Liberating Congregational Singing: A Critical Engagement with Hymns, Songs, and Congregational Singing Practices Using Postcolonial, Decolonial, and Liberating Perspectives by Becca Whitla A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Emmanuel College and the Graduate Centre for Theological Studies of the Toronto School of Theology. In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theology awarded by the University of St. Michael's College. © Copyright by Becca Whitla 2019 i Liberating Congregational Singing: A Critical Engagement with Hymns, Songs, and Congregational Singing Practices using Postcolonial, Decolonial, and Liberating Perspectives Becca Whitla Doctor of Philosophy University of St. Michael’s College 2019 Abstract Drawing upon liberationist, postcolonial, and decolonial scholarship, this thesis interrogates the colonizing forces in Western European and Anglo North Atlantic congregational singing. It is undertaken in the context of recent scholarly discourses on hymnody which have begun to uncover eurocentrism in the study of music and entails an interdisciplinary engagement with the hymnic (congregational song) inheritance of historic mainline Protestant churches in Canada, focusing on the United and Anglican churches of Canada, as well as with congregational singing and song leading practices in those traditions. It also shows how congregational singing can embody a liberating praxis by fostering an opening up to traditions from the Global South and those marginalized in the Global North, along with carefully reclaimed elements of this hymnody. The study’s praxical approach privileges processes of identification and contextualization because they allow us to understand how identities, relationships, and ecclesial (church) and social contexts are conditioned by and implicated in the history of colonialism in Canada. As such, engaging decolonial thinking is a key strategy for interrogating, undoing, and identifying the coloniality lurking in hymnody. By reckoning with the complex histories of mainline denominational contexts and examining hymns from those contexts, the nineteenth century roots of hymnic canons from the peak of the British Empire are exposed and a coloniality in text and music—musicoloniality—is unmasked. ii Colonial hymns can also be reconfigured, or flipped, by the communities that sing them becoming expressions of forbearance, hope, and resistance. At the same time, hymns and ritual practices from the Global South offer liberating possibilities. An examination of marginalized communities has something to teach the mainstream. Through an analysis of the practices in two Toronto community settings, an Anglican congregation and a choir of Jamaican Canadian hotel workers, the possibilities and the limitations of decolonial thinking, particularly border thinking/singing, are illuminated. Inspired by liberationist theologies, especially Latin American Liberation and Latina/o theologies, the dissertation concludes by proposing initial principles for a liberating liturgical theology. Congregational singing can be both embodied and liberating, nourishing fuller expressions of complex cultural identities in present-day churches in Canada. iii Acknowledgements The work in these pages reflects and is undergirded by the many communities in which I have sung and taught over many years. I am particularly grateful to the Church of the Holy Trinity in downtown Toronto, the Echo Women’s Choir, the H.E.R.E. Local 75 Choir, and the Toronto School of Theology Choir. The dissertation project itself is also the result of a rich engagement with many people who have accompanied me in my scholarly journey. To each and every one of you, too numerous to name, thank you! Many thanks to my committee, Pamela Couture, Lim Swee Hong, and William Kervin. They have warmly accompanied me from the beginning, critically engaging with my work and gently and firmly pushing me where I needed to be pushed. My supervisor, William Kervin, has gone above and beyond, guiding me every step along the way and encouraging me with his careful and clear advice which I usually followed. It has been a joy to reflect on some of the principles of this dissertation with him as we together midwifed the worship life of the Emmanuel College community. Thanks for trusting and encouraging my leadership in the role of Director of Chapel at the college and as an emerging scholar and teacher. My research was recognized and supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada through a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Doctoral Scholarship and through an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. This generous support validated my project by making it possible to dedicate myself to this scholarly work throughout my doctoral programme. I am also grateful to Emmanuel College for four years of funding which included a fellowship with Lim Swee Hong who cheerfully encouraged by offering me opportunities to teach, to travel, to present my ideas in academic and community settings, and by having countless conversations over coffee. iivv I am grateful to the students, staff, and faculty at Emmanuel College. I am particularly grateful to Principal Mark Toulouse for finding funds for me to travel in 2015 to the conference of the International Academy of Practical Theology in Pretoria, South Africa and the Christian Congregational Music Conference in Rippon, UK. In those two instances, I presented earlier versions of the research I developed in this dissertation. Similarly, acting Principal Phyllis Airhart also found funds which, along with a grant from the Oxford Fund of The United Church of Canada, supported my travel to Birmingham, UK in December of 2017 to present at a conference supported by the United Reformed Church. I am also grateful to the Seminario Evangelico de Teología de Matanzas for supporting two study retreats in 2017 and 2018 during which I wrote outlines for two chapters and my conclusion. The scholarship in this dissertation was deeply enriched through my involvement with the Canadian Decolonial Theology Project: my heartfelt thanks go to these colleague-friends— Néstor Medina, Michel Andraos, and Lee Cormie. Our work together deeply challenged me and sharpened my use of post and decolonial theory. In particular, I would like to pay tribute to Néstor Medina who introduced me to Latin American decolonial thinking as my professor before I began my doctoral studies. His scholarship and ongoing mentoring has provided a rich source for critical engagement and reflection throughout these pages. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their patience and support: my parents, Nancy and Bill Whitla and my children’s godfather, Peter Turner; and especially, my children Emma Whitla and David Gasser and their father, Alan Gasser. Thank you for believing in me and in my work. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being part of my syncopated liberating praxis of life! v Contents Introduction: Flipping the Song Bird ..........................................................................................1 Methodology and Outline .............................................................................................6 Postscript: Flipping the Song Bird .............................................................................13 Chapter 1: Trans-forming Praxis: Initial Rubrics for Liberating Song Leading ..................15 Introduction ................................................................................................................15 Historical Context: Congregational Singing Over the Last Fifty Years ....................16 Liberating Song Leading ............................................................................................20 Context and Accountability .............................................................................20 Decolonizing Song Leading: Epistemic Humility and Kenosis .......................26 Messing Up ......................................................................................................29 Towards Liberating Accompaniment ..............................................................31 Chapter 2: Untangling the Threads of Our Stories ..................................................................35 Introduction ................................................................................................................35 Part One: Singing My Story .......................................................................................37 The Broader Context: Coloniality in Canada .................................................49 Multiculturalism as a Linchpin of Coloniality ................................................53 Part Two: Making Sense of Our Stories .....................................................................56 Unbleaching ....................................................................................................58 Unsuturing .......................................................................................................61 Mestizaje-Intermixture ....................................................................................63 From Being to Becoming ................................................................................66 Part Three: Church and Coloniality ............................................................................68 Part Four: Congregational Singing Is a Risky Liberating Praxis ...............................77 Chapter 3: The Empire Sings .....................................................................................................81