Performing the Gospel
Exploring the Borderland of Worship, Entertainment, and the Arts
Imprint: Cascade Books
What is the difference between good worship and good entertainment? Too often, people disparage some aspect of worship by calling it "just entertainment" or "just a performance." Others say that they do not need to go to church because they have profound spiritual or even religious experiences at concerts, plays, movies, or dances. How is worship different from these performing arts? How is art different from entertainment? This book looks at the history of the performing arts both in worship and as worship, with particular attention to the attitudes that shape our ideas about both worship and entertainment. Working definitions of words like "art," "excellence," "liturgy," and "play" help to illuminate what different people mean when they use them in conversations about Christian worship. Putting theological, scriptural, and practical writings on worship and the performing arts in conversation with interviews with dancers, musicians, actors, preachers, and liturgical scholars, this volume is intended to help pastors, performers, and everyone who plans, leads, or cares about worship talk with one another in mutually respectful and helpful ways.
Deborah Sokolove is Director of the Henry Luce III Center for the Arts and Religion and Professor of Art and Worship at Wesley Theological Seminary. Her other books include Sanctifying Art: Inviting Conversation Between Artists, Theologians, and the Church (2013) and Calling on God: Inclusive Prayers for Three Years of Sundays (2014), co-authored with Peter Bankson. In addition to her writing and teaching, she is a practicing visual artist who has exhibited widely.
“In a world where argument is advanced by Tweet, it is refreshing to read a collection of arguments about the nature of Christian worship offered in the time-tested, humane way—as conversations. Here are illuminating conversations with scholars, artists, musicians, performers, and worshipers capturing the life-giving potential of worship and performance to enrich the experience of each other for the glory of God and the good of all.”
—Taylor W. Burton-Edwards, OSL, Liturgyfolks Consulting
“Deborah Sokolove has done us the great favor of deconstructing the unthinking dichotomies Christians have drawn between worship and entertainment, and between performance and authenticity. The reflection she offers, and the generous use of her wise interlocutors, help us all to think through what we are doing when we seek to perform together the Good News of God's love for the healing of the world. Worship leaders and pastors will come away instructed and encouraged.”
—William Dyrness, Fuller Theological Seminary, author of Insider Jesus: Theological Reflections on New Religious Movements (2016)
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