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Diverse
Worship: African-American, Caribbean & Hispanic Perspectives (InterVarsity
Press, 2000) by Pedrito U. Maynard-Reid.
257 pages. Reviewed
by Dr. Barry Liesch.
This book is concerned with worship and the issues
of culture--and particularly African-American, Caribbean, and Hispanic
culture. Jamaican by birth, the author is a trained musician
who has served as a pianist, organist, choir director, and minister
of music in all three of the above cultures.
Additionally, he has served as senior pastor at a small rural
church as well as a university church.
He is currently professor of biblical studies and missiology,
and serves as vice president for spiritual life and mission at Walla
Walla College, Washington. Dr. Maynard-Reid believes that "worship practices
are as culturally conditioned as any other aspect of the human experience"
(p. 14). He maintains that "what we perceive as
appropriate worship is culturally conditioned and has little to do
with Biblical orthodoxy or soteriological morality" (p.14). The churche's "dilemma and opportunity"
in his view is to make worship "culturally relevant yet utterly
God- and Christ centered" (p. 40). Here are a few quotes from
his book: "If worship does not have it grounding in people's
live and cultural experiences, it will remain foreign, imposed and
irrelevant" (p.19). "you cannot throw cold water on a man's culture
and historical life without giving him chills" (p. 18). "When people go to church they bring their culture
with them, for culture is their essential selves--the sum total of
their experience" (p. 19). "liturgy incorporating indigenous elements produces
a more wholistic worship than liturgy
with a cognitive focus only.
Much of traditional Western worship has been one-dimensional,
with emphasis on the rational [but for Eastern, Middle Eastern, African,
and Indian cultures] the human is a whole, one complete being. The
rational is not dispensed with, but it is not elevated over the emotive
and the rational" (p. 16-17). Mynard-Reid documents how non-European culture and
worship was demeaned and in some cases prohibited by settlers and
missionaries. He also gives his reader insights into these cultures
which are highly influential upon popular music styles in North America
today. Rhythm, dance, and ecstatic experiences are central
to the three cultures explored. Let's focus on some of his material
on dance. In Caribbean Christian worship, "the supreme religious
experience of almost all is possession by the Spirit (as is true in
many African-American churches)" (p.121). One of the purposes
of dance is to facilitate possession by the Spirit. Possession by
the Spirit occurs in a public context, not privately as in the experience
of Western mystics. Maynard-Reid
notes, "Where for the Americans singing is an act of praise,
for the Jamaicans the song and all the dancing and rhythm that accompany
it are a religious experience in themselves" (p. 134). In African-American worship, a method is used to
determine if a worshiper is dancing in the spirit or the flesh: "By
suddenly halting the gospel shout music, one is able to check for
authenticity. If the dancing continues without the music,
it is assumed that it is genuine and induced by the Holy Spirit. But if it ceases, apparently it was not so holy
after all and was merely rhythmically induced' (p. 104) Maynard-Reid reports that Pentecostalism is "the
fastest growing body in the Caribbean." It displays "most
characteristics of the wholism that African-rooted religions possess"
(p. 133). While syncretism occurs in the Orisha, Revival, and Rastaferian
groups in the Caribbean, " Pentecostals are thoroughly orthodox
[and] reject all aspects of the African spirit world" (p.133).
Maynard-Reid maintains that "the indigenous nature of Pentecostalism
will continue to make it attractive to Caribbean peoples" (p.
135). "Indigenous"
here means their emphasis on the Spirit, and the use of drumming,
rhythmic music, rhythmic movement, bodily gestures, the use of steel
bands and reggae music, and broad participation by all the people. In summing up Caribbean worship Maynard-Reid remarks
that "too often the Euro-American ethos entirely dominates the
worship service - too often we are welded to the rusty old organ that
has no appeal to the soul of the islander. How much more alive would
the worship experience be if the steel band and reggae rhythms in
themselves were not seen as sensual, sacrilegious and carnal but as
elements that can awaken the spiritual chords of the soul" (p.
148). This book is both scholarly and engaging, and I recommend it to pastors and worship leaders. It will help you look with new eyes at our own, increasingly pluralistic North American culture. Buy the Book Now from Amazon.com Worshipinfo gets a small payment from Amazon.com if you buy the book by clicking on our link. |
