The Context Engine: More on the Unity Church thing

Nov 16, 2005 11:48

The more I think about this gig, the more conflicted I am about it. mrdorbin put it very eloquently when he said, "...singing as part of a church choir isn't perfomance, it's ministry (well, that's the sound bite, anyway; it's more complicated than that, because music IS art." It is complicated.

pixxelpuss and ironymaiden got me thinking about context, and how, without ( Read more... )

slgc, music, religion

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Comments 19

ironymaiden November 16 2005, 19:59:23 UTC
and this was my fear: that by expressing my discomfort, i would be influencing others. perhaps this is an opportunity to look at how important secularism is to the chorus mission and identity. i know it's on my mind, although i don't want it to consume the next ADC meeting.

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scarlettina November 16 2005, 21:11:38 UTC
I actually didn't see your post about the Unity thing until after I made my first post, so my discomfort came well before your thoughts provoked more thought in me. Influencing me? Perhaps, but only inasmuch as I was already thinking in this direction anyway. You know me: I turn things over and over in my head, probably more than would allow most other people to stay sane. The most important thing here is that this issue provides the chorus with an opportunity to do a little self-examination and to consider its identity and mission, something always worth a good review, IMNSHO.

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kyooverse November 16 2005, 23:54:06 UTC
J, the truth is that if you are influencing other people because you are expressing yourself (not attempting to persuade... yet... but expressing), then I think those are very weak people. (imho ( ... )

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ironymaiden November 17 2005, 00:00:43 UTC
you're right. i'm afraid of creating instability, when the ability to question and be diverse is exactly what makes the group work.

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twilight2000 November 16 2005, 20:30:53 UTC
ok -- so in my position (also of a non-evangalizing faith tradition who doesn't like to be evangalized by anyone) -- singing in the Unity Church (a church, as I understand it, of "all faiths" with no specific trad elevated above or denegrated below any other faith) would pose no trouble for me at all. The fact that they accept *all* faiths and I would be singing to *all* people of spirituality would work just fine for me ( ... )

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scarlettina November 17 2005, 15:51:11 UTC
We were set up for the third sccenario, which is why when I found myself in the first scenario (which was flavored by a specific denomination's approach to same) I was uncomfortable. This has been complex for me (as you may have guessed) and giiven me lots of food for thought.

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spazzychic November 16 2005, 20:41:15 UTC

I think Unity Church in particular offers less conflict than a more fundamentalist faith. Since Unity Church (as I understand it) welcomes many faiths and expressions of faith, you are following the doctrine simply by being who you are...

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Is it an Art performance or is it part of the Ministry? botgrrrl November 16 2005, 21:39:52 UTC
Your context engine should really never be turned off. Having said that, let me spin "context" a little ( ... )

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Re: Is it an Art performance or is it part of the Ministry? scarlettina November 17 2005, 15:53:49 UTC
Good questions. Thank you. I don't know that I can answer all of them explicitly because I'm not sure I have words for all the answers, but these are good questions, and I suspect they were part of the soup I cooked in my sleep last night as I worked through some of this.

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Re: Is it an Art performance or is it part of the Ministry? botgrrrl November 17 2005, 19:34:06 UTC
Your welcome.

Don't worry about answering the questions, because I sure as hell can't when asked those same questions of my life.

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redaxe November 16 2005, 22:40:30 UTC
I'd be conflicted if the material itself were preachy. (In fact, I am, most years, when we go to Darkover Grand Council and do the midnight rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus. I override it, knowing the mix of folks who are singing and listening. And the exit, Dona Nobis Pacem, bothers me not at all -- except for inspiring a real wish to answer with Oseh Shalom B'imromav :-)

From my POV it boils down to three things: the intent of the material, the intent of the group, and your own individual intent and beliefs. If you believe that there's a serious intent to minister narrowly (as opposed to how you described the Unity), or believe that the material was chosen as preaching material, then context becomes more important than if the material is primarily spiritual and happens to be Christian. If the words express sentiments or beliefs that you simply cannot yourself express, then you need to consider the context.

Or so it seems to me.

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