Culture

Notable Sacred Music of 2010

Twelve of the best albums in the choral and classical genres.

Christianity Today December 21, 2010

Christianity Today has traditionally made a list of the year’s top music, but those lists generally represent only the best in popular music. Now, for the first time, we’ve assembled a list of some of the year’s best sacred music, primarily in the choral and classical genres. (Our list of the year’s best popular music will post in January.)

We asked Jane Holstein, an editor with Hope Publishing Company and an arranger, choral clinician, organist, worship planner, and concert artist, to compile this list.

Agência Brasil Fotografias / Flickr

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

100: Celebrating a Century of Recording Excellence (MTC)

On the heels of last January’s Heavensong, the eminent Mormon Tabernacle Choir released this collection of their most-requested songs on two CDs—plus a bonus CD/DVD with rarely seen or heard performances. This beautifully crafted compilation explodes with energy from the first track through the 32nd, with full orchestral accompaniments and the brilliance for which this chorus is known. Highlights include “How Great Thou Art,” “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” and Handel’s “Hallelujah” from Messiah. New tracks include “Danny Boy,” “Glorious Everlasting,” and the crowd-pleasing Nigerian song “Betelehemu,” complete with African drums, tambourines and shouts of joy. It’s great listening, and for those seeking to trace the rich heritage of American sacred music, an essential resource. This 360-voice choir has performed for ten U.S. presidents, five presidential inaugurations, two presidential funerals, the American Bicentennial, and the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, where they sang Call of the Champions under the direction of composer John Williams (included here).

In 2008, the death of a Hindu leader led to the worst case of anti-Christian violence in India’s history.

About 100 Christians were killed, 300 churches attacked, 6,000 Christian homes damaged, and 50,000 people displaced when Hindu fundamentalists blamed Christians for the murder of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati. The violence took place in the Kandhamal district of the eastern coastal state of Odisha.

(The same state made the news on Christmas Eve the year before for another string of attacks connected to Saraswati, and in 1999 when Hindu radicals burned missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons to death as they slept in their Jeep. In 2008, fundamentalists announced their intention to destroy all of the Christians living there.)

This month, India’s Supreme Court ordered the Odisha government to reinvestigate the trials of perpetrators “where acquittals were not justified on facts.” Of the 827 criminal cases registered, 315 were not pursued, and in the 362 cases where a verdict was given, only 78 resulted in conviction. About 6,495 people were arrested, but just 150 cases are still ongoing.

Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit also ruled the compensation the state government offered—from 0 to 0 for destroyed homes and about ,500 for families who lost a member—is not enough. Odisha state had set aside about 0,000 in all to pay for the damage.

Archbishop Raphel Cheenath, who filed the lawsuit, asked for about ,000 per damaged house and about ,500 for each family member killed in the riots. (Cheenath, 82, passed away yesterday.)

The judges didn’t go that far, ordering an additional ,500 for the widows and children of the 39 Christians on the government’s official death toll. They also ruled that the state and federal government pay another 0 for a home that was “partially damaged” and an extra ,050 for a “fully damaged home.”

The court also said those who sustained minor injuries (0) and major injuries (0) also receive compensation.

“We do respect the judgement, but are not satisfied,” said Dibakar Parichha, a Catholic priest and advocate who has coordinated the legal fight for the Kandhamal victims. “Nevertheless, it is rather [a] good judgment for [many of] the victims of Kandhamal.”

Part of Parichha’s disappointment stemmed from the court’s decision not to increase the list of beneficiaries entitled to compensation.

“We are disappointed that Christian traders, NGOs, and others who lost their businesses to arson and violence have not been compensated,” said activist John Dayal. “The economic strength of the Christians in the district had been severely impacted in the violence—by design. But they have not been paid any compensation at all.”

“Too little, too late,” said Tehmina Arora, a Supreme Court lawyer who has played a key role in the legal challenge on behalf of the Kandhamal victims. Even the improved compensation package “does not match the amount of compensation” paid to Sikhs and Muslims after similar communal attacks, she said.

Arora acknowledged the concern expressed by the Supreme Court.

“The minorities are as much children of the soil as the majority,” she said, quoting the chief justice’s assurance as he gave his judgment. However, “this concern is not backed by a clear directive and deadline on how to address the injustice,” she said. “Who is going to monitor and follow up this directive?”

Campaigners say that India’s National Human Rights Commission has been “sitting for years” on the plea for better compensation.


John Pradhan’s home in Gurkapia village was ruled to be only “partially damaged.”For instance, despite more than 25 visits to government offices, Obseswar Nayak in Borimunda village was denied the maximum compensation of 0 for a “fully damaged house” because “part of the wall was intact.”

Another “partially damaged house”—with its first and second floor ceilings burnt—was John Pradhan’s home in Gurkapia village. Government officials also listed it as “partially damaged” since “part of the wall was intact.”

Three-quarters of the damage done to Christian homes took place along the route of Saraswati’s funeral procession, noted a website set up to protest the convictions of seven Christians for his murder. (A Maoist was also found guilty.)

“The [Hindu extremists] wanted to make a spectacle of [the body], and were prepared—as events were to prove—to take full advantage of the passions that would arise. They did not even go by the shortest route, but meandered across [Kandhamal],” noted a report by a group of human-rights organizations.


The route for Laxmanananda Saraswati’s bodyAmong the slogans shouted was, “Kill Christians and destroy their institutions!”

“It was obvious that public reaction to the murder of a prominent religious leader like the Swami would be extreme,” noted the National Commission for Minorities after its September 2008 visit to Kandhamal. “Yet when options to be followed after the murder were being considered, there is little evidence that high-level political and official leadership offered guidance and support to the local district administration.”

Five years after the riots, a report by several organizations—including the former UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing—noted that the government didn’t compensate the victims for any loss of household articles, equipment, clothing, or livestock.

The report recommended that the government “take immediate measures to adequately rehabilitate and resettle the victim-survivors of the Kandhamal violence” and “ensure full reparation to those whose livelihoods were affected due to violence and strife.”

The ruling by Chief Justice Thakur is “a step forward in justice for the victims of Kandhamal,” Sajan K. George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, told Fides news agency. “It is a positive sign that the Supreme Court of India recognized as unjust compensation paid. The justice procedure is slow and inadequate, but this is a sign of hope.”

After his appointment to the court in December, Thakur declared that “people of this country need not live in fear till the time the judiciary is independent. When the Constitution guarantees rule of law to those who are not our citizens, there is no question that citizens of India, no matter what religion or faith, should feel unprotected.”

Thakur’s appointment was “like a beacon of hope for those living in fear,” wrote Anto Akkara, who wrote a book about the Kandhamal events and started a petition protesting the apparent discrepancies and injustices in the case against the seven Christians who were found guilty of Saraswati’s murder.

Eric Whitacre

Light & Gold (Decca)

This young American composer (he’s 41) has ignited choral singing in high schools and universities in a far-reaching way. Whitacre’s music is a journey often derived from a single tone that expands into a full tapestry of sound—as in the track titled “hope, faith, life, love” (words by e.e. cummings). He’s taken his music to the next step by bridging the gap between concert halls and virtual networking with his first Virtual Choir 2010 (a YouTube hit), and plans are underway to create the world’s largest online Virtual Choir 2011. This debut album with Decca is his first to conduct and record featuring an elite ensemble comprised of the Eric Whitacre Singers and the British group Laudibus. The Latin poem “Lux Aurumque,” the song conceived for Virtual Choir 2010 and which kicks off this album, is translated as: Light, warm and heavy as pure gold and angels sing softly to the new-born babe. “Five Hebrew Love Songs” features warm of strings, while the unparalleled King’s Singers are spotlighted in a dramatic portrayal of a William Butler Yeats poem “The Stolen Child.” Whitacre’s enjoyable liner notes tell the stories behind the music, as in “The Seal Lullaby,” which transcends far beyond anything ordinary.

John Elliot Gardiner

Bach Cantatas, Vol. 18 (Solo Deo Gloria)

This is the final release from the remarkable Bach Cantatas Pilgrimage that began Christmas Day 1999. The album includes recordings of all of Bach’s church cantatas performed live over the course of a year by the exceptional Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, directed by John Eliot Gardiner. This release, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death, opens with one of his best known cantatas “Christen, atzet diesen Tag” (Christians, engrave this day) in an extraordinary performance that nails the balance between full ensemble and solo movements. Then it’s “Gloria in Excelsis Deo” (a.k.a. Gloria from the B Minor Mass), plus four cantatas for the Epiphany (including “Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen”). It’s packaged in a stylish 2-CD set with a useful index of the entire series of volume numbers, liturgical weeks, BWV numbers and cover art. This independent label has accomplished something unique with these first-rate recordings made in beautiful churches throughout Europe—including Weimar, Leipzig, and Hamburg (as heard in this volume). A superb presentation of sacred music from the Baroque era.

Jubilant Sykes

Jubilant Sykes Sings Copland and Spirituals (Arioso Classics)

Traditional spirituals and early American songs form the premise of this sensational new compilation by baritone Jubilant Sykes, accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra. The unforgettable music of the slaves expresses faith and hope amidst great oppression, and Sykes gives a flawless performance in each of the eight spirituals. The achingly intense dynamics of “Were You There?” and “Weepin’ Mary” transport the listener to the cross and to Mary’s sorrow, respectively. Sykes also has the ability to render sheer joy as in “My God Is So High” and “Leanin’ on That Lamb.” And his setting of “Witness,” accompanied by only a few finger snaps, is powerful and convincing. The second half of the CD moves to Copland’s “Americana” period with 10 entertaining classics that are intended to be performed with both a playful spirit and a bit of humor in the mix as in, “I Bought Me a Cat.” This is contrasted with Copland’s commanding setting of “At the River(Shall we gather by the River),” and when combined with lush orchestra is both stirring and warm in spirit. The quality of the recording is excellent and we give it our highest recommendation.

In 2008, the death of a Hindu leader led to the worst case of anti-Christian violence in India’s history.

About 100 Christians were killed, 300 churches attacked, 6,000 Christian homes damaged, and 50,000 people displaced when Hindu fundamentalists blamed Christians for the murder of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati. The violence took place in the Kandhamal district of the eastern coastal state of Odisha.

(The same state made the news on Christmas Eve the year before for another string of attacks connected to Saraswati, and in 1999 when Hindu radicals burned missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons to death as they slept in their Jeep. In 2008, fundamentalists announced their intention to destroy all of the Christians living there.)

This month, India’s Supreme Court ordered the Odisha government to reinvestigate the trials of perpetrators “where acquittals were not justified on facts.” Of the 827 criminal cases registered, 315 were not pursued, and in the 362 cases where a verdict was given, only 78 resulted in conviction. About 6,495 people were arrested, but just 150 cases are still ongoing.

Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit also ruled the compensation the state government offered—from 0 to 0 for destroyed homes and about ,500 for families who lost a member—is not enough. Odisha state had set aside about 0,000 in all to pay for the damage.

Archbishop Raphel Cheenath, who filed the lawsuit, asked for about ,000 per damaged house and about ,500 for each family member killed in the riots. (Cheenath, 82, passed away yesterday.)

The judges didn’t go that far, ordering an additional ,500 for the widows and children of the 39 Christians on the government’s official death toll. They also ruled that the state and federal government pay another 0 for a home that was “partially damaged” and an extra ,050 for a “fully damaged home.”

The court also said those who sustained minor injuries (0) and major injuries (0) also receive compensation.

“We do respect the judgement, but are not satisfied,” said Dibakar Parichha, a Catholic priest and advocate who has coordinated the legal fight for the Kandhamal victims. “Nevertheless, it is rather [a] good judgment for [many of] the victims of Kandhamal.”

Part of Parichha’s disappointment stemmed from the court’s decision not to increase the list of beneficiaries entitled to compensation.

“We are disappointed that Christian traders, NGOs, and others who lost their businesses to arson and violence have not been compensated,” said activist John Dayal. “The economic strength of the Christians in the district had been severely impacted in the violence—by design. But they have not been paid any compensation at all.”

“Too little, too late,” said Tehmina Arora, a Supreme Court lawyer who has played a key role in the legal challenge on behalf of the Kandhamal victims. Even the improved compensation package “does not match the amount of compensation” paid to Sikhs and Muslims after similar communal attacks, she said.

Arora acknowledged the concern expressed by the Supreme Court.

“The minorities are as much children of the soil as the majority,” she said, quoting the chief justice’s assurance as he gave his judgment. However, “this concern is not backed by a clear directive and deadline on how to address the injustice,” she said. “Who is going to monitor and follow up this directive?”

Campaigners say that India’s National Human Rights Commission has been “sitting for years” on the plea for better compensation.


John Pradhan’s home in Gurkapia village was ruled to be only “partially damaged.”For instance, despite more than 25 visits to government offices, Obseswar Nayak in Borimunda village was denied the maximum compensation of 0 for a “fully damaged house” because “part of the wall was intact.”

Another “partially damaged house”—with its first and second floor ceilings burnt—was John Pradhan’s home in Gurkapia village. Government officials also listed it as “partially damaged” since “part of the wall was intact.”

Three-quarters of the damage done to Christian homes took place along the route of Saraswati’s funeral procession, noted a website set up to protest the convictions of seven Christians for his murder. (A Maoist was also found guilty.)

“The [Hindu extremists] wanted to make a spectacle of [the body], and were prepared—as events were to prove—to take full advantage of the passions that would arise. They did not even go by the shortest route, but meandered across [Kandhamal],” noted a report by a group of human-rights organizations.


The route for Laxmanananda Saraswati’s bodyAmong the slogans shouted was, “Kill Christians and destroy their institutions!”

“It was obvious that public reaction to the murder of a prominent religious leader like the Swami would be extreme,” noted the National Commission for Minorities after its September 2008 visit to Kandhamal. “Yet when options to be followed after the murder were being considered, there is little evidence that high-level political and official leadership offered guidance and support to the local district administration.”

Five years after the riots, a report by several organizations—including the former UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing—noted that the government didn’t compensate the victims for any loss of household articles, equipment, clothing, or livestock.

The report recommended that the government “take immediate measures to adequately rehabilitate and resettle the victim-survivors of the Kandhamal violence” and “ensure full reparation to those whose livelihoods were affected due to violence and strife.”

The ruling by Chief Justice Thakur is “a step forward in justice for the victims of Kandhamal,” Sajan K. George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, told Fides news agency. “It is a positive sign that the Supreme Court of India recognized as unjust compensation paid. The justice procedure is slow and inadequate, but this is a sign of hope.”

After his appointment to the court in December, Thakur declared that “people of this country need not live in fear till the time the judiciary is independent. When the Constitution guarantees rule of law to those who are not our citizens, there is no question that citizens of India, no matter what religion or faith, should feel unprotected.”

Thakur’s appointment was “like a beacon of hope for those living in fear,” wrote Anto Akkara, who wrote a book about the Kandhamal events and started a petition protesting the apparent discrepancies and injustices in the case against the seven Christians who were found guilty of Saraswati’s murder.

John Rutter

A Song in Season (Collegium Records)

These 12 uplifting choral anthems, spanning the seasons of the church year, were recorded in spacious cathedral settings with Rutter’s perfectly blended Cambridge Singers and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The compilation’s theme is crystallized in “To Every Thing There Is a Season,” from the book of Ecclesiastes. More traditional church music—organ, brass, and percussion—is used in the festive settings “Wells Jubilate,” a stunning hymn using the familiar words of Psalm 100 along with the Gloria Patri, and in “Winchester Te Deum” (We praise thee, O God), a dynamic 10.5-minute work sung in English, each written for the respective cathedrals. Three inspirational ballad anthems include “Look to the Hills,” “Look at the World,” and “I Am with You Always,” memorable tunes with uplifting modulations. Rutter’s versatility is reflected in a setting of the ancient Latin text “Veni Sancte Spiritus” (Come, Holy Spirit), while a medieval Christmas text portrays Christ’s birth in “The King of Blis,” showcasing a more vibrant, unaccompanied rhythmic setting.

Anto Akkara / World Watch Monitor

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Verdi Messa da Requiem (CSO Resound)

Giuseppe Verdi composed some of history’s most dramatic and robust melodies in his monumental Requiem Mass, here a 2-disc live performance by Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Italian maestro conducted by Riccardo Muti, along with a quartet of soloists. The Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) is the most powerful, singular theme on this 90-minute masterpiece, reappearing throughout with its bone-chilling cry of the last trumpet call hastening the Day of Judgment. One of the more solemn moments is the beautiful “Lacrimosa/Pie Jesu,” a prayer for mercy and rest. This recording marks the beginning of Muti’s tenure as the CSO’s tenth music director, and distinguishes itself as a benchmark for future performances because of his command of Verdi literature.

More than 120,000 same-sex couples have tied the knot since the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide last year. (The number of American weddings in 2014, by comparison, was more than 2.1 million.)

For preachers, requests to officiate a same-sex wedding remain rare. Just 11 percent of the 1,000 Protestant senior pastors surveyed by LifeWay Research have been asked to perform a same-sex wedding.

Baptist pastors (1%) are the least likely to say they were asked to perform a same-sex wedding. Presbyterian/Reformed pastors (26%) are most likely. Lutherans (19%), Methodists (9%), Christian/Church of Christ (7%), and Pentecostals (6%) fall in between.




Overall, pastors who identify as mainline were three times more likely to have been asked than evangelical pastors (18% vs. 6%). Pastors 55 and older (14%) are twice as likely to have been asked than those 54 and younger (7%).

And those who have a Master’s degree (13%) are twice as likely to be asked than those with a Bachelor’s degree (6%).

Pastors of majority-African American churches are less likely than those of other majority ethnicities to be asked (4%).

“Most couples, if they want a church wedding, will ask a pastor they know or who they think will support them,” said LifeWay executive director Scott McConnell. “For same-sex couples, this appears to be an older Presbyterian pastor.”

A previous LifeWay study found most Protestant pastors believe same-sex marriage is morally wrong. So it’s no surprise few are asked to perform such ceremonies, McConnell said.

There’s less consensus about the roles LGBT people can play in church. “More pastors are open to LGBT people serving in their church than being married there,” he said.

About a third of senior pastors (34%) said that LGBT people are not allowed to serve in any capacity. Thirty percent say they can serve “anywhere.” Fifteen percent say LGBT people can serve in at least one role. Twenty-one percent aren’t sure or haven’t discussed the issue.




About two out of five (42%) of evangelical pastors say LGBT people are not allowed to serve at all, while less than one in five (18%) say they can serve anywhere.

Among denominational traditions, Presbyterian/Reformed pastors (66%) are most likely to say LGBT people can serve anywhere, followed by Methodists (49%) and Lutherans (42%). Pentecostals (13%) and Baptists (8%) are least likely.

Accordingly, Pentecostal (58%) and Baptist pastors (54%) are most likely to say LGBT people are not allowed to serve. Methodist (5%) and Presbyterian/Reformed pastors (14%) are least likely.

Pastors seem most comfortable allowing LGBT people to serve in the background.

Forty-four percent of all pastors in the survey say LGBT people can serve in “helping or serving roles.” Fewer say they can lead public worship (32%), teach publicly (32%), or hold public leadership roles (33%).

Fewer evangelical pastors (35%) say LGBT people can fill helping or serving roles, but its still more than say they can lead worship (19%), teach (20%), or hold leadership roles (21%).

Methodology:

The phone survey of Protestant pastors was conducted March 9–24, 2016. The calling list was a stratified random sample, drawn from a list of all Protestant churches. Quotas were used for church size and Black Protestant denominations. Each interview was conducted with the senior pastor, minister or priest of the church called. Responses were weighted by region to more accurately reflect the population. The completed sample is 1,000 surveys. The sample provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.2 percent. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

LifeWay Research is a Nashville-based, evangelical research firm that specializes in surveys about faith in culture and matters that affect churches.

Libera

Peace (EMI Classics)

Not your typical boys choir, this British group’s popular music has been heard round the world through TV and concert tours. Peace begins with an almost-inaudible overtone heard on a single violin string, setting the stage from which a unison melody blossoms forth in the serene Latin prayer “Sanctissima,” written by director Robert Prizeman. The distinctive choral sound, more pop than traditional, creates a feeling of relaxation in Mozart’s evocative melody from his legendary clarinet concerto, “Ave Virgo.” From the sacred repertoire, the ancient chant “Adoro Te” is transformed into a fresh composition with a newly added refrain. Prizeman’s joyful “Exsultate” brings rhythmic energy and pulsating Celtic underpinnings, giving the singers a fuller dynamic. The recording tapers off with the soothing original “Touch the Sky,” and closes with Chopin’s piano prelude in C Minor, entitled “The Fountain,” yet another stroke of genius as the words portray a stream of water to “wash all sorrow in waves of peace and love.” (A deluxe edition released recently includes a bonus DVD with bonus tracks, videos, behind the scenes clips, and more.)

National Lutheran Choir

Hymns We Love to Sing, Volume II (NLC)

In a style owned by the Lutheran heritage, this CD is peppered with impeccable organ improvisations that serve as fitting introductions to several of the hymn settings. This live recording features both choir and congregation in song. Arranger and artistic director David Cherwien, an acclaimed organist and improviser, sets a magnificent tone at the organ console with Beethoven’s “Hymn to Joy.” The superb balance and even tone is only made better by the choir’s consummate diction. The southern gospel “Down to the River to Pray” features their unaccompanied singing style with a bigger, open tone reminiscent of an early American style, while Cherwien’s 10-minute Holy Week setting of “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” artfully depicts the passion story with dissonance, colorful organ registrations, and impressive dynamics. The 13 selections move from classic hymns to spirituals to gospel songs, including their rousing hand-clapping rendition of the traditional spiritual, “Standin’ in the Need of Prayer.”

John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers

Faure Requiem and Other Sacred Music (Collegium Records)

Here’s a chance to experience one of the great masterworks by the French Romantic composer, Gabriel Fauré, in this digitally remastered release. Rutter was instrumental in editing and recording the 1984 edition of the Faure “Requiem,” based on the 1893 expanded version (two additional movements), featuring a modest chamber ensemble and smaller chorus. As in Rutter’s own, highly successful Requiem, the clarity of the Cambridge Singers is precisely what you would expect, demonstrating well-defined balance between instrument and voice as in “Libera Me,” a prayer for deliverance. Here, the baritone solo, effortlessly sung by Stephen Varcoe, is crowned with the infamous horn calls that leads to the chorus’s powerful statement dies irae (“day of judgment”). Fauré was a master at crafting melodic lines, as in the final movement “where choirs of angels sing you to your rest,” with an ahh moment at the conclusion. Six additional works complete the CD, including one of Fauré’s earliest, “Cantique de Jean Racine,” and a charming, shorter four-movement Mass written for treble voices and organ.

More than 120,000 same-sex couples have tied the knot since the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide last year. (The number of American weddings in 2014, by comparison, was more than 2.1 million.)

For preachers, requests to officiate a same-sex wedding remain rare. Just 11 percent of the 1,000 Protestant senior pastors surveyed by LifeWay Research have been asked to perform a same-sex wedding.

Baptist pastors (1%) are the least likely to say they were asked to perform a same-sex wedding. Presbyterian/Reformed pastors (26%) are most likely. Lutherans (19%), Methodists (9%), Christian/Church of Christ (7%), and Pentecostals (6%) fall in between.




Overall, pastors who identify as mainline were three times more likely to have been asked than evangelical pastors (18% vs. 6%). Pastors 55 and older (14%) are twice as likely to have been asked than those 54 and younger (7%).

And those who have a Master’s degree (13%) are twice as likely to be asked than those with a Bachelor’s degree (6%).

Pastors of majority-African American churches are less likely than those of other majority ethnicities to be asked (4%).

“Most couples, if they want a church wedding, will ask a pastor they know or who they think will support them,” said LifeWay executive director Scott McConnell. “For same-sex couples, this appears to be an older Presbyterian pastor.”

A previous LifeWay study found most Protestant pastors believe same-sex marriage is morally wrong. So it’s no surprise few are asked to perform such ceremonies, McConnell said.

There’s less consensus about the roles LGBT people can play in church. “More pastors are open to LGBT people serving in their church than being married there,” he said.

About a third of senior pastors (34%) said that LGBT people are not allowed to serve in any capacity. Thirty percent say they can serve “anywhere.” Fifteen percent say LGBT people can serve in at least one role. Twenty-one percent aren’t sure or haven’t discussed the issue.




About two out of five (42%) of evangelical pastors say LGBT people are not allowed to serve at all, while less than one in five (18%) say they can serve anywhere.

Among denominational traditions, Presbyterian/Reformed pastors (66%) are most likely to say LGBT people can serve anywhere, followed by Methodists (49%) and Lutherans (42%). Pentecostals (13%) and Baptists (8%) are least likely.

Accordingly, Pentecostal (58%) and Baptist pastors (54%) are most likely to say LGBT people are not allowed to serve. Methodist (5%) and Presbyterian/Reformed pastors (14%) are least likely.

Pastors seem most comfortable allowing LGBT people to serve in the background.

Forty-four percent of all pastors in the survey say LGBT people can serve in “helping or serving roles.” Fewer say they can lead public worship (32%), teach publicly (32%), or hold public leadership roles (33%).

Fewer evangelical pastors (35%) say LGBT people can fill helping or serving roles, but its still more than say they can lead worship (19%), teach (20%), or hold leadership roles (21%).

Methodology:

The phone survey of Protestant pastors was conducted March 9–24, 2016. The calling list was a stratified random sample, drawn from a list of all Protestant churches. Quotas were used for church size and Black Protestant denominations. Each interview was conducted with the senior pastor, minister or priest of the church called. Responses were weighted by region to more accurately reflect the population. The completed sample is 1,000 surveys. The sample provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.2 percent. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

LifeWay Research is a Nashville-based, evangelical research firm that specializes in surveys about faith in culture and matters that affect churches.

Juan Diego Florez

Santo: Sacred Songs (Decca)

Peruvian opera singer Juan Diego Florez demonstrates his flawless bel canto singing style on this collection of popular sacred art songs, including “Panis Angelicus,” “Ave Maria,” and “O Holy Night.” From Handel’s Messiah, Florez demonstrates his ability to execute rapid, seamless lines in “Comfort Ye/Every Valley” at a spritely tempo. The florid, Italian style is evident in the music by the great Italian composer, Rossini, in “Qui tollis” from Messa di Gloria, and “Gratias agimus tibi”—both interpretations resemble Florez’s predecessor, Pavarotti. Classical singing at its best.

Karen / Flickr

Hilary Hahn

Bach: Violin and Voice (Deutsche Grammophon)

The timeless appeal of J.S. Bach’s counterpoint continues to captivate, and perhaps that’s what acclaimed American violinist Hilary Hahn had in mind when she began her collaboration with the seasoned voices of Matthias Goerne (baritone) and Christine Schäfer (soprano). These artists succeed with the intricate demands required in the contrapuntal repertoire, performing 12 chestnuts from the cantatas, the B Minor Mass and the St. Matthew Passion, all delightfully rendered. The interplay between violin and voice is exquisite. From the buoyant “Laudamus Te” with its harmonious exaltation of praise to the contrasting anguish and sorrow heard in “Erbarme Dich” from the Passion, the two women work compatibly in tandem. Adding to the coloratura is Goerne’s light and effortless singing in the bass solo “Der Friede sei mit dir,” BWV 158. Throughout, the dialog between voice and violin is marked with a steady yet fluid approach to these inspirational texts, demonstrating her keen sense of self and perfection in her art.

When the global Anglican Communion censured the Episcopal Church in the United States for redefining marriage eight months ago, it warned that similar actions would be applied to other provinces "when any unilateral decisions on matters of doctrine and polity are taken that threaten our unity."

Next month, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) may toe up against that line.

The ACSA—which includes South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Angola—won’t allow clergy to marry same-sex couples like the Episcopal Church did, but it announced this week that when its provincial synod meets next month, the province will consider blessing same-sex civil unions and allowing clergy in legal same-sex civil unions.

“The motion … proposes that any bishop of the church who wishes to do so may make provision for her or his clergy to provide pastoral care to those who identify as LGBTI,” stated Thabo Makgoba, archbishop of Cape Town and primate of Southern Africa.

He explained:


More controversially, the motion also proposes that clergy who identify as LGBTI and are in legal same-sex civil unions should be licensed to minister in our parishes. It also suggests that “prayers of blessing” should be able to be offered for those in same-sex civil unions. However, it specifically rules out the possibility of marriage under church law.






The proposal comes with a caveat. “Any cleric unwilling to take part in providing pastoral care to people who identify as LGBTI shall not be obliged to do so,” Makgoba stated.

The Episcopal Church’s 2015 decision on same-sex marriage resulted in the church being barred from Anglican committees and other decision-making for three years.

South Africa legalized same-sex marriage early—in 2006, the second country outside of Europe to do so. It’s the only African country so far to allow it.

Anglicans have remained behind. In 2004, Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu said in a sermon that “to discriminate against our sisters and brothers who are lesbian or gay on grounds of their sexual orientation for me is as totally unacceptable and unjust as apartheid ever was.”

Several clergy have come out as gay to their congregations.

And when Tutu’s daughter, Mpho Tutu van Furth, lost her license as an Anglican priest this summer after she married her same-sex partner in late 2015, her bishop told The Telegraph he hoped it would be short-lived.

"When I married my wife prejudice slammed a door of opportunity in my face,” she wrote in an email to News24. “With this proposal we are ‘rattling the hinges.’”

But the ACSA covers more than South Africa, and Anglicans in neighboring countries are outspokenly opposed to same-sex marriage. Several African church leaders threatened to leave January’s Anglican Communion meeting if Canadian and American provinces weren’t disciplined for their acceptance of same-sex marriage. (The Canadians weren’t disciplined, since they had not yet officially accepted same-sex marriage. This summer, after a voting count scandal, they did.)

One African primate, Stanley Ntagali of Uganda, did walk out, signaling his unhappiness with the length of time it was taking to sanction the American church. Other African bishops were vocal in their support for its suspension.

In other global denominations, African contingents have also resisted same-sex marriage. The United Methodist Church’s decision to skip a vote on whether to allow gay marriage during this summer’s annual convention was strongly influenced by conservative African delegates.

The ACSA motion is bolder than one agreed upon back in February, which aimed to preserve church unity. In it, bishops agreed to accept same-sex congregants as full members but not bless same-sex unions or permit clergy to enter them.

The bishops then “were not of one mind” regarding blessing unions or allowing same-sex clergy, Makgoba wrote in an open letter to the church.

But Makgoba said he was “absolutely determined” that the church in southern Africa “should build on our history of refusing to allow our differences to separate us, and that we should continue to work patiently through them together. We overcame deep differences over the imposition of sanctions against apartheid and over the ordination of women, and we can do the same over human sexuality.”

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has called for a “new way of being in communion” as he works to balance the tension between African conservatives and the liberal-leaning church in Europe and America.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Heavensong (Music of Contemplation and Light) (MTC)

Mack Wilberg, MTC’s music director and arranger since 2008, has taken this choir in an impressive new direction. The CD opens with a bell peal that sets the pastoral tone for Wilberg’s new folk-like anthem, “The Shepherd.” The remaining 14 tracks travel through an array of serenity via choral greats like J. S. Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze,” Gabriel Faure’s orchestral “Pavane” (effortlessly sung as a vocalise—free of words), and John Rutter’s psalm setting “I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes.” Wilberg’s choral treatment of “The Prayer” stays true to the original ballad written by Grammy winner David Foster, who joined them at the piano for this project. Also noteworthy is Wilberg’s cantabile style heard in his masterpiece “O Light of Life,” sure to find its way into many choral libraries. This pristine chorus directs the spirit heavenward, and though the lyrics are occasionally swept up in orchestral colors and textures, the music resonates with hope and assurance.

Jane Holstein, an editor with Hope Publishing Company, is an arranger, choral clinician, organist, worship planner, and concert artist, residing in Wheaton, Illinois, with her husband, David L. Weck. She is also Director of Music Ministries at First Presbyterian Church in River Forest, Illinois.

Copyright © 2010 Christian Music Today. Click for reprint information.

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