Christian Congregational Music

Congregational music-making has long been a vital and vibrant practice within Christian communities worldwide. Even though congregational music flows along global networks, it reflects, informs, and articulates convictions and concerns that are irreducibly local. Congregational song can unify communities of faith across geographical and cultural boundaries; however, it can also be used to mark divisions between Christians of different denominations, cultural backgrounds, and social classes. We cannot truly understand the meanings, uses, and influences of congregational music within Christianity without exploring both its local contexts and its global circulation.

To further the understanding and practice of congregational music-making, the Christian Congregational Music conference seeks to bring together world-class scholars and practitioners to explore together the varying cultural, social, and spiritual roles church music plays in the life of various Christian communities around the world. Through a series of invited talks, roundtable discussions, paper presentations, and documentary film showings, conference participants examined the multifaceted interaction between local and global dimensions of Christian congregational music by drawing from perspectives across academic disciplines, including musicology and ethnomusicology, theology, anthropology, history, and education.

Dr. John D. Witvliet will serve as one of the presenters.