Developing Indigenous Hymnody:
Key Resources for Cross-Cultural Workers
by Dianne Palmer-Quay, 1999
 
Encouraging indigenous hymnody may at times require the skills
of a detective, midwife, psychologist, musician, grand marshal
or diplomat.  While struggling with the challenges of this task,
we need to remember that God does not choose his servants because
of individual worthiness, but so that his strength may work
through weakness.  Although abilities may seem inadequate, the
desire to see all peoples offering heartfelt praises to God is worthy.
 

Scripture commands us to worship the Lord with music.  Although
all human societies have music, cultural differences can be
found in its definition, structure and function.  Faced with strange
sounding melodies, missionaries have tended to rely on the sounds
of their home culture when developing songs and hymns for church
use.  Fortunately, an increasing level of indigenizaion of worship,
in both Catholic and Protestant congregations, has occurred in the
last 30 years. However, the level of liturgical inculturation
varies greatly between cultures.  In addition, only a limited
amount of training on music and worship issues is received by
most missionaries.
Chapter One, the book's introduction, deals with the use of music
in worship and the modern rise in indigenous hymnody. In Chapter
Two, the level of indigenous hymnody is evaluated in Sub-Saharan
Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas through a review of the
published literature.  In Chapter Three, the missionary's role as a
catalyst or music system analyst is discussed, along with
contemporary issues in hymnody development such as the challenge
of multi-ethnic congregations.  Chapter Four contains the
conclusions to these essays.

Chapter Five is an annotated bibliography of fifty key resources
for people interested in indigenous hymnody.  These articles,
essays and books represent a recommended reading list for the
cross-cultural worker who desires to build an understanding of
the concept and processes involved in developing an indigenous
hymnody.  Each annotation is at least half a page long.  These
resources were chosen with non-specialists in mind, so that an
"average missionary" can read the materials and make use of
them.
 

The second half of the book is a bibliography of more than 560
resources published on indigenous hymnody, mentioning just
about everything ever published on the topic in English in the
last 100 years.  Many of the items contain short annotations.

Two appendices are especially helpful: one is an index to the
resources listed in the bibliography by geographic region.  With
this index, one can look up a particular area of interest, such
as India, Zambia, or the Caribbean, and quickly find out what
has been published relating to indigneous hymnody in that part
of the world.  The second index is topical, with bibliographic
resources grouped together under themes such as dance, hymn
writing principles, syncretistic church music, and worship issues.

All in all, the book is an invaluable listing of resources saving
many hours of research time in the library.  As well, the original
essays do an excellent job of surveying past and present trends
and pointing out contemporary issues.

ORDER INFORMATION:
available for $10 plus shipping from:
Dianne Palmer-Quay
1415 Victoria St.
Columbia, SC  29201
R_DQuay@compuserve.com