Rethinking "Every Tribe and Tongue"

[The following piece was written for Worship Leader/Song Discovery Magazine. What does it mean to "take worship to the nations"? It's a complex and layered subject...one that demands more a short piece like this. But perhaps this will be enough to get the conversation started. Here's my perspective as a worship leader who's grown up on both sides of the world. This post will link to the full article at SongDiscovery.com.]

As the famous American worship leaders returned to the table with platefuls of aromatic curries and rice boiled in coconut milk, their faces wrinkled with curious interest in something other than their discoveries at the buffet line. It was the faint lines of music drifting through the humid air. The sultry notes being squeaked out on a stringed instrument defied conventional pitch. And the light tapping on small bongo-like drums had no sense of "groove" or, for that matter, time signature. 

"Why don't Malaysians write worship songs like this-in their own style?" blurted one of the Americans. Because it's awful, is what I thought....[Click HERE to read the FULL ARTICLE]

Comments

[Felicity]

A church I know of in the Philippines actually sings most of their worship songs in English as a form of unification in their church. The people there speak many languages, even within the borders of their cities and definitely from village to village. English worship music (especially in the form of Hillsongs) has been a gift to them. My fellow students in Third World Lit might be appalled to hear that, but it is a reality.

[stacial.blogspot.com]

I appreciated your insights; this topic has been on my mind for a while. I grew up overseas (I'm the girl that was in Singapore and visited Malaysia and misses nasi lemak... among other things), and sang a mixture of native and western songs that were changed to a native language, then lots of Hillsongs and English worship songs.

And I agree, it seems that especially as the world grows more interconnected, songwriting will become less and less the product of one culture.
I've also heard of music missionaries that learn indigenous scales and languages, and write worship songs in that style. Instead of bringing Western tonality, they adopt native musicality. One excellent group that does this with Indian music is Aradhna.

Perhaps both approaches are needed: giving the native culture respect that includes embracing their own musicality AND giving them opportunities to adopt other styles through educating them in Western music theory, chords, etc.