Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-23-2023

Publication Source

Yale Journal of Music and Religion

Abstract

Church music leaders in the United States pursue two priorities: technical accuracy and fluency in the music-making of their church ensembles, and, including as many volunteers as possible in those same ensembles. At times, the prioritization of technical competence and inclusion conflict, because volunteers whose playing or singing is less than competent seek to be included in church music groups. Facing this ethical dilemma, church music leaders operate ethically; that is, they employ strategies and develop policies based on their understanding of their responsibilities to other people (Warren 2014). During interviews, they verbally espouse an ethic of deontology, but in practise, they operate according to an ethic of care. Leaders who primarily promote inclusion focus on their duty to care for volunteer musicians, whereas leaders who primarily promote technical competence focus on their duty to care for worshipping church congregants. Based on interviews conducted with twenty-five music leaders from (predominantly White Protestant and Catholic) churches in four states of the Unites States of America, this article provides a detailed analysis of the activities of church music leaders, activities which have not been previously illuminated in scholarly or practitioner literature. In so doing, it contributes to the growing literature on ethics in Christian congregational musicking.

Inclusive pages

60-84

ISBN/ISSN

2377-231X

Document Version

Published Version

Comments

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

View the article on the journal website: https://doi.org/10.17132/2377-231X.1241

Publisher

Yale Institute of Sacred Music

Volume

8

Issue

2

Peer Reviewed

yes

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