Performing arts

A musical about Frederick Douglass explores the prophetic

“American Prophet” connects spirituality and the arts at a profound moment in history.

By Stephanie Hunt Journalist

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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.