Music and Religion

I have attended a Southern Baptist church for as long as I can remember. In fact, I have never attended any other church than the one I currently go too. I have visited other churches because of chorus or different family members but nothing really came close to the experiences I received at my church. My grandma started taking me to church when I was about six years old. Because of her influence, I enjoy attending church every Sunday and I have grown to love the traditions we have as baptists. I am familiar with the catholic episcopal traditions, but the Baptist tradition is where my heart truly resonates.

Music within the Baptist tradition is rooted on congregational hymn-singing. At my church, we always begin Sunday service with a hymn that the whole congregation sings together. Following that, our adult choir sings a few more on their own. We also have solo singing as our prayer opportunity that allows more modern gospel music to be shared. Our church doesn't tend to sing any sacred music though. Music is our worship. We typically don’t dance or yell as much as some churches, although we do encourage and appreciate this, we just simply worship by praying at an alter or raising our hand to the lord. As my preacher always says, we allow music to be a part of our personal time with Jesus . This is our way of thanking and praising the lord for what he has done for us. We truly sing for the honor and glory of the lord. Hymn-singing in this fashion allows for a sense of connection with the entire congregation and I think this makes each service special.

One of my favorite hymns that is commonly sung during our services is “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.” This is referencing God’s death and how he shed his blood for us on Calvary. I enjoy this hymn because it helps me to express my gratitude for what God has done for me. Music, here, is a replenishing award. It constantly reminds and fulfills the church. 

Though our music connects the church as a whole, the choir music is somewhat exclusive.  Everyone is encouraged to sing if they are capable to do so, but at the same time, there seems to be a limit on the amount of people who can perform or particpate. I have always been apart of the choir and I am the only one who has majored in music, yet I am involved virtually in nothing relating to the musical aspects. This creates an idea of a possible clique. I don't know if all baptist churches have this same issue but it is something I have noticed through my time spent as a baptist. With this being a issue within my church and one that I don't considerably like, I still enjoy the other traditions we share outside of that.

I love being of the baptist culture but I hope to expand and learn more of the different ones!

My Global Autobiography

I was born and raised in South Carolina. My roots are extremely southern. Growing up, my parents listened to Country music whether it was new or old. It’s what was always playing in the car or at our little cookouts we had every year. I enjoyed older country music the most because my dad would play and sing it all the time. I really began to enjoy the artists Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline. I know not many like country music but it was my music growing up. I discovered acapella groups and bands in middle school. I absolutely loved Pentatonix and the Christian band, Skillet. Also, during this time, I began singing in my churches choir. We would mostly sing hymns and incorporate more modern gospel to our repertoire. I enjoyed singing in church and it is still a huge part of my life today. I joined honors chorus and band in the fifth grade but band never brought me as much joy as choir did. I never quit chorus and I'm so glad that I didn't. 

 I remember singing songs from other cultures all throughout middle and high school. One was a Swahili language prayer from East Africa titled, “Baba Yetu.” This piece incorporated drums and a few string instruments including violins and a bass. Another African piece we did was “Ukutula.”  This piece really helped me to appreciate the African culture and their language in ways I can’t explain. African music is so different but it’s so fun and enjoyable to sing. 

 It wasn’t until the end of my senior year that I got to really immerse myself into the Mexican culture. For my senior trip, I really wanted to visit California and I was fortunate enough to go with my mom. I have to say, I was very surprised at the different music that was heard while I was there. While, American music was played on the radio, California does really expand on the Mexican culture and heritage. Fun fact: California has the largest Hispanic population and has Spanish, Mexican, Asian and Eastern United States roots attached to it. It’s obviously no surprise that multiple cultures are seen here. Many of the flea markets sold Spanish sombreros and other clothing. I also saw an abundance of Spanish instruments, like maracas and other percussion, that had been made by hand on Olvera Street. California had some Spanish speaking radio stations that played only Spanish music and most of the time places had local based mariachi and folk music bands playing as we walked the streets. Thanks to California, I grew to enjoy the music and appreciate the Hispanic heritage. 

Converse was really my portal to understanding and listening to a wide variety of music. This is probably my neatest interaction with cultural differences in music. Converse has given me the opportunity to hear many great performances, including the King Singers and the Vienna Boys Choir. I have seen many operas and have sung arias from operas that developed from many different cultures and traditions. Converse has also taken me all the way across the world to Germany where music is very much a part of their world. There were many instances in which someone would be playing the organ in a church as people were touring. Having these opportunities has shown me that each culture should be performed, loved and appreciated and that each one is unique and serves a purpose for the world around us. I have experienced so much here already that I am so excited to learn and explore more as the world and its music has so much more to offer. 😊