Conversations on Contemporary Worship: Recent Episodes
Duke Worship Research Group
Conversations connecting contemporary worship research with contemporary worship leaders for life of the church.
In this episode with Dr. Sarah Kathleen Johnson, we discuss her recently co-authored article "Contemporary Worship Music as an Ecumenical Liturgical Movement" (Worship Journal, 2023). We explore how contemporary praise and worship music has found its way into the hearts and hymnals of a wide variety of Christian traditions as it connects Christians across time and space.
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In this episode with Dr. Anna Nekola, we discuss her recent article "Congregational Music as 'Phatic Communication': Affect, Atmosphere, and Relational Ways ofListening" (Yale Journal of Music & Religion, 2022). We explore some of the social functions of music and how it does more than open of spiritual pathways between us and God but also social pathways to connect with one another. This form of communication is more than information but about enabling and maintaining social connections.
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For the past few years, Dr. Kelsey Kramer McGinnis has been covering worship music as a journalist for Christianity Today. Her articles have been stirring up really important conversations among worship leaders! She joins me on the podcast to talk about how the Worship Leader Research project fits into her broader view of whats going on in the worship music world.
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In this episode with Dr. Nathan Myrick (Mercer University), we discuss his recent book _Music for Others: Care, Justice, and Relational Ethics in Christian Music (Oxford University Press, 2021). We explore what we are after in making music together -- and perhaps what we should be after in church music in particular. Namely, what kinds of relationships should be the result of making music together.
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I chat with my Worship Leader Research teammate Marc Jolicoeur about his role on the research team and how the project is impacting his work as a local church worship leader. He's an avid learner who brings his joy and hope to this important pastoral work.
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I chat with my Worship Leader Research teammate Elias Dummer to talk about his contributions to the project, his hopes for the future of worship, and his experience in the worship music industry.
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In this episode with Dr. Jonathan Welch (Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary), we discuss the legacy of the song story column in Worship Leader Magazine and what it can tell us about how worship songwriters imagine God's participation in the creative act. Welch encourages worship songwriters to know that God is present in the process, even if we aren't feeling some special divine anointing in the moment!
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My fellow Worship Leader Research teammate Dr. Shannan Baker takes a minute to chat about the WLR project, her hopes as a researcher, and what animates her ongoing care for the contemporary worship phenomenon as a researcher.
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In this episode, we talk with Dr. Noel Snyder, author of the book _Sermons that Sing: Music and the Practice of Preaching_ (IVP Academic, 2021). Dr. Snyder explores the musicality of the preaching moment as we discuss the preaching of Elevation Church Pastor and songwriter Steven Furtick.
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In this episode, we talk with Dr. Marcell Silva Steuernagel (Dallas, TX), author of the book _Church Music Through the Lens of Performance_ (Routledge, 2021). Dr. Silva Steuernagel discusses the negative baggage of the language of "performance" in worship and helps us reimagine its usefulness. Instead of shying away, he encourages us to re-embrace "performance" for worship practices in order to be more deeply engaged, freed to lead, and more fully ourselves before God.
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In this episode, we talk with Dr. Maren Haynes Marchesini (Helena, MO). Dr. Haynes Marchesini talks with us about the music and worship culture at the infamous Mars Hill Church, Seattle WA. Our conversation explores the relationship between the subcultural musical styles and the Pastor Mark Driscoll's niche, aggressive approach to a patriarchal and gender complementarian faith. Dr. Haynes Marchesini encourages us to think about reflect regularly our worship enacts our values as a community and wrestle with our inherited traditions.
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In this episode, we talk with Dr. Zac Hicks (Birmingham, AL). Dr. Hicks discusses a general posture toward technology in worship and how to think about what Christian scripture and tradition might have to say about it. Our conversation explores the relationship between technology and culture, conflict over changes in technology, and why we worship leaders might need to develop a more discerning approach to worship technologies.
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In this episode, we talk with Anneli Loepp Thiessen (University of Ottawa). Thiessen discusses the role that gender plays in shaping the contemporary worship music industry, especially when it comes to songwriting. Our conversation explores the relationship between women and the top CCLI charts, language about human-divine encounter in contemporary worship, and why we might want to think more expansively about biblical metaphors for God in contemporary worship songs.
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In this episode, we talk with Dr. Gerardo MartÍ (Davidson College). Dr. MartÍ discusses with us the surprising role that race and ethnicity among worship leaders plays in shaping worshipping communities. Our conversation explores diverse hiring practices, the impact of church growth logic on contemporary worship, and way sociology can help us unmask the questionable influence of contemporary worship on global Christianity today.
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In this episode, we talk with Dr. Lester Ruth (Duke University) and Dr. Lim Swee Hong (University of Toronto), co-authors of the recent book A History of Contemporary Praise & Worship: Understanding the Ideas that Reshaped the Protestant Church (Baker Academic, 2021). Drs. Ruth and Lim walk us through their new book and describe how two distinct theologies of worship (including music) have reshaped protestant worship in the second half of the 20th century. Our conversation explores the historical trends, theological commitments, and biblical revelations that undergird the way Christian communities worldwide now worship.
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In this bonus episode, we talk with two researchers working on a new project related to the changes in the "life curves" of recent top songs: how fast they rise on the charts, stay there, and ultimately fade out of use. We discuss the data and what it might mean for worship leaders who steward the song repertoires -- and consequently the faith -- of local congregations. Search for the recent article in Christian Today (https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/december/worship-music-lifespan-shrinking-faster-study-tanner-ccli.html) and larger article coming from Worship Leader Magazine in early 2022.
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In this episode, we talk with Dr. Melanie Ross, liturgical theologian and author of the recent book Evangelical Worship: An American Mosaic (Oxford University Press, 2021). Dr. Ross reflects on how a commitment to corporate worship sits at the heart of evangelical communities negotiating their multiple identities. Our conversation explores the diversity of worship practices across evangelical churches and how the work of one revered scholar has overshadowed a deeper scholarly look at evangelical worship in the U.S.
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In this episode, we enjoy a conversation with Dr. Emily Snider Andrews, professor of music and worship at Samford University. We discuss her work on sacramental theology and the worship of Bethel Church in Redding, CA. Our conversation addresses how sacramental theology can help us understand music as a means for encountering God and how the label "Renewalist" identifies worship theologies across ecclesial boundaries.
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We talk Hillsong history, theology, and music with insider and scholar Dr. Tanya Riches. Dr. Riches is a former songwriter and worship leader at Hillsong Church and now serves as senior lecturer and masters program director at Hillsong College in Sydney, Australia. The basis of our conversation is her recent co-edited volume (with Tom Wagner) The Hillsong Movement Examined: You Call me Out Upon the Waters (Charis, 2017). We talk about the gifts and challenges of studying megachurch communities, worship identity, and cultivating a scholarly community that can sustain a dialogue with the community members themselves. Dr. Riches sets a generous table—have a listen!
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In this episode, we enjoy a wide-ranging conversation with Dr. Joshua Busman. Dr. Busman is a musicologist and professor at the University of North Carolina - Pembroke. We discuss how worship leaders navigate the use of worship technologies (eg. 'band-in-a-box'), the role of authenticity, and how to manage congregational expectations. Our conversation also ventures into the multiple meanings and functions of song lyrics--what do they do and what are they for, anyway?
Check out his recent chapter, "Amateurism-not-Amateurishness, or Authenticity as Vanishing Act in Evangelical Worship Music" in the recent edited book Ethics and Christian Musicking (eds. Myrick and Porter, Routledge, 2021).
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In this conversation, we speak with Rev. Dr. Glenn Packiam, pastor of New Life Church Downtown in Colorado Springs, CO. He’s the author of Worship and the World to Come: Exploring Christian Hope in Contemporary Worship (IVP Academic, 2020). Dr. Packiam talks about how congregations experience Christian hope through singing in congregational worship—and how theologians might begin to understand that more deeply.
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In this episode, we talk with Dr. Monique Ingalls, church music scholar and author of the recent book Singing the Congregation: How Contemporary Worship Music forms Evangelical Community. Dr. Ingalls reflects on how five recent sites for contemporary worship music are shaping the church, its musical practices, and ultimately, its communal identity. We explore the usefulness of the term "evangelical" and how ethnographic research methods are useful for both scholars and local church leaders.
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