Heart Music in WEC
‘Let all the Peoples Praise You’
Our Vision
To see Christ known, loved and worshipped by the remaining
unevangelised peoples of the world
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Our Goals
WEC aims to send out 150 church planting teams among
people groups all over the world that have never had the
opportunity to respond to the good news of Jesus.
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Heart Music In Early WEC
• In the 1920s and 30s CT Studd
and the African believers in the
Congo enjoyed worship with
singing and dancing that he
called ‘Glory Times’.
• National evangelists wrote
indigenous praise songs.
• CT Studd also translated
English hymns.
• Part of CT’s banjo still exists!
CT Studd
The founder of WEC
played the banjo
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Current Trends
• The rise of ‘worship’ in the world
church
• A new valuing of the arts
• Globalization & migration
• Exposure to world music
• The emergence of
‘ethnomusicology’ skills
• A growing number of national
songwriters and cross-cultural
music missionaries
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Heart Music is a Language
• We learn local languages in cross-cultural work,
– but the local musical language is easily overlooked.
• Music is the language of the emotions. If we learn it we
will get a feel for something profound within the culture.
• Like any language, musical systems have ‘vocabulary’,
‘grammar’ (structures) and ‘idioms’.
• Like a language, this has to be learned to be understood,
– but … it is often fun as well as highly instructive!
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We Hear Music Differently
‘Africans do not hear music in the same manner as
Westerners and certainly do not sing music in the same way.
Our music cultures are vastly different.’ (D&P Chinchen)
Some Features of African Music
• Complex rhythms, not complex
harmonies
• Vocal projection for outdoors
not vibrato for indoors
• 5-note not 7-note scale system
• Communal involvement not a
spectator audience
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Today’s Music Scene
The Traditional/Local exists alongside The Modern/Global
T
M
In Each Culture:
• The immediate sound of the music is distinctive
• Some instruments are symbolic of the culture
• Scale & rhythm patterns are regional
• Vocal production is idiomatic
• Songs of heart expression vary considerably
.
In other words:
Each culture has a ‘heart music’
and a form of music suited to the worship of Jesus
Heart Music & Today’s WEC
• ‘Reaching People, Planting
Churches’ is the heartbeat of WEC
• With this vision, a growing number
of WEC missionaries are engaging
with local forms of music.
• They are doing this in the five
following ways….
.
1. Learning Instruments
• Elfi learned the Mandinka Kora
(harp-lute) in Gambia.
• She says: ‘I had a great desire for the
Gambian church to create culturally
relevant Christian music’.
• She recorded a CD of her own
compositions in the Mandinka Jali
style. She has been called on to play
on the radio and at occasions such as
naming ceremonies.
• Some believers are now now using
the Kora in the Gambian church.
Elfi Bohl
Plays the Mandinka Kora
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2. Composing Songs
• Paul Harvey is a gifted songwriter and has composed an
album of songs for WEC’s
ministry to children in crisis.
• He has written with a
beautiful Latin lilt.
• The accompanying booklet
for the children contains the
song words, colouring pages
and games.
CD by Paul Harvey in Spain
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3. Producing Songbooks
Book Cover for the
Music Edition
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• John Oswald has worked with a
national songwriter to collect &
compose songs for a songbook in a
Himalayan language.
• This project produced words
editions, a music edition (using local
notation) and a set of 10 CDs and
tapes.
• The words books have been
translated into other dialects.
• The Music tracks are used on radio,
audio and video materials.
4. Recording Music
• Radio Worldwide, WEC’s radio ministry
based in the UK, trains in radio and works
with producers and stations worldwide.
• Georgina Scott, a WEC missionary in
Thailand, is the director of FEBC Thailand.
She encourages and records songs composed
by Thai believers.
• Other workers use technical skills to record
the music of the churches.
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5. Song Workshops
Kora Players
.
• Training & inspiring national
believers
• Local believers select
appropriate musical styles
• They write the song texts
• Their songs are then
recorded
•
Richard Shawyer and Neil Barker have been at the forefront of encouraging
indigenous song writing and worship forms in West Africa.
•
WEC and the ECG church in Gambia partnered with churches and agencies to
host a workshop, led by an ethnomusicologist.
What Are The Benefits?
I have become all
things to all men so
that by all possible
means I might save
some. (I Cor. 9:22)
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The Use of Heart Music:
• Enables worship from the heart
• Leads people to the Saviour
• Is a natural way to tell gospel stories
• Reinforces Bible teaching
• Aids scripture memorization
• Results in new churches being planted
• Gives cross-cultural workers cultural
awareness and opportunities.
Bear in mind….
• Many systems are not too difficult
• You don’t have to be an expert!
• Even just ‘having a go’ can go a long way!
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We can be exposed to world music almost anywhere
We can start to learn other music styles at home
On the field we can learn local music naturally
It communicates that we’re interested in people
It helps to build friendships
It keeps us humble!
Which way up is it meant to be?
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Is it Difficult?
Important Question!
What is WEC looking for?
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Cross-cultural music missionaries
Worship leaders & artists
A Music and Arts Team
Missionaries open to the heart
music of the people they serve
• Worshipping churches on all fields
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What is GOD Looking For?
‘True worshippers
will worship the
Father in spirit and
truth, for they are
the kind of
worshippers the
Father seeks.’
(John 4:23)
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Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD!
Come let us bow down in worship.
Interested?
WEC Ethnodoxology
ethne – people group
doxa – glory
ethnodoxology – worship using heart music
Email: ethnomusicology@wec-international.org
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Website: http://www.wec-int.org.uk/uk/involved/ethmus.htm
All photographs © 2004 WEC International except where otherwise attributed