Title
THE FORMATION OF A MISSIONAL CROSS–CULTURAL URBAN COMMUNITY: COMMUNAL SINGING OFF THE MENU - A ‘MEAL TO MUSIC’ APPROACH
THE FORMATION OF A MISSIONAL CROSS–CULTURAL URBAN COMMUNITY: COMMUNAL SINGING OFF THE MENU - A ‘MEAL TO MUSIC’ APPROACH
By Amelia Koh–Butler
A Dissertation Presented to the
Faculty of the
School of Intercultural Studies
FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Intercultural Studies (Doctor of Missiology)
I was asked to say grace at the wedding breakfast, knowing Mark and Olenka wanted to convey thanksgiving to God and invite friends and family into a new understanding of community...The relationship between shared hospitality and being sent in mission is often assumed. Without articulation, however, they can be seen as independent, rather than interdependent, activities. In this project, I ask questions about community and worship relevant to every era and location. This introduction gives background to the study and situates the researcher and participants in the project.
One of the most important events for Jesus was to break bread with his friends. This act of sharing bread and wine together was a form of bonding a new family with a new identity. Today, in their first act as a married couple, Mark and Olenka have invited you here to break bread with them, as the family and friends who will support and bless them in their lives together. So, let us all take the bread roll beside our plates, lift it up, break it, and give thanks to God, praying for peace and harmony as we send them into this new life together, started today. (Fieldnote transcription: November 2013)
Personal Background
I sing my faith as a Chinese–Celtic Aussie woman, serving as a Minister in a reformed, progressive and evangelical setting. I am a Christian convert, Buddhist by background. Trained as an opera–singer and conductor, I entered ministry through varied denominational and ecumenical influences. I am married with adult children and young grandchildren. Our home has ‘family–members’ from seven different ethnic groups.For some years, I explored Trinitarian Ecclesiology, using music to illustrate the influence of a dynamic God breathing life into communities of faith. I was drawn to the work of the Spirit in and among people, called together to become God’s own. I became wary of speaking of God’s activity from a theoretical–abstract position and sought to observe and measure God’s inspiration in a concrete setting. I looked for a opportunities to use music to inspire people.
Background to the Study
From 2012-2015, I served as the National Chairperson for Multi and Cross–cultural Ministry in the Uniting Church in Australia. I gathered leaders, representing different ethnicities, sharing identity in Christ, to join in God’s mission. This made me aware of global movements exploring interracial and intercultural communities of faith and how to share the gospel in a hurt and broken world.Increasingly, liturgical resources, including music, are being sourced internationally or developed locally for use with congregations of multiple background identities. They find their way from Iona (Hawn, 2000) and Cleveland (Tirabassi, 2000) to a coal town in Australia.
In March 2012, I commenced as the Minister of an urban community, with a mix of people from diverse ethnic and socio–economic backgrounds, generations and sexual orientations. While I brought passions for creative arts and theology, these people were entering a period of exploring shared identity and common purpose. This research is an expression of my work with them. I helped them understand identity in Christ, and their missional calling as disciples. Music was to be a key tool at my disposal.
The diversity presented challenges in sharing lives and naming common identity. I supported their covenanting together in worship. They gathered in one place, their voices joined in praise, prayer and prophecy. They participated in Baptism and Holy Communion, becoming one body through ritual experience. Yet, this coming together was not an end in itself, it became a story of empowering the people to fully engage in God’s mission (Lingenfelter, 2008:83).
Through a study of four culturally–diverse groups in the Wesley Uniting Church
(Newcastle, Australia), I investigate how and in what ways music mediates communitas
in Eucharistic Services, with particular focus on the contribution of music in nourishing
unity in diversity and enabling cross–cultural mission.
Subproblems
Assumptions
Definitions
Delimitations
Overview
This paper is presented in three parts.
Part I, provides the grounding from literature in missiology, ethnomusicology and reseach methods. The missiological foundations rely heavily on the use of Five Marks of Mission and music–making is used to uncover ethnographic identity, build community and support ritual. The research uses interdisciplinary qualitative methods, consisting of three parts: (1) comparative subgroup case studies, using ethnographic tools to examine social hospitality gatherings, (2) event– centered analysis, using ritual criticism, to examine Eucharistic events and (3) missiological–ethnomusicological integrated reflection and analysis, featuring the experimental use of Ceilidhs to develop cross–cultural skills.
Part II commences with an outline of the context for the research. Chapters five, six and seven present data–collection, findings and analysi in relation to the social hospitality gatherings, Eucharistic events and Ceilidhs.
Part III reflects on the roles and relationships within the case study, including tracking changes in social orientations and an evaluation of leadership. Missional outcomes are detailed and proposals are offered for further study.
Part I, provides the grounding from literature in missiology, ethnomusicology and reseach methods. The missiological foundations rely heavily on the use of Five Marks of Mission and music–making is used to uncover ethnographic identity, build community and support ritual. The research uses interdisciplinary qualitative methods, consisting of three parts: (1) comparative subgroup case studies, using ethnographic tools to examine social hospitality gatherings, (2) event– centered analysis, using ritual criticism, to examine Eucharistic events and (3) missiological–ethnomusicological integrated reflection and analysis, featuring the experimental use of Ceilidhs to develop cross–cultural skills.
Part II commences with an outline of the context for the research. Chapters five, six and seven present data–collection, findings and analysi in relation to the social hospitality gatherings, Eucharistic events and Ceilidhs.
Part III reflects on the roles and relationships within the case study, including tracking changes in social orientations and an evaluation of leadership. Missional outcomes are detailed and proposals are offered for further study.
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