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

For the past 3 years, I have led an international partnership with Al-Akhawayn University in Morocco that explores the act of music-making as a model for cultivating peaceful relationships across religions and cultures. The program has been an unqualified success, and I believe The Hymn Society would be an exceptional place to share the results of the project and to extend the model into intra-religious peacebuilding in the US. Would the practice of making music together with those who we disagree with in our own religion (think theologically or politically) open up more productive dialogue? My research suggests that it does, and I would love to share that with the Society.