Read Article Common Ground February 2023 Edtn 14 min read All my Life Singing Mark Edgecombe All my life I have loved to sing. At first, I didn’t realise that the family rule, “No singing at the table,” was not universal but particular. Arts, Photography, Music
Read Article Common Ground February 2023 Edtn 3 min read Editorial: Always Singing John Dennison All the world over, wherever God by his Spirit has made people his dwelling place you will find lives resounding with song. Christians sing: when they gather; when they worship; in the morning; in the dark places of the world—they’re always singing. Arts, Photography, Music Christian Year
Read Article Common Ground February 2023 Edtn 16 min read The Pain of Others and the Call to Prayer Sonya Lewthwaite One of the quirks of celebrating the church calendar in the Southern Hemisphere is that the season of Lent (observed in the Northern Hemisphere during the bleak end of the winter months) takes place against the backdrop of our most abundant time of the year. Living Well Scripture & Theology
Read Article Common Ground February 2023 Edtn 25 min read Field Notes: Ryan Lang Jannah Dennison Ryan Lang lives in Māngere Bridge, Auckland, with his wife Ashleigh, a nurse and artist. They share their place with a family of beautiful white-faced herons. Ryan teaches theology at Laidlaw College and recently completed his PhD entitled “Songs in the Night: Exploring the Song of the Church.” Here, Ryan Lang speaks to Jannah Dennison about his background, his faith, his work, and what he has learned about singing, God, and the Church at song. Arts, Photography, Music
Read Article Common Ground February 2023 Edtn 6 min read Why do Christians Sing? André Muller I grew up among people who loved to sing. They would sing at church on Sunday morning and at ministry times on Sunday night. During the week, they would often sing grace before meals, even though they knew perfectly decent spoken prayers. After dinner, they would sing their children to sleep. On many nights, I would fall asleep to “Jesus, tender shepherd, hear me.” Arts, Photography, Music Christian Year
Read Article Common Ground February 2023 Edtn 5 min read Song as Lament: The Mōteatea “E Pā Tō Hau” Hannah Chapman “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Arts, Photography, Music Creation, Society, Culture