Southern Methodist University SMU Scholar Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses Perkins Thesis and Dissertations 5-28-2021 "I Can't Breathe": Toward a Pneumatology of Singing and Missional Musicking for Racial Justice in Jacksonville, Florida Thomas Shapard [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/theology_music_etds Part of the Christianity Commons, Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Community-Based Learning Commons, Community-Based Research Commons, Ethnomusicology Commons, Liturgy and Worship Commons, Missions and World Christianity Commons, Music Performance Commons, Other Music Commons, Practical Theology Commons, and the Social Justice Commons Recommended Citation Shapard, Thomas, ""I Can't Breathe": Toward a Pneumatology of Singing and Missional Musicking for Racial Justice in Jacksonville, Florida" (2021). Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses. 4. https://scholar.smu.edu/theology_music_etds/4 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Perkins Thesis and Dissertations at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. "1 CAN'T BREATHE": TOWARD A PNEUMATOLOGY OF SINGING AND MISSiONAL MUsICKING FOR RACIAL JUSTICE IN JACKSONVILLE. FLORIDA Thesis Approved with Honors by C.mara Run C. Michael Hawn University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Church Music Director. Doctor of Pastoral Music Program Marcell Steuernagel Assistant Professor of Church Music Director of Master of Sacred Music Program UlyssesV Owens Jr. Community Advisor Artistic Director Don't Miss A Beat. Inc. “I CAN’T BREATHE”: TOWARD A PNEUMATOLOGY OF SINGING AND MISSIONAL MUSICKING FOR RACIAL JUSTICE IN JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA A Thesis Presented to the Graduate Faculty of Perkins School of Theology Southern Methodist University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Pastoral Music by Thomas M. Shapard B.M.E., Vocal/Choral, Baylor University M.Div., Emory University M.M., Music Performance (Conducting), University of North Florida May 28, 2021 Copyright (2021) Thomas M. Shapard All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my sincere appreciation to Dr. C. Michael Hawn, who not only provided guidance, support, and wisdom throughout the research and writing of my thesis, but also had the foresight to create the Doctor of Pastoral Music program, of which I have benefitted greatly. I give thanks for the faculty and staff at Perkins School of Theology, for their knowledge and care over the past few years. I am especially grateful for Dr. Marcell Steuernagel and his observations, insight, and critical eye in my writing process. I am indebted to Ulysses Owens Jr., and the staff at Don’t Miss A Beat Inc., for welcoming me into partnership and including me in their profound work. To the congregation and staff at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church, I offer gratitude for encouraging me to enter a doctoral degree program, allowing time away for study and travel, and for constant presence and prayer. I especially give thanks to my colleague, Britt Hester, for supplying the pictures used in this work. I cannot fail to mention members in the Doctor of Pastoral Music and Doctor of Ministry cohorts, particularly Kevin Turner and Celia Halfacre, who sharpened discussions, shaped conversations, and shared many moments of laughter and tears. Finally, for the space, time, and permission to be elsewhere, I say thank you to my wife, Rachel, and my three children, Drew, Kate, and Mac. Without this village of people, this thesis would not have been possible. iii Shapard, Thomas M. B.M.E., Vocal/Choral, Baylor University, 1997 M.Div, Emory University, 2004 M.M., Music Performance (Conducting), University of North Florida, 2016 “I Can’t Breathe”: Toward a Pneumatology of Singing and Missional Musicking for Racial Justice in Jacksonville, Florida Advisor: Dr. C. Michael Hawn Doctor of Pastoral Music conferred August 2021 Thesis completed June 2021 ABSTRACT This thesis develops a philosophy of musicking that intersects with missional ecclesiology and expands the role of music-making beyond the church walls. The central hypothesis assumes that predominantly white congregations in the Free Church tradition located in the southern United States incorporate ways of singing that reinforce, albeit inadvertently, attitudes toward others that buttress white ethnocentricity. Musical practices arising from a Western European heritage can promote cultural exclusivity as well as a perceived—yet false— sense of superiority. Is there an implicit theology of singing in white churches that engenders a culture of complicity and apathy in matters of racial injustice, or are there alternative ways of understanding singing that can encourage white Christians to join the journey for racial justice? The author employs an interdisciplinary methodology and identifies ways music-making as social activity builds community and reframes relationships across the color line in Jacksonville, Florida. Detailing an ongoing partnership with Ulysses Owens Jr., and Don’t Miss A Beat, Inc., the author offers a first-hand account of exploratory steps in missional musicking and augmenting the music program at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church. The author prescribes a pneumatology of singing that connects missional musicking to the life-giving breath of the Spirit and the responsibility to form more equitable communities reflective of the earliest Christian community as recorded in Acts 2. After discussing his own missteps, challenges, and increasing awareness, the author shares his thoughts on “white work,” anti-racism, and cross-cultural musicking, particularly how musicians in white churches can join the journey for racial justice. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF VIDEOS ......................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 The Events of 2020 and my Research ..................................................................................... 3 Toward an Inclusive Theology of Singing .................................................................................. 6 A Missional Approach ................................................................................................................ 8 Missional Musicking ............................................................................................................... 9 Missional Musicking: Hospitality or Justice? ....................................................................... 11 Community Music ................................................................................................................ 14 Theological and Biblical Framework........................................................................................ 16 A Thesis Overview ................................................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER 2: HENDRICKS AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH AND THE COLOR LINE IN JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA ...................................................................................................... 23 The Early Color Line: LaVilla, 1866 .................................................................................... 27 Solidifying the Color Line: Rodney Hurst Sr., and Ax Handle Saturday, 1960 ................... 29 The Present Color Line in Jacksonville, 2020 ...................................................................... 31 Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church............................................................................................ 34 Worship and Music at HABC ............................................................................................... 36 HABC in the Twenty-First Century: A Cultural Inventory .................................................. 41 San Marco Neighborhood ..................................................................................................... 42 Pine Forest Neighborhood .................................................................................................... 43 Crossing the Color Line ........................................................................................................ 45 v CHAPTER 3: LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING ....................................................................... 49 James Weldon Johnson ......................................................................................................... 50 Harriet Beecher Stowe .......................................................................................................... 54 James Weldon Johnson and Uncle Tom’s Cabin .................................................................. 55 Sing a Song: Missional Musicking in