Kate Campbell has done something few Baptists have done. She has sung for the Southern Baptist Convention, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Baptist World Alliance. Campbell, whose style is a Folk/Gospel mixed with Blues and Country, is the daughter…
Making peace with my internal worship war
Walter “Buddy” Shurden is an esteemed historian who taught at Carson-Newman University, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Mercer University. In a series of lectures in 1980, Shurden described two broad streams of practice in Baptist churches he labels the Sandy…
Kelly Clarkson changes ‘Piece by Piece’ lyrics into self-empowerment anthem
During her 10-day Las Vegas residency, Kelly Clarkson surprised the audience last Saturday night by singing a song many thought she’d never sing again, “Piece by Piece.” But this time, she rewrote the lyrics into an anthem of self-empowerment. First…
Old men dreaming dreams: Paul Simon and Bruce Cockburn reflect on life, death and God
When my two favorite singer-songwriters both released albums within a single week, I was reminded of the prophet Joel’s promise that “your old men will dream dreams.” Paul Simon will be 82 in October, and Bruce Cockburn just turned 78,…
Now there’s a movement to bar women as worship leaders in churches
It may not be enough to keep women from preaching in church. They’re likely a danger leading music as well, according to an advocate for strict male leadership. On Feb. 27, Dale Partridge, president of Relearn.org and founder of Reformation…
Sing of your faith, sing for your health
The following piece is written in dialogue between Paula Mangum Sheridan and Beverly Howard. The initials PS indicate Paula’s words, while the initials BH indicate Beverly’s words. PS: During my junior year of college, I interned as a social work student at…
Learning from the political worship songs of our American past
The American Civil War was “a war with a musical soundtrack,” according to Christian McWhirter. And that soundtrack continues to echo through the American church today, illustrating the different life experiences of Black and white Christians in particular, once again…
Mass murder and the soundtrack of our lives
Some days my outlook is determined by my outfit. If that sounds shallow to you, you’ve never worn a pair of cut-off leopard print shorts. If you have, you know the possible trajectory of where one’s day can go from…
Subterranean hope in Ukraine
The stories, morning after morning, of the horrific war in Ukraine overwhelm us. For self-defense, I look away at something else in the news. Yet in the back of my mind the images still play, pictures of destruction, death. We…