By Genikwa R. Williams
February 19, 2010
When my usual pew was filled, I was almost panic-stricken as the usher led me to a different section of the church. Little did I know, I needed a change in perspective.
Two-hundred years after a nasty split over segregated seating that led to the formation of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the black and white descendants of a historic Philadelphia congregation unite to worship, repent, and heal past wounds.
"He who sings prays twice." -- Saint Augustine
"What's going on?" -- Marvin Gaye
The soundtrack of the 1970s still speaks to us. Life, as many had known it, was rapidly changing back then. A generation had found its revolutionary voice and was confronting oppression domestically and abroad. Disenchantment with status quo Americanism had sparked the nation's social consciousness. And from the center of this whirlwind emerged a cry for deep justice.
Sometimes you have to know when to shut up and pray.
I was listening to the discussion at a staff meeting recently when our consultant made this remark about me: "Paul is so quiet. He doesn't seem to be passionate about anything, except maybe the person of Jesus." I smiled, partly because it was funny and partly because on the inside I am like Barney Fife, the nervous deputy on the old Andy Griffith Show. My mind churns with ideas, and my mouth is eager to assist.
From the moment he says hello, I can tell Israel Houghton's probably wearing his trademark (PRODUCT) RED Converse sneakers. There's that unmistakable twinkle in his voice. He sounds like a man wearing red shoes -- a little too happy, like he's up to something. But maybe he's just giddy -- after all he does have a lot to be happy about these days. Since his new album, The Power of One, debuted at number one on March 24th, he's been in demand by everyone from TBN to Ebony. People are saying it's Israel's moment.
Congregational worship music has plenty of variety these days. Depending on the church, you could hear traditional hymns, a gospel choir, or arena rock. What's harder to find on a typical Sunday morning is a jazz quartet. For many of us, jazz music is reserved for smoky nightclubs or public-radio broadcasts. That's why pianist/singer Deanna Witkowski is something of an anomaly. She's a musician who feels as much at home in a secular club as an evangelical sanctuary.
In the weeks and days leading up to Christmas, the average Christian spends a lot of money, time, and energy preparing for the holiday. While I've always considered that time of year to be a very special one, I've often wondered why we don't elevate Easter--or Resurrection Sunday, to use the name that many believers prefer--to the same level. After all, didn't Jesus come into the world for the very purpose of suffering, dying, and rising again to demonstrate His love and give us new life?
Those Old Testament prophets sure know how to jab us where we're comfortable. Every time I read this passage, for example, I can't help but wonder whether Jesus would sing a different tune if He physically showed up at a stylized evangelical worship event--a tune that sounds more like what His Spirit inspired Amos to write than what echoes inside our churches on Sundays:
