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Songs to teach the faith: Songs to keep the faith
A little information…
For those who don't know me, my name is Elspeth Chantler. I am a professional church musician and liturgist, now in the final stages of my MA in Liturgical Music at Colchester Institute. My dissertation project, entitled Songs to Teach the Faith: Songs to Keep the Faith, is an in-depth study of children and religious song.
My research was born of the realisation that the children of today are growing up learning a very limited body of religious song. As a church musician I am frequently faced with the request that we 'sing something the children know', but on questioning the children as to what they know and would like to sing have discovered that they know very few hymns/Christian songs between them. I noticed that most of those who seemed to participate more freely in the singing in church, and who offered more suggestions as to what to sing attend church schools. What I intend to establish (given that it is important for Christians to be able to participate in sung worship) is how young people acquire a body of song, and to what extent schools, particularly church schools, influence this process.
I will be assessing the effectiveness of current collective worship provision in local schools in equipping children with the necessary skills to fully participate in sung worship. Having explored the cultural and educational factors affecting participation in congregational song, I intend to formulate a method to help schools and churches select appropriate material to hand on their faith to the younger generation, and hope that this method will be equally valuable to all denominations.
To this end, I am visiting a number of local churches to observe their normal Sunday services (not family services or special services) and gather information from the young people. This data will then be analysed in relation to data gathered in the surrounding schools. The churches I am observing are all involved in the Great Missenden Lighthouse Christian Holiday Week.
Thank you for your interest and assistance. If you have any questions relating to my research please contact me at the email address below.
Elspeth Chantler
[Email address removed]
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