Landscapes and Soundscapes: How Place Shapes Christian Congregational Song

Abstract

Following the Second Vatican Counsel (1962–1965), Christian congregational song began to take root in cultures beyond the Western world, especially in Latin America, Asia and Africa. After centuries of song moving from the northern continents to the rest of the world, especially through the modern missionary movement of the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries, this pattern is beginning to be reversed. Gradually song from the southern hemisphere is moving to the northern hemisphere, reflecting the shifting ecclesial demographic patterns of the twenty-first century. This essay samples the broad landscape of congregational song through three lenses: congregational songs that (a) employ images of the natural landscape; (b) reflect the mission of the church; and (c) are sung around the table. Through the varied soundscapes of the church’s song, one gains a broader understanding of the Incarnation of Christ, the One born in one place for all places.