Transformative worship encounters: toward a relational philosophy of church music as community music
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
This philosophical inquiry explores the nature and purpose of church music through a critical and interdisciplinary lens. Responding to the dominance of performance-driven models and pragmatic aestheticism in popular worship literature, this study argues for a new conceptual model of church music as a relational, participatory, and formational practice. Positioning church music as community music in practice while drawing from literature in relational ontology, theology, and spirituality in music, this study critiques commonly accepted traditions in evangelical churches, and instead proposes a vision of worship music as a lived, transformative encounter grounded in human and divine relationality. The study proposes a conceptual model of church music as community music shaped by four phenomenological dimensions: relationality, corporeality, temporality, and spatiality. These categories frame worship not as a product to consume, but as transformative process carried out in community. Each dimension is examined in relation to community music, theological reflection, and spiritual formation, offering insight into how church musicians might cultivate more embodied, inclusive, and transformative musical encounters.
Description
2026
License
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International