Performing arts

A missing story finds its way to the stage

A new opera explores Islam’s largely unsung role in the history of enslaved Africans in America as it expands cultural and spiritual understanding.

By Stephanie Hunt Journalist

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Pride and pressure: The Easter speech

A tradition rooted in Black excellence has served as a celebration of the resurrection and a training ground for generations of children.

By Cynthia R. Greenlee Journalist

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Remembering the enslaved Black creators of Negro spirituals

A Massachusetts congregation will be paying “royalties” to local arts nonprofits to acknowledge the musicians who were never compensated.

By Susan DeSelms Music director and organist

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Mel Williams: Singing our way to hope

Singing draws people together, comforts the grieving, motivates and inspires. But most of all, it gives us hope, writes a Baptist pastor emeritus and singer.

By Mel Williams Activist & Baptist pastor emeritus

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Gretchen E. Ziegenhals: This Lent, turning again and again to God and one another

When a church turned away from musician Steve Bell and his family, inmates at the federal prison where his father was a chaplain turned toward them, welcoming their brokenness and helping Bell discover a gift from God and a vision for what church can be.

By Gretchen E. Ziegenhals Spiritual director and retreat leader

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Luke A. Powery: Spirituals teach us about suffering before God

African-American spirituals have given voice to people for whom “Lent was life,” says the dean of Duke Chapel, who has written a new book called “Were You There? Lenten Reflections on the Spirituals.”

Anna Carter Florence: 'Rehearsing Scripture: Discovering God's Word in Community'

Drawing upon the metaphor of church as theater, a homiletics professor offers a novel way to read Scripture in community -- entering the text, encountering it, and coming back with something deep and true.

Jason Byassee: What the Avett Brothers tell us about goodness

The new film, “May It Last,” tells the story of the folk-rock band from North Carolina. But its real message is about virtue, says a theologian.

By Jason Byassee Senior minister, Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, Toronto

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Gretchen E. Ziegenhals: Learning leadership through the metaphor of music

Years of watching her mother direct a chorus taught the author that leading a diverse community requires radical acceptance of all people, careful listening and a clear vision.

By Gretchen E. Ziegenhals Spiritual director and retreat leader

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Milcah Lalam: Theater helped people heal from trauma in South Sudan

A Christian peace worker explains how drama, music and dance can help people struggling with deep trauma -- and why lament is healthy.

Excerpt from "Stakes Is High: Race, Faith, and Hope for America"

In this collection of columns written originally for The Huffington Post, the Rev. Michael W. Waters offers stories from the front lines and offers ways that he and others can live out their faith for the cause of social justice.

By Michael W. Waters Lead pastor of Abundant Life AME Church

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