your heart if you heard their music leader suddenly burst into Great is Thy Faithfulness, or How Great is Our God in English?

Even if their pronunciation wasn’t that good, wouldn’t you feel relief to be able to sing to God in a language where you don’t have to think of the whole sentence before you can even begin to say it? Wouldn’t you feel loved by the church that was stepping out of their comfort zone to allow you to worship in your heart language? If you were that American person would you say it was worth it for them to learn that song or chorus for you?

What about here in the States? Do you think it’s worth it to learn a chorus in Korean even if there’s only one man there who speaks it? What if you and Spanish are mortal enemies, but an immigrant family who doesn’t speak much English starts attending your congregation?

I don’t want you to misunderstand me. I believe that people, when living in a culture outside their own, should make an effort to learn the language and customs of that place to operate there but not at the expense of losing their own.

It honors God when we consider others more than ourselves. 

Do you think it’s worth it?

See Also:

Why Sing in Other Languages

The Sacrifice of Praise

Multiethnic Worship: What Does God Desire?

Friday Fruit (06/15/12)

On Fridays, BTSF posts links to some of the week's happenings. 

It's an opportunity for you to read about racial justice & Christianity from other folks, and for me to give props to the shoulders on which I stand...

Weekly Round Up:

• How Race Changes The Relationship Between Religion and Politics

• The Scars of Stop-and-Frisk [Video]

• Count The Trees: A Measure of Income Inequality

• Apology 101: A great breakdown of good and bad apologies

• Multilungual Worship: Encouraging words from the previous choir director

• Southern Baptists Then And Now

• Audra McDonald Makes History At The Tony Awards

• Support Dear White People

These are some of BTSF's links of interest this week. What are yours?

Feel free to contribute your own links in the comments section, or submit items you feel should be included during the week. Self-promotion is encouraged. 

See Also:
In Harmony
Multiethnic Worship: What Does God Desire?
Welcoming and Inclusive Worship

There's a Stranger in My House

Next in our series about reconciled worship, please welcome back guest blogger Kevin Robinson. The following article originally appeared on the Accord1 blog for the purpose of "Building the Bridge Together" over the ethnic/cultural divide.

Demographic changes are affecting this nation in ways we never contemplated. Neighborhoods are changing faces on a level not seen since the Second Great Migration that took place from 1941, through World War II, and lasted until 1970. More than five million African Americans moved to cities in states in the North, Midwestand West.

Caught in the middle of these neighborhoods are traditional African American churches, which are becoming islands in these transforming communities. This brings to mind a Ronnie Millsap song called, “There’s a Stranger in my House.” This is how we sometimes feel when tradition is challenged or reshaped. However, the exclusively traditional African American churches in these geographical communities are becoming less relevant. In the communities where the Latino populations are becoming equally represented, statistics show churches that become more multi-ethnic in nature are growing and those that are not are shrinking or dying.

Christianity Today Magazine features the Second Baptist Church in an article titled, “Black Church Barrios: African American Churches Adapt to Latino Neighbors” This church was known for its progressive influence in the civil rights movement and was a speaking platform for Martin Luther King, Jr. The question of how two very different cultures can ever come together is being faced in this south Los Angeles neighborhood. These are the strangers of old because this was home to their ancestors of Mexican heritage.

Providing an environment of love and respect in this community can be a starting point for relationships to develop and grow. Before programs and styles of worship can ever mesh, the aspects of love, trust and reciprocity must first be established. 

“He has set the right time for everything.
He has given us a desire to know the future,
but never gives us the satisfaction of
fully understanding what he does.”
 Ecclesiastes 3:11

Churches will be challenged in the next few years on how to reach out to the many changing communities. During this period of change, many African American churches will be challenged to broaden their prospective in the same way that they have been asking whites to do concerning accepting and integrating themselves in church and society as a whole.

This tidal wave of change has already impacted areas of the Southwest and will soon overtake many other communities across the nation. Christ’s followers on all sides of the ethnic/cultural divide will need to capitalize on this change by using the brick and mortar of trust and reciprocity to “Build the Bridge Together” to a home for all, where there are no strangers.

“So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:19)

See Also:

Welcoming and Inclusive Worship

Pointing the Blame

Make My Brown Eyes Blue

Why Sing in Other Languages?

We continue our series exploring how disparate groups can come together in communal worship for the sake of justice and reconciliation. The following article was originally published by Josh Davis at Proskuneo Ministries:

Many worship leaders want to add in global songs, but aren't willing to invest time in getting to know and learning from people who are different than them. What good are global songs if they are not an expression of true heart worship and a celebration of the unity we have in Christ Jesus? Is true unity simply sitting in the same pew singing the same songs?

After searching the scripture and much prayer, we at Proskuneo believe that true unity is much deeper, and has to do with the heart (surprise, surprise!) and with real-life relationships. True unity may be more evidenced in going on vacation together, walking through life’s joys and sorrows together, praying together, and eating together in each other’s homes than it is by singing the same songs while sitting side-by-side on a Sunday morning.

Take a look at this spectrum:

<————————————————————————————————————–>

musical authenticity                                                                                                  accessibility

Many times in an effort to make a song more accessible, we dilute it so that it doesn’t seem too “other” or “unusual.” And that can be offensive. Some would say, “you don’t want to sing my songs…you want to take my songs and make them sound like your songs.” And, on the other side of the spectrum, if we lean too heavily towards musical authenticity, we sacrifice accessibility. Some would say, “you don’t want to share your songs with us, you want to sing your songs at us.” And we risk making worship a spectator sport. 

However, in all of this, I believe one of the main keys for navigating this spectrum is relationship. In relationship, true dialogue can occur and we can work this tension out together. We can pursue mutual understanding. We can offer to sacrifice the authenticity of our song stylistically in order to make it more friendly towards others. Or we can sacrifice accessibility, so that we can appreciate the true “otherness” of a certain song or style.

Why would we sing a worship song in a language that no one in our congregation speaks? 

Good question. I am glad you asked.

1) Are you sure that no one in your congregation speaks that language?
Are there really none of those people in your congregation? No one whose heart language is Spanish or Korean? If you were to look at me, you would never guess that Spanish is one of my heart languages. You can’t tell by looking at someone what languages they speak or don’t speak. And, if there is even one of those people in your congregation, then truly “them is us,” as a good friend of mine likes to say.

2) Because worship is not only expressive, but formative.
We should sing in worship not only the things that express our hearts, but also the things that should express our hearts. (Kind of like teaching a kid to say “Thank you.” It actually can cultivate thankfulness.) If we are only expressive in our worship, we would never sing “in all I do, I honor You.” Because we all know that is just not true. However, it is what we want to be true.

Singing a song in a foreign language can help form many things in us. It can make us more aware of our neighbors across the street or around the world. It can cultivate a heart within us for those who are different from us. It can remind us that God’s heart is for the people in the community surrounding our church. And our hearts should be for them as well. If they aren’t, we shouldn’t be content with that. So, singing a song in one of those languages, could be a way in which we put our hearts in position for God to share more of His heart for those people with us. What cultures and languages are spoken right around your church building?

3) Because worship is not about us.
There is a real tendency in us to make worship all about us these days. How many times have you heard, “The band was tight today. They played some of my favorite songs. Worship was awesome today!” If we don’t like the worship at one church, we just find another church. As if worship were about pleasing us. Worship is about GOD and His glory. Is one language adequate for fully expressing God’s glory? Is one musical style sufficient? Singing a song in a different language can be an opportunity to see GOD as bigger than my own language, my own cultural style, my own preferences, my own boxes that I put him in.

Read: 'Where God happens'

4) Because God exists outside my comfort zone.
Many churches have worship wars (or worship skirmishes) over traditional and contemporary, and so they ask, “Why in the world would I add a different language or style to the mix?” The people in your congregation may find that they are on common uncomfortable ground if you sing a song that isn’t comfortable for anybody. And in that moment, recognize that GOD can be honored by our humility, by our teachability, by our willingness to get outside ourselves, by our desire to see Him exalted.

So, my question to you is…

Are you pursuing relationships with people who are different from you? Why? Why not? 

Proskuneo exists to glorify God and promote unity in the Body of Christ through multilingual, multicultural worship gatherings, worship resources, and training of believers in order that lives be transformed and nations come together to worship God.

Friday Fruit (06/08/12)

Joel Filártiga via Jan Paron

On Fridays, BTSF posts links to some of the week's happenings. 

It's an opportunity for you to read about racial justice & Christianity from other folks, and for me to give props to the shoulders on which I stand...

Weekly Round Up:

• Asian Americans and Unemployment

• Can a Map Be Ethnocentric?

• The Foreclosure Crisis: It is Time for the Church to Create an Act of God

• Incarceration on the Cheep in Louisiana

• Brotherhood: Jan Paron's current series

These are some of BTSF's links of interest this week. What are yours?

Feel free to contribute your own links in the comments section, or submit items you feel should be included during the week. Self-promotion is encouraged. 

See Also:
In Harmony
Multiethnic Worship: What Does God Desire?
Welcoming and Inclusive Worship

Multiethnic Worship: What Does God Desire?

We continue our series exploring how disparate groups can come together in communal worship for the sake of justice and reconciliation. The following article was originally published by Royce Morris for Proskuneo: 

Multi-ethnic worship is not a new technique for reaching people from diverse backgrounds. It is not merely a response to the global migration that is happening at a staggering pace. It does not mean catering to the comfort zones and heart music of the people in our congregations.

It is bigger than us…our preferences, our grooves, our desires, our music, our ways. It is more than hands folded or hands raised, fast or slow, loud or soft, active or still.

Many times as we approach the subject of worship, we are asking the wrong questions. What kind of music do they like? What are the felt needs of the congregation? Who is our target audience? In what ways can we best worship God? But, what if, instead, we were to ask the question: What does GOD desire?

Ephesians 5:10 exhorts us to “try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.” Instead of focusing on what is pleasing to us, let’s find out what pleases God. As we look throughout the Scriptures, we see…

God desires the nations to worship Him

The ten commandments begin by proclaiming that God alone is to be worshiped, revered, and adored. Psalm 86:8-9 says, “There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.” Notice that this text (among others like Acts 17:26) clearly states that God created the nations.

How might the realization that God created the nations affect your perspectives on cultures, ethnicities, and diversity? In this text we notice that all nations (quite an inclusive term!) will come and worship God. It will happen. It is part of God’s wise plan.


God desires the nations to worship Him together

In Revelation 7:9,10 John gives us a glimpse of heaven. In it, “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb… and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”

As we consider what that must have looked like and sounded like to John, we hear the words of Jesus’ prayer… “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We don’t know a lot about what heaven is like. But it is clear from Revelation 7 and other passages that there will be multi-ethnic worship in heaven for eternity. I am willing to join my prayer with Jesus’ and work for the rest of my life to see God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven as it relates to multi-ethnic worship. Are you?

God desires the worship of the heart 

The Bible is largely silent when it comes to appropriate forms of worship. What instruments are appropriate or not appropriate? How long should a service last? Should we use powerpoint or hymnals? What should the preaching style be? Should we sit in pews, in chairs, or on the floor?

In fact, when Jesus was questioned by the Samaritan woman at the well about the form of worship, He chose to redirect the conversation. Instead, Jesus said that God is seeking worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. Romans 12 links worship with heart issues such as surrender, humility, service, and community rather than with any musical style.

God desires Jesus to be exalted

Philippians 2 makes this abundantly clear. At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess His lordship. Jesus Himself is the Unifier of the Church. He is the Head of the church (Eph 1:22), our peace (Eph 2:14), and His Spirit is the Spirit of unity (Eph 4:3).

In our churches today, we seem to seek to be unified by so many things…a common mission, a cool brand, a socio-economic status, a shared language, a preferred musical style. We must be careful not to supplant Jesus. He deserves to be the Unifier of the church.

As God’s people, may we give Him what He deserves…the praise of all people. And may we offer Him what He desires…the worship of the nations together. Let us not travel the path of least resistance. Let us not be content with our cultural defaults. Let us not focus on form, but on Christ. Let us do so together. And may He receive glory in the church forever and ever!

Proskuneo exists to glorify God and promote unity in the Body of Christ through multilingual, multicultural worship gatherings, worship resources, and training of believers in order that lives be transformed and nations come together to worship God.

See Also:

In Harmony

Welcoming and Inclusive Worship

The Sacrifice of Praise

In Harmony

Have you ever sung in a choir where you didn't really know your part? You just kind of listened to the person behind you and followed along? And then, the director asks all the parts mix in together…uh oh.

No one really knows their part until they can sing it surrounded by the harmony of others. Yet, as Edgardo Colon-Emeric observes, many of us “want to join the hallelujah chorus in paradise but refuse to leave our ethnic section rehearsals on earth.”

By moving beyond the safety of our own sections, we gain the capacity to be instruments of God. We understand our context, how we fit in, and the beauty of voices around us. Yet, most of us spend our entire lives in section rehearsal, only making music with those singing the same part.

For too long in our world, one section has drowned out the music of the other voices, but “it is hard to be in tune with Christ when so many of us have tuned out our neighbors.” In a choir, we learn to blend, to support others, to yield the spotlight. We don’t race ahead, but learn to finish together. We learn the value of listening to others, and how to adjust our own behavior in response to what we hear.

As worshipers of the Triune God, we understand the beauty of three-part harmony. No two choirs are ever the same, because each benefit from the unique voices they include. The contrasts in color and texture give the ensemble life!

In the Ubuntu Choir for All People at UM Church for All People, we sing in many styles and languages, while remaining sensitive to the heart-songs of the participants. We try not appropriate or homogenize, but rather respect the culture of the song’s origin, to the best of our ability. Thus, we invite a ‘salad bowl’ rather than a ‘melting pot’ of diversity, highlighting the many voices of the body of Christ.

Our goal is to be accessible for all, while remaining challenging for those with music experience, so that we engage a variety of ability levels. To this end, we use music with layered complexity that offers simple melodies, supported by more complicated countermelodies and descants.

Every voice is important to the group, and therefore solos are rotated amongst anyone that wants one. Featured parts are tailored to an individual’s ability/vocal style and may include improvisatory solos over the chorus, solo introductions of the refrain, drums solos, or speaking parts. 

Singing together affords the opportunity of mutual dependence. Unity is not a charitable endeavor, but one that is fundamental for own souls. Unless we have an attitude of equal partnership, we bring discord to the harmony of Christ.

And so, let us not hesitate "to leave the safety of the section rehearsal. Do not be afraid to submit to the baton of Christ. Do not put it off until heaven."

Bless, O Lord, us your servants who minister in your temple.

Grant that what we sing with our lips we may believe with our hearts, 

and what we believe in our hearts we may show forth in our lives. 

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

-The Chorister's Prayer 

What does worship look like at your church? How do you make sure that all are welcome at your services?

Friday Fruit (06/01/12)

On Fridays, BTSF posts links to some of the week's happenings. 

It's an opportunity for you to read about racial justice & Christianity from other folks, and for me to give props to the shoulders on which I stand...

Weekly Round Up:

• White Privilege Will Be Televised: And Kids Are Still Watching

• Human Rights Record of United States in 2011: An outside perspective

• Presidential Metal of Freedom to Toni Morrison, Dolores Huerta

• ‘Awkward Black Girl’ Season 2: Preview trailer

• Will Smith's Parenting Philosophy

These are some of BTSF's links of interest this week. What are yours?

Feel free to contribute your own links in the comments section, or submit items you feel should be included during the week. Self-promotion is encouraged. 

See Also:
Welcoming and Inclusive Worship
Sacrifice of Praise
The Struggles of Discussing Race In The Asian American Evangelical Church