Performing The Sacred Engaging Culture

Christian theatre has rich roots, from ancient Hebrew dramas to medieval plays, but where does it fit in today's media-saturated society? Performing the Sacred is a fascinating dialogue between a theologian and theatre artist, offering the first full-scale exploration of theatre and theology. The authors illuminate the importance of live performance in a virtual world, of preserving the ancient art form of storytelling by becoming the story. Theologically, theatre reflects Christianity's central doctrines--incarnation, community, and presence--enhancing the human creative experience and simultaneously engaging viewers on multiple levels. This Engaging Culture series title will be a key volume for those interested in theatre as well as drama practitioners, worship leaders, and culture makers.

How should a follower of Christ engage the popular media culture? By becoming a mystic! Sr. Nancy challenges Christians today to delve deep into the rich theological tradition of the church as the root and foundation for recognizing the beauty of God present in all that is truly human. The artists of popular culture sometimes unwittingly seek transcendence while grappling with some of humanity's most profound existential longings. The cultural mystics of today point out those needs of humanity in the culture's artifacts in order to enter into dialogue with those who seek something beyond what this world satisfies. The anthropological-sacramental-incarnational paradigm presented gives us this ability to take a sacred look of the culture and offer the joy of the Gospel, Christ who is the answer of all humanity's yearnings!

"Musical activity is one of the most ubiquitous and highly valued forms of social interaction in North America-from sporting events to political rallies, concerts to churches. Its use as an affective agent for political and religious programs suggests that it has ethical significance, but it is one of the most undertheorized aspects of both theological ethics and music scholarship. Music for Others: Care, Justice, and Relational Ethics in Christian Music fills part of this scholarly gap by focusing on the religious aspects of musical activity, particularly on the practices of Christian communities. It is based on ethnomusicological fieldwork at three Protestant churches and interviews with a group of seminary students, combined with theories of discourse, formation, response, and care ethics oriented toward restorative justice. The book argues that relationships are ontological for both human beings and musical activity. It further argues that musical meaning and emotion converge in human bodies such that music participates in personal and communal identity construction in affective ways-yet these constructions are not always just. Thus, Music for Others argues that music is ethical when it preserves people in and restores people to just relationships with each other, and thereby with God"--

A vigorous, innovative, compelling introduction to Quakers, fully global in reach, and utilizing the best Quaker scholars from every continent.

The Problem with the Dot is rooted in the idea that culture is a garden to be tended (Gen 2:15) rather than a war to be won and uses the analogy of an ecosystem to expand the details of the individual components of the theatrical ecosystem to: 1.Help those with minimal exposure to theater understand the indivisible construct of the theatrical ecosystem; 2.Identify areas of Christian neglect within each component; and 3.Emphasize strategic corrections that will result in the holistic restoration of a healthy global culture. Each chapter strengthens the case for a long-term holistic approach to the care and cultivation of global culture through the theatrical ecosystem, culminating in a call to action that is magnified by the unique opportunity presented by the 2020 global pandemic that forced a hiatus on all theatrical productions. The market will reset, and artists will revive theaters. It is my prayer that when this grand reopening occurs around the globe, Christians are an integral part of the new beginning.

This critical new title in the Theatre & series explores the fluctuating relationship between theatre and Christianity by focusing on key points of intersection - the challenge of realism and the real, the treatment of women and the role of amateur performance. It covers a wide range of examples from medieval times to today, examining how theatre and Christianity have sometimes clashed dramatically and sometimes embraced one another to great effect. Engaging and enlightening, this book offers an insight into the complex dynamic between theatre and Christianity perfect for undergraduate and postgraduate students of theatre or religious studies.

In The cultural Communication of Emigration in Bulgaria, Nadezhda Sotirova weaves disparate threads of Balkanism, complaining practices, and the myth of the “Bulgarian Situation” in order to illuminate local discourses on emigration in Bulgaria. Utilizing ethnography of communication and cultural discourse analysis, the author examines and contextualizes the lived experiences of Bulgarian communities through ethnographic observations, interviews, and cultural discourse analysis. Based on assumptions of communication as infused with voices of the past, reflective, constitutive, and active, this case study of emigration discourses highlights the local social reality as navigated through interaction. Sotirova examines local discourses on emigration as cultural currency available to the members of the community, where discussion of issues in Bulgaria serve to communicatively enact larger cultural notions of being (Bulgarian-ness), social relations (oplakvane), dwelling (Bulgarian Situation), and action (emigration).