“Call and Response“ is the voiced invitation for nearby hearers to join in chants, hymns, alerts, or protest. The caller is the one whose voice initiates the outcry. The response is the many voices who follow suit with the same or similar expression. The cry announces a new message in the surrounding environment, and the response of many voices agrees with the caller.
Call and response is in the resonance of my voice. I grew up singing in the choir of an African Methodist Episcopal Church on Sunday mornings. As the cheerleading captain, I yelled loudly on the sidelines of Finklea Robinson Field for Americus High School football on Friday nights. I “called the cheer” to capture the…
Captive to Capitalism, part one, introduced the reality of the church’s formation by capitalism.
Often without us noticing it, this all-encompassing capitalist system shapes our cultural identities and practices. Branding is a core element of this capitalistic formation. In our…
Editor’s Note: We sat down with Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, editor of the new book Voices of Lament, and Missio Alliance national director, Lisa Rodriguez-Watson, a contributor to the book, to gain understanding on the importance for both truth-telling and lament.…
It’s often the case that the people most able to distinguish between human power and kingdom power are those who have been most abused or excluded by human power structures. Each moment that a power structure oppresses or excludes can…
The Native people of North America have experienced atrocities at the hands of self-proclaimed Christians since contact. Even within founding documents like the Declaration of Independence, we see anti-Native rhetoric with the inclusion of passages such as: “He has excited…
