Arts and Humanities Commons^™

New Leaves On Old Trees: A Synthesis Of Early American Music Through Contemporary Composition, Leslie A. Robinson

Selected Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the hymnody and choral music of 17th, 18th, and early 19th century Protestant communities in America with the goal of creating a historically informed composition that articulates musical and theological ideas of the past with a fresh voice. It will emphasize unique characteristics of the musical communities and connections between the communities. It will also focus on two relationships within individual communities: the association between the community’s music and its texts, and the connection between its theology and musical identity. The thesis and composition should reveal an understanding of early American musical …

A Theology Of Creation Lived Out In Christian Hymnody, Beth Hoeltke

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Hoeltke, Beth June “A Theology of Creation Lived Out in Christian Hymnody.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2014. 308 pp.

A seminal article written by Lynn White in the mid-1960’s indicted Christianity as a major cause affecting the ecological crisis of the day. White emphasized that the Christian tradition practiced domination rather than dominion and ownership rather than stewardship. Since White’s article Christian theologians have challenged his interpretation. One of the unexamined sources of the church’s teaching on creation is hymnody. This dissertation examines this source. Hymns play a vital role in the church’s teaching as they have the ability to …

The Message In Our Music : What Popular Congregational Songs Say About Our Beliefs, Neal W. Woodruff, Mark A. Frisius

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Work – Music

Congregational singing is a source of basic theological instruction, both reflecting and shaping what we believe. It is crucial, therefore, that we say what we believe when we sing. In this study, the authors focused on the songs most accessed by users of the Christian Copyright Licensing, Inc. (CCLI) service between 2006-2012. Twenty songs were identified as having received significant usage during this time period.

The results of this study found that a representative sampling of the lyrics of the most popular congregational songs did not sufficiently express foundational concepts of the Christian faith. Although individual congregations may have a …

Sing To The Lord A New Song: John Calvin And The Spiritual Discipline Of Metrical Psalmody, Brandon J. Bellanti

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The purpose of this essay is to evaluate the way that psalmody - specifically metrical psalmody - serves as a sort of spiritual discipline. In other words, this essay seeks to demonstrate how the singing of psalms can be a tool to aid in spiritual growth. Much of the research for this essay focuses on the theological writings of the Protestant reformer John Calvin, as well as the way in which he incorporated metrical psalmody into his liturgical framework. The research also comprises primary writings from Aristotle, Plato, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Basil, and Saint Augustine - all of whom …

Art In The Service Of The Liturgy, Ellen Phillips

Symposium on Worship Archive

This workshop will present the history, theory, theology, propriety, and need for art in worship allowing plenty of time for those who attend to ask questions, discuss the ideas and present their own thoughts on liturgical art.