Books & Films

Singing Our Lives

Resounding Truth: Christian Wisdom in the World of Music

By Jeremy S. Begbie

In this well-rounded study, Begbie examines the connections between music and theology by engaging Scripture, musical history, and contemporary culture.

Themes and Variations: Music and Imagination

By Don Saliers

Originally written as a series of columns for The American Organist magazine, Themes and Variations is a collection of reflections for music-lovers as well as music-makers. With each essay,...

The Sound of Music

This classic musical overflows with instances of "singing our lives." Maria is sent by her Mother Superior to serve Baron Georg Von Trapp, a retired...

Say Amen, Somebody

A documentary about the lives of two of gospel music's founders: Willie Mae Ford Smith and Thomas Dorsey. Originally outcast from Black churches, gospel music...

Mr. Holland’s Opus

Glenn Holland is an aspiring composer who takes a job as a high school music teacher to pay the rent so that, in his "spare...

Brassed Off

This is the story of a group of Yorkshire coal miners who — like their fathers and grandfathers before them — perform in brass band...

Come Sunday: The Liturgy of Zion

By William B. McClain

Discusses liturgical time, spirituals, gospel songs; includes Scripture/lectionary index.

For the Love of It: Amateuring and Its Rivals

By Wayne Booth

For the Love of It is a story not only of one intimate struggle between a man and his cello, but also of the larger...

Praying Twice: The Music and Words of Congregational Song

By Brian Wren

In this in-depth look at hymns, Brian Wren explores the theological significance of congregational song, asks how music has meaning for its singers, and considers...