Global Arts and Christian Witness: Exegeting Culture, Translating the Message, and Communicating Christ

Veteran missionary-scholar Roberta King draws on a lifetime of study and firsthand mission experience to show how witness through contextualized global arts can dynamically reveal Christ to all peoples. King offers the global church biblical foundations, historical pathways, theoretical frameworks, and effective practices for communicating Christ through the arts in diverse contexts. Supplemented with stories from the field, illustrations, and discussion questions, this textbook offers innovative and dynamic approaches essential for doing mission in transformative ways through the arts. It also features a full-color insert of artwork discussed in the book.From the Back Cover"Drawing on decades of rich field experience, focused research, and teaching,Global Arts and Christian Witness pulls together the treasures of Roberta King's life and work into one outstanding volume. While the book speaks powerfully to missionaries and artists of all kinds, I recommend it for mission pastors, students, and professors as well, as it offers a clear and compelling introduction to the importance of engaging global arts in ministry."--Robin Harris, Center for Excellence in World Arts, Dallas International University"It has been said that music is a universal language, but its meaning is not. King has given us an in-depth analysis adding to the ethnomusicological lexicon in great detail. In a world where everyone has some type of favorite music, King's astute inquiry gives us a better glimpse into the complexity of music from around the world. Very much worth the read!"--Daniel White Hodge, North Park University; author ofHomeland Insecurity: A Hip Hop Missiology for the Post-Civil Rights Era"This inspirational book provides art makers and art appreciators with multiple ideas on how to individually and collectively spread God's fame globally. King masterfully articulates, demonstrates, and illustrates how global creative arts lead beyond fictional faith to vibrant faith through witness and worship."--Tom Steffen, Cook School of Intercultural Studies, Biola University"In King's exciting new book, I see the culmination of a lifetime of worship, witness, scholarship, and service. King synthesizes at a deep level, integrates huge swaths of artistic and cultural tradition without oversimplifying, and contextualizes all of it in a biblical worldview that is born of her life experience. I highly recommend this book and all it offers to artists, worship leaders, and educators."--Tony Payne, Wheaton College"The gospel message of Jesus Christ is life to all nations, bringing people to worship and to bear witness. With great care, King urges all believers to creatively employ, to their fullest extent, all music, storytelling, playback dramas, visual arts, and other artistic formats, in order to make Christ known. Globally contextualized, biblically grounded, and believer (and church) relevant, this book will convict the hearts of many missionaries, church music students, professional artists, and pastors."--Joseph Lee, Singapore Bible CollegeAbout the AuthorRoberta R. King (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is professor of communication and ethnomusicology in the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. She previously served as a missionary and professor in Kenya for twenty years and is a past president of the APM (American Professors of Mission). She is the author ofPathways in Christian Music Communication and coauthor ofMusic in the Life of the African Church. King also coproduced(un)Common Sounds: Songs of Peace and Reconciliation among Muslims and Christians, which received national airplay on ABC TV.