Skip to main content

DRUMS IN THE CHURCH

ews

A Deeper Debate over Drums in Church

Native Christians still wrestle with how their culture fits into their churches.
A Deeper Debate over Drums in Church
Image: bpperry / iStock
More than 20 years ago, Mohawk musician Jonathan Maracle says, God told him to use his drum—an instrument used in traditional religious ceremonies—while playing at a conference for First Nation Christians.
The ensuing performance spawned his music ministry, Broken Walls. And it also sparked a controversy.
The next week, when he brought out the drum to play for another community of Native Christians, he was asked to leave the village.
“Religion had come in and taught my people that the drum was evil,” Maracle said. “I had no idea how difficult of a task I had been handed. Nobody was using the drum to worship Jesus at this time in 1995.”
When white missionaries first spread the gospel to indigenous tribes, they often did so in ways that undermined tribal language and culture. Almost all Native Christian leaders agree on that.
But leaders remain divided over what contextualizing their faith should look like—and what role sacred objects, like drums, have in Christian worship.
“There were lots of mistakes that happened historically in Native mission work. But you don’t solve one problem by creating another one,” said Craig Smith, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and president of Tribal Rescue Ministries. “That is what the movement is doing.” He organized a statement for the Christian and Missionary Alliance to warn his fellow Native Christians about “false teaching,” specifically around traditional sacred objects used in a Christian context.
Maracle’s drum playing began during a period when Native American communities were reexamining their own cultural practices—a soul-searching catalyzed by the New Age community’s interest …



2.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

RESEARCH TOPICS AND RESOURCES- ABSTRACTS

Music in West African churches Article  · January 1956 E.G. Parrinder It has been estimated that some twenty million Africans have become Christians; more than the total number of Christians in all the countries of Asia. This great movement towards Christianity is undoubtedly due largely to the breakdown of traditional African ways of life. In West Africa Islam also has profited by the change to extend its sway, especially in Northern Nigeria and parallel territories but hardly at all in Eastern Nigeria or the lower Gold Coast. The importance of music in African religious life is widely recognised, but this now needs to be considered in its modern forms and in the new religions which have largely replaced the old. It is curious that Islam, which bans all music in the mosque, should be so successful. But outside the mosque Muslims are notorious for their festivals and dances, and these have a great popular appeal. A full study of modern African Muslim music needs yet...
Post a Comment
Read more

Drumming in Worship: Experiencing God's heartbeat

Drumming in Worship: Experiencing God's heartbeat What is it about percussion that appeals to worshipers in so many cultures? How does drumming together help Christians build community? By: Joan Huyser-Honig John Meulendyk, pastoral lay assistant at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, could plainly see the problems facing Ferndale, Michigan. Like many inner-ring suburbs of Detroit, Ferndale is losing people, jobs, and income. Meulendyk gathered five women at his church to pray and discern how to address these changes. "We wanted to do a worship renewal project that would be ecumenical, something to unite the congregations in our community. We sat in prayer. We thought about this question: If we put aside all the theology, what unites us? "It's our heart beat. We all have that in common. And 90 perce...
Post a Comment
Read more

LESSONS

KPATSA BEGINNER BONGO LESSONS BONGOS CONGAS CUBAN CONGA CLINICA  WITH DIEGO GALE WITH CHILDREN
Post a Comment
Read more