We Believe: Faith, Community, and the Holy Act of Singing

Sponsored by David English

In 2024, the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery and Music that Makes Community partnered together to release a playlist collection of paperless community singing songs for congregations and communities to sing and embody the work of repair and solidarity with Indigenous communities. In this workshop, we will share songs and stories from our Sacred Lands Playlist: Volume 1, and invite hymn writers to contribute to a second volume of sacred songs, Hymns for Sacred Lands, to be released in 2026.

The Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery promotes an organizing model that recognizes the interrelatedness of cultural and structural change, towards growing the movement for Indigenous justice. Our playlist is a cultural change resource, to speak the truth about our shared history and integrate the values and vision of decolonization. Singing in this community-building way is intended to help strengthen our shared commitments to engage the work of repair and structural change organizing with joy, connection, and renewed purpose.

Music that Makes Community (MMC) practices communal song-sharing that inspires deep spiritual connection, brave shared leadership, and sparks the possibility of transformation in our world. We offer resources, training, and encouragement in the dynamic power of singing to connect others and ourselves. Rooted in both Christian contemplative and activist traditions, MMC envisions a liberative culture that empowers individuals and communities to claim and use the power of singing to heal our spirits, nurture our common lives, and work for justice. We aspire to create spaces that are laboratories of learning, discovery, and communal joy.