Christian Voices in Musicology
Timothy H. Steele
Project Director
Associate Professor of Music
Calvin College
Johann Buis
Professor of Music
Wheaton College
Stanley Pelkey
Assistant Professor of Music
Western Michigan University
Abstract
There is a significant need for Christian music scholars to address issues raised by major reorientation in the discipline of musicology since the 1980s: what music counts for study, analysis and critical reflection, and what place has the particular identity of the musicologist in her orientation to research and in the shaping of critical observations and theoretical frameworks. The members of the planning team propose to initiate a research project that will engage in path-breaking work on these core questions of the discipline. Varied approaches to this task have already been discussed among the team members, including a thematic approach that would address specific issues and motivate particular research projects. Suggested themes include the formation of musical identity, the nature of musical meaning, the relationship of music to recent critical thought about human embodiment, and human creativity in the midst of relationship and community. Questions to be asked include, "What musicological work might be prompted by Christian concern for social justice?" and "How ought musicologists to confront the problem of evil?" As scholars with deep Christian convictions, we intend to explore these themes and others as ways of interacting with and responding to the assumptions that have shaped musicology over the last twenty years, recognizing that although music has been the subject of much Christian thinking there is no clear framework or set of scholarly agendas for Christian musicologists. Our proposal for this planning grant is to create the context within which we can explore various perspectives and achieve a clear focus for the extended research project we will propose following the planning period. We anticipate meeting on two occasions for intensive discussion of the project and for refinement of the Initiative Grant proposal. These meetings will take place in the early summer and autumn of 2008. We envision the larger project for which this it the planning stage to result in a book of essays and conference presentations by members of the project team and additional contributors.
Towards a Christian Conception of the State's Role in Creation Care
John L. Hiemstra
Project Director
Professor of Political Science
The King's University College
John R. Wood
Academic Dean
Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies
Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies
The King's University College
Jonathan P. Chaplin
Director
Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics, Tyndale House, Cambridge
Abstract
Contemporary environmental crises are sending churches and Christian NGOs to the Christian scholarly community for guidance on, and understanding of, the state's role in creation care. Many Christian traditions address issues of faith and politics, but have done little sustained reflection on the nature of the state's and government's role in society. When addressing environmental questions, they often utilize ethical approaches that give little direction on the distinctive task of the state in creation care. Roman Catholic and Reformed traditions have produced in-depth philosophical reflection on the state's role but little directly on the state's role in creation care. Furthermore, many mainstream secular approaches to the state's role on the environment no longer seem to work, for example, the environmental movements' failure to achieve significant governmental action on global warming. Critics attribute this failure in part to the underlying Enlightenment liberal assumptions of the dominant view of government. The Christian communities with traditions of reflecting on the state's role are in an excellent position to contribute to the renewal and deepening of faith-based and mainstream reflection on the state's role in creation care. This is so precisely because they have the experience and approaches required to engage the deeper religious and philosophical roots of these questions as well as theories that acknowledge the complex, plural structure of society. Our research network will make an interdisciplinary contribution to the development of a Christian framework for understanding the state's role in creation care.
American Pentecostalism's Engagement with Race and Ethnicity: Historical Realities and Theological Perspectives
Dr. Arlene M. Sanchez Walsh
Project Director
Associate Professor, Haggard School of Theology, Azusa Pacific University
Dr. Paul Alexander
Professor of Theology and Ethics
Asuza Pacific University
Dr. Anthea Butler
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
University of Rochester
Abstract
As Pentecostalism enters its 2nd American century, one of its critical issues will be how it continues to function as a multicultural entity. The purpose of this planning group is to grapple with the historical and theological issues embedded in the overarching theme. The eventual outcome of this planning group's work will be to collaborate with interested clergy and other academics in producing work relevant to local churches as it will challenge the historiographical trend in American Pentecostal history that suggests that racial inclusion evident in the early years of the movement was evidence of a sustained effort towards racial equality.
This collaboration will lay the groundwork for producing work relevant to the local church and denominations presented by our clergy. We also hope to provide proscriptive solutions to help American Pentecostalism manage the inevitable demographic shift to help dominant white majority movement to a movement coming closer to demographic parity. We want to argue that the current problems of race/ ethnicity in Pentecostalism are traceable to the very roots of the movement. We also want to break with the black/ white dichotomy that has marked much of the debate and acknowledge that issues of race/ ethnicity in American Pentecostalism are not simply products of a white dominant culture suppressing people of color, but in fact, of people of color often suppressing each other, especially in the late 20th and early 21st century urban centers where African Americans, Latinos, and Asians often compete for scarce goods, services, and compete in a complex religious marketplace. As theologians, we want to offer a broader view of the ethical dimensions of personhood, of abuses of power and again bring the Pentecostal church to a reckoning with its multicultural realities and offer a suitable pneumatology for how the church can be truly multicultural and not just a gathering place for diverse peoples.