one more step towards grad school
Well, I won a Grell Scholarship to the tune of $5,000. Go me! Only $6,500 bucks to go. In celebration, I'm posting the essay I wrote on my career/vocational goals. I'm not a great writer, but you can at least see what I'm getting at.
In other news, my gig in California went very well and got me gigs in Detroit and Cleveland. Ok, so Cleveland might not be the most happening place in the world, but Motown is pretty cool and it's nice to be paid to travel.
Here's all about me:
I believe very strongly that each generation of Christians needs to retranslate the Gospel into its own cultural language. The gospels were written in Greek, but when brought to other parts of the world they were translated into Hebrew, Latin, and other languages. When storytelling was the primary conduit of information, Christianity used myths and legends to proclaim the gospel. When the printing press was invented, the gospel was taken to the people in written form. When arts were thriving, the gospel was spread through magnificent paintings, sculptures, and architecture, and when a jaded society declared religion to be obsolete, the gospel was proclaimed through social justice, activism, and charity.
Unfortunately, I feel as though the gospel has yet to be translated into the language of my generation. Phrases like “Lamb of God” and “Christ the Logos” mean very little to young people today. In an age of internet literacy, young people don’t want to juggle a hymnal, a book of common prayer, and a bulletin through a linear, hierarchical service. In order to adequately proclaim the gospel, the church must either educate young people until they develop fluency with first century symbology and imagery, or it must retranslate the gospel into a medium already understood by my generation.
As a professional musician in New York City who works in both sacred and secular music, I’ve been able to see the startling disconnect between the mediums of communication utilized by these two worlds. In the secular world, I have become used to electronic media, nonlinear narrative, and polyfocality. I am disappointed if a concert does not boast spectacular visuals. I am used to being able to watch TV, eat dinner, talk on the phone, and do homework at the same time. It is natural for me to use the internet as a research tool, and yet I made it through college without opening an encyclopedia.
In church, however, I am used to other things. I am used to following a linear service as it progresses through a book. I am used to organs, cantors, and chorales. I am used to acoustic guitars, shakers, and “Peter, Paul, and Mary” harmonies. Even “contemporary” Christian music has very little do to with what I hear on the radio, on television, or in dance clubs. Contemporary worship music seems to draw it’s aesthetic from Vietnam-era folk music rather than from generation Y sensibilities.
And so this is has become my chosen vocation: to help bring my generation’s methods of communication, and especially its music, into the church. When a young person experiences worship in church, I want them to come away brimming with thoughts of truth, justice, and the transforming power of love. I don’t want them trying to puzzle through a cultural language which they have no context for.
The difficulty in this pursuit is that being revolutionary is not difficult; throwing out traditions and abandoning the imagery of our predecessors is extraordinarily easy to do. What is difficult, however, is being revolutionary in a way which is theologically sound and which is a natural extension of centuries of Christian experience. This difficulty is what has led me to apply to Union.
If I am able to attend to Union, I will wish to pursue a concentration in “theology and the arts,” using my education to make my music and liturgical work more focused and mature. I would try to put together a curriculum which would both expand my understanding of faith, scripture, and Christian tradition as well as refine my craft, possibly by taking music courses at one of Union’s affiliated institutions. There are other schools which offer similar programs, such as the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, but those programs would funnel me into an organist/choirmaster track; only Union has both a reputation for excellence in theology and the arts and a progressive, forward looking attitude. I believe that graduate study at Union would be a tremendous asset to both my vocation and career.
In other news, my gig in California went very well and got me gigs in Detroit and Cleveland. Ok, so Cleveland might not be the most happening place in the world, but Motown is pretty cool and it's nice to be paid to travel.
Here's all about me:
I believe very strongly that each generation of Christians needs to retranslate the Gospel into its own cultural language. The gospels were written in Greek, but when brought to other parts of the world they were translated into Hebrew, Latin, and other languages. When storytelling was the primary conduit of information, Christianity used myths and legends to proclaim the gospel. When the printing press was invented, the gospel was taken to the people in written form. When arts were thriving, the gospel was spread through magnificent paintings, sculptures, and architecture, and when a jaded society declared religion to be obsolete, the gospel was proclaimed through social justice, activism, and charity.
Unfortunately, I feel as though the gospel has yet to be translated into the language of my generation. Phrases like “Lamb of God” and “Christ the Logos” mean very little to young people today. In an age of internet literacy, young people don’t want to juggle a hymnal, a book of common prayer, and a bulletin through a linear, hierarchical service. In order to adequately proclaim the gospel, the church must either educate young people until they develop fluency with first century symbology and imagery, or it must retranslate the gospel into a medium already understood by my generation.
As a professional musician in New York City who works in both sacred and secular music, I’ve been able to see the startling disconnect between the mediums of communication utilized by these two worlds. In the secular world, I have become used to electronic media, nonlinear narrative, and polyfocality. I am disappointed if a concert does not boast spectacular visuals. I am used to being able to watch TV, eat dinner, talk on the phone, and do homework at the same time. It is natural for me to use the internet as a research tool, and yet I made it through college without opening an encyclopedia.
In church, however, I am used to other things. I am used to following a linear service as it progresses through a book. I am used to organs, cantors, and chorales. I am used to acoustic guitars, shakers, and “Peter, Paul, and Mary” harmonies. Even “contemporary” Christian music has very little do to with what I hear on the radio, on television, or in dance clubs. Contemporary worship music seems to draw it’s aesthetic from Vietnam-era folk music rather than from generation Y sensibilities.
And so this is has become my chosen vocation: to help bring my generation’s methods of communication, and especially its music, into the church. When a young person experiences worship in church, I want them to come away brimming with thoughts of truth, justice, and the transforming power of love. I don’t want them trying to puzzle through a cultural language which they have no context for.
The difficulty in this pursuit is that being revolutionary is not difficult; throwing out traditions and abandoning the imagery of our predecessors is extraordinarily easy to do. What is difficult, however, is being revolutionary in a way which is theologically sound and which is a natural extension of centuries of Christian experience. This difficulty is what has led me to apply to Union.
If I am able to attend to Union, I will wish to pursue a concentration in “theology and the arts,” using my education to make my music and liturgical work more focused and mature. I would try to put together a curriculum which would both expand my understanding of faith, scripture, and Christian tradition as well as refine my craft, possibly by taking music courses at one of Union’s affiliated institutions. There are other schools which offer similar programs, such as the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, but those programs would funnel me into an organist/choirmaster track; only Union has both a reputation for excellence in theology and the arts and a progressive, forward looking attitude. I believe that graduate study at Union would be a tremendous asset to both my vocation and career.