Oakwood's Police Chief Lewis Eakins, and how he has helped pioneer the OUPD, is featured in the October 2013 issue of the Southern Tidings magazine.

  

Oakwood University had the privilege of hosting a GIA music workshop on Friday, October 11. Dr. James Abbington, Associate Professor of Church Music and Worship, was the guest clinician.

 

Abbington serves as the executive editor of the African American Church Music Series by GIA Publications, Inc. (Chicago). He has also served as the national director of music for both the Progressive Baptist Convention and the NAACP. Today, he currently works at Candler School of Theology, Emory University in Atlanta.

 

Abbington taught us 118 choristers from Aeolians and University Choirs, OU and First SDA Churches' Chorales and other attendees about the history of hymns and how they were later re-arranged by African-American musicians; he also had us sing different published hymn arrangements and original compositions from such Oakwoodites as Dr. Lloyd Mallory, Jr., Jason Max Ferdinand, Roberto Burton and fellow SDAs Mrs. Gail Jones Murphy and Andrew Marshall.

 

Abbington, a Negro spirituals expert, emphasized five points about hymns, namely, that they must be: 1) formative, in that they should form and define our faith. "What we sing, is what we really are";  2) transformative, by leading individuals from interest to belonging and finally to commitment. 3) cognitive, as the sacred secret message should be unlocked; 4) educational - they should teach us something we didn't know before! And 5) inspirational, by leading all the hopeless out of the depths of despair and into hope and joy.

 

"Music isn't based on denomination, but by the abilities of the composer. There should be something in church music that separates it from the world. As Christians, we have the greatest gift in the world, and we're trading it for much less than what the world is giving us," he pined. Colossians 3:16 says, "Let the word of God dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."

Dr. Abbington quoted St. Augustine by saying that "When we sing, we pray twice. When the praise is of God, something happens to the song of the praiser. Singing is a complete spiritual experience. The words sung become completely resonant throughout the body."

 

The GIA workshop was a momentous experience for all present. Dr. Abbington was more than pleased by the outcome of the whole evening, and Oakwood was more than appreciative for his services. His parting words? "When those things hit your life and those circumstances come your way, if you have not suffered as Christ suffered, then you have not died and you'll never know you can rise again. And this is the faith that we sing, and it shapes us whether we know it or not.

 

"Many of you, regardless of what style or genre of music that you sing, don't realize how much you are really learning. But one thing that we have concluded is that all of the music that belongs to the world isn't bad. Unfortunately, sometimes it makes better commentaries on the situation than the music in the church. Unfortunately, what the music of the world does not do is resolve the issue. It can identify. But it doesn't tell you that there is a Jesus who can straighten it out."

 

Thanks very much,

 

Carrie Leverett