Overview

Over My Head: The Power of Ancestral Music to Future the Black Church explores how sacred music genres of the Black church (Spirituals, hymns, and gospel music) have functioned historically as spiritual technologies, empowering African-descended peoples to navigate their lives through and beyond perilous circumstances while helping maintain connections, however tenuous, to ancestral spirituality. Employing an Afrofuturist lens, the author examines the origin and evolution of these genres and posits how their creation and performance employ core elements of imagination, improvisation, and adaptability--ancestral spiritual technologies that can help African and African-descended Christian communities ""vision"" themselves into generative, hope-filled futures.

Full Product Details

9781666784855

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Rev. Dr. Lisa Allen's Over My Head is a masterful analysis of the possibilities for incorporating Afrofuturistic and womanist lenses in African American liturgical practice. By extending Afrofuturism into a discussion of African American sacred music, Allen has provided an accessible and invaluable resource for scholars, leaders, and laypersons to re-imagine and revitalize Black worship and liturgical practices."" --Roger A. Sneed, Professor of Religion, Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina ""Lisa M. Allen, a griot of rare depth, masterfully unveils the sacred reverberations of our ancestors, demonstrating how their voices continue to guide us. With a musician's sensitivity and deep theological insight, she reveals Black sacred music's transformative power, connecting past and future through worship, memory, and Afrofuturist imagination. Never has one so steeped in Black Christian praxis examined these liturgical traditions with such nuance, illuminating how ancestral song becomes a technology for liberation, belonging, and divine presence."" --Alisha L. Jones, Associate Professor, University of Cambridge ""Allen has a clear-eyed, inspiring vision of Black church traditions thriving well into the future, riding the waves of time-honored musical genres. A delightful Sankofan hermeneutic permeates her work--we simply cannot make our way into our future as Black church communities without identifying what of our past has shaped us into who we are today. She reminds us of the historical worship themes of 'survival, resistance, deliverance and liberation, and affirmation and joy.' She then implores us to recognize and remove the liturgical shackles that have bound us to harmful, culture-erasing modes of worship. We are to utilize instead the tools of Black, historical, musical genres that give us strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow."" --Catherine E. Williams, Associate Professor of Preaching and Worship, Lancaster Theological Seminary, Moravian University

Author Information

Lisa Allen, is an Emmy-award winning pastor, professor, and public theologian. She is professor of worship, music, and spirituality at Methodist Theological School in Ohio. She has over forty years of experience as an educator, liturgist, and church musician. She is the author of The OneWord Worship Model: A New Paradigm for Church Worship Planning (2023) and A Womanist Theology of Worship: Liturgy, Justice, and Communal Righteousness (2021).

Tab Content 6

Countries Available