Due to the U.S. Memorial Day holiday, the regulary-scheduled worship music set list, “Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs” will appear here this Wednesday, June 2. Today, enjoy this short post by worship leader/songwriter Rebecca Dennison, and see her links to learn about opportunities to study ethnodoxology — an important field of study for anyone interested in worship arts or missions. And take note: that June 7 course is coming soon:
Ethnodoxology is the study of worship in culture – how various cultures express their praises to God in song, ritual, artwork, etc. Think of it as studying contextualization on a global scale.
This field of study provides useful insights if you are involved in international missions, planning services for a multi-ethnic congregation, or simply seeking to give your congregation a more global perspective, reminding them that the Church that spans both time and culture.
Here are a few resources if you are interested in learning more:
- International Council of Ethnodoxologists: The 5 year and lifetime memberships come with access to an online encyclopedia of global music.
- Calvin Institute Of Christian Worship: The annual Calvin Institute conference is a great place to meet other folks interested in learning about and applying ethnodoxology.
- Southern Baptist Seminary Ethnodoxology Summer seminar, June 7-11, 2010: The course equips students to cultivate culturally appropriate, biblical worship in international settings or in multi-ethnic North American congregations. Ethnodoxology is the cutting-edge field integrating missiology and world music studies with practical worship applications. The course is available both for graduate credit and as a non-credit workshop course.
- The teaching team consists of the leading ethnomusicologists, authors, and music missionaries in the field, culture/missions specialists including Drs. Brian Schrag, James Krabill, Paul Neeley, Robin Harris, and others affiliated with the International Council of Ethnodoxologists (ICE).
Thanks so much, Rebecca! We’re looking forward to another great Ethnodoxology Course at Southern! This is really a great post….
And another great resource: Proskuneo ministries (http://proskuneo.info/). I had the privilege of meeting Josh Davis while he was in town as part of the teaching team for the Southern Ethnodoxology course.