Research exercise: Perceptions of Meaning in Liturgical Music in Christian Church Communities of Various Denominational Identities

Authors

Presenter(s)

Molly M. Guinan

Comments

This poster reflects research conducted as part of a course project designed to give students experience in the research process.

Files

Description

Music is a primary part of worship in most Christian churches around the world. Music, however, holds different meaning and serves a variety of purposes and functions within each Christian denomination. As a part of an independent study course focused on topics related to contemporary liturgical music repertoire, I chose to investigate how Ministers of Music in several different denominations of the Christian faith assigned meaning and purpose to music in the context of worship, and what particular styles they found to resonate most with their own congregations. In order to do this, I interviewed Ministers of Music from the following church communities in and around Dayton, each representing a different denomination: St. Luke’s Catholic Church, Epiphany Lutheran Church, United Methodist Church, and The Vineyard. This poster will outline the factors I considered when developing relevant interview questions (e.g., cultural background of liturgical ministers and congregation members, tendencies of specific denominations, structure of liturgy in worship services) and the conclusions to which I came regarding the factors that play the most significant roles in determining the style of music utilized and the ways in which music is viewed and assigned meaning in a given church community. Additionally, examples of written and recorded music that were deemed meaningful by the Ministers of Music in each of the various church communities will be showcased with the written findings.

Publication Date

4-9-2015

Project Designation

Course Project

Primary Advisor

Donna M. Cox

Primary Advisor's Department

Music

Keywords

Stander Symposium project

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Business | Education | Engineering | Life Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences | Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Recommended Citation

"Research exercise: Perceptions of Meaning in Liturgical Music in Christian Church Communities of Various Denominational Identities" (2015). Stander Symposium Projects. 572.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stander_posters/572