music
Anti-Putin punk group Pussy Riot headlines UK Christian music festival
By Rosie Dawson — August 29, 2018
LONDON (RNS) — At Greenbelt, Britain's foremost Christian rock gathering, the Russian punk band's leader, Maria Alyokhina, claimed the band should be understood as a 'Christian gesture.'
As activists rally, hymns of protest rise again
By Adelle M. Banks — August 8, 2018
(RNS) — Just like the music of the civil rights movement, old and new songs are often led by people of faith and sometimes refashioned to appeal to people of a range of backgrounds.
Popular Kenyan priest, suspended for rapping, hasn’t missed a beat with youth
By Tonny Onyulo — June 29, 2018
(RNS) — His rapping is drawing more youth to join the church. That, in turn, will have a positive impact on society, he said.
Godless choir mixes fellowship with a full-throated defense of atheism
By Heather Adams — May 18, 2018
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — Voices of Reason, thought to be the only atheist choir in the U.S., performs at events for other religious skeptics while offering the benefits of community for its church-adverse members.
From hell to atonement, musician Audrey Assad has been quietly evolving
By Jonathan Merritt — April 5, 2018
(RNS) — 'I suppose if there is anything I could say I reject, it is the idea that God’s love and acceptance is dependent on our right belief. I no longer see how that could be possible,' said Audrey Assad.
Leonard Bernstein, social activist, is focus of new exhibit
By Kristen De Groot — March 20, 2018
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bernstein's lifelong effort to find the solution to 'the 20th century crisis of faith' through music is on moving, and sometimes surprising, display at Philadelphia's National Museum of American Jewish History.
Offstage and on, Billy Graham’s ministry was a team effort
By Adelle M. Banks — February 21, 2018
(RNS) — Evangelist Billy Graham may have been the name and face behind the microphone on many a crusade stage, but the team that supported him on and off that stage was an integral part of his ministry.
‘Just As I Am’ was Billy Graham’s signature hymn
By Kevin Eckstrom — February 21, 2018
(RNS) — But 'Just As I Am' was more than a favorite Graham hymn.
Why Debbie Friedman still matters
By Jeffrey Salkin — January 11, 2018
Where is Debbie Friedman, now what we really need her?
Center for Congregational Song launches as antidote to ‘worship wars’
By Adelle M. Banks — October 12, 2017
(RNS) — 'This idea that we need to be at war with each other over worship styles, I find ridiculous,' said center director Brian Hehn.
The 11 sisters of Siervas are a rock band like ‘nun’ other
By Jerome Socolovsky — September 19, 2017
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) — Eleven nuns take the stage wearing traditional black-and-white habits but are anything but old school as they belt out songs to the ringing of electric guitar and a rock 'n' roll beat.
Biggest Christian festival in the UK decides to showcase some Islam too
By Catherine Pepinster — August 18, 2017
LONDON (RNS) — 'It is because we are Christian that we do this. Not because we want to dilute or deny our faith,' said Paul Northup, the festival's creative director.
Mainstream rap has grown more Christian. So why is Christian rap going mainstream?
By Jonathan Merritt — May 25, 2017
Christian rapper Propaganda's new album only mentions "God" in one song. He focuses on racism and injustice instead.
A church closes, but where does its pipe organ go?
By Holly Meyer — May 5, 2017
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A glut of organs up for grabs is in part a consequence of declining church membership across denominations.
‘Shocking’ news on worship and the public
By Martin E. Marty — May 3, 2017
We don’t expect religion to make shocking news unless there are sex or financial scandals in the world of the church, synagogue, etc. Add to that theological controversies over the beginning of things (think of headlines about evolution) or the end of things (think apocalypse, be it nuclear or otherwise). Yet whoever consistently sights the religious scene knows that worship is a hotly contested phenomenon among those who “practice” religion, or who are “observant.”
