To Be Seen and Heard
Toward a Child Liberation Theology Framework for Contemporary Praise and Worship Practice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3329862 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kelsey Kramer Mcginnis (Grand View University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 261 |
| Publication date | 2025-02-19 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel16020261 |
| OpenAlex | W4407748461 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 18 |
If there is no space in our faith communities where children can participate in theological work, how can children create a theology that will liberate them?" R.L. Stollar asks in his book, The Kingdom of Children: A Liberation Theology (2023). Popular Christian parenting literature since the 1970s has encouraged adults to view children as undisciplined trainees with little of value to offer their families and churches other than their obedience. Exploration of the recent history of Christian parenting literature and its intersections with politics and other Christian media reveals that there is substantial overlap between the communities most impacted by these books and those that utilize contemporary praise and worship music (CPWM). Using a child liberation theology framework, I examine the ways that prevailing ideas in parenting books have enabled a "parent-centered" model of musical worship in many evangelical churches. By observing the ways children are invited into or implicitly discouraged from participation in corporate musical worship, we can better understand the ways that CPWM practice might be reshaped in a more liberatory direction-one that will benefit children and adults, and foster a more radically unified church
Art · Liberation · Liberation theology · Literature · Praise · Sociology · Theology · Worship · Chemistry · Philosophy · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Religion, Society, and Development · Religious studies · Theological Perspectives and Practices
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |