Forming Christians through Musicking in China

Abstract

Abstract:In recent years, authorities in mainland China have renewed their call for the sinicization of Christianity through theological discourse. Given that Christianity is largely expressed in visible, worship-based ways, such as music (songs), rhetoric (sermons), rituals (sacraments), symbols (crosses, garments, banners, etc.), posture and gesture (genuflecting, lifting hands, etc.), one wonders at the implication of this development. Might there be an alternative approach to sinicization? This essay seeks to investigate the feasibility of sinicized Christianity from the ontology of musicking as purveyed through the practice of congregational song.

Beyond Translated vs. Indigenous: Turkish Protestant Christian Hymnody as Global and Local Identity

“…5 In his research on formation and congregational song in China, Swee Hong Lim observes an "interdependent relationship" between musicking and community. He states, "In this relationship, the community relies on musicking for its construction, while the relevance of musicking is authenticated by the community's continued use" (Lim 2017). A local community's expression of belief and identity through the singing of songs from outside their context may not fit into tidy geopolitical or regional identifiers, such as Western vs. indigenous; instead, the localization of congregational song reflects what Marcell Steuernagel calls "messiness" (Steuernagel 2021, p. 155).…”