Reggae Heroes Make it to the Hymn Books: CEN 8.10.07 August 9, 2007
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of the Province of the West Indies, Hymnody/Liturgy, Popular Culture.trackback
The Church of the Province of the West Indies has drawn upon reggae artists Bob Marley and Peter Tosh for inclusion in its new hymnal.
Speaking to the Jamaica Observer on Aug 1, Canon Ernle Gordon of Kingston said Tosh’s reggae version of Psalm 27 and Bob Marley “One Love” would be included in a hymnal scheduled for publication later this year.
The inclusion of the two reggae songs in the hymnal was part of the Church’s move to make it culturally relevant. However, some congregations had been having reggae, calypso and mento (a precursor of ska and reggae popular in the 1950’s) for over 25 years, Canon Gordon said.
“I don’t live in England; I live here, so my theology and how I think must reflect my cultural morals. The theology has to be Caribbean-oriented. You have to interpret the Bible according to where you are,” he told the Observer.
The Anglican Church was careful that its reggae gospel music was used “correct theology and that they are catholic in theology,” he said, making “certain that the words relate to the Bible and to our own Anglican interpretation of it.”
The Province permits the use of a number of hymnals and different dioceses favor different books. The most widely used hymnal in the predominantly Anglo-Catholic West Indies, however, is Hymns Ancient and Modern.
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