REBIRTH: Singing Death, Singing Life

Peter Irvine, Sponsor
In Memory of Marilyn Stulken

As awareness of the needs of neurodivergent (ND) children grows, congregations across denominational spectrums are beginning to ask themselves how they can serve the worshipping needs of those who may be unintentionally excluded from full participation in the life of faith. This concern is further pronounced when we realize that sensory processing is a primary means of dysregulation among ND children (van Ommen 2024, for instance). Orders of service, with their sometimes-rigorous decorum and adherence to sonic and visual stimuli, are often unwelcoming places for ND children.

But how does congregational music affect this experience? Could music be a key to unlocking a more caring, nurturing, and edifying formational practice of worship? Perhaps, as some psychologists have suggested (Kim et al 2024, for example), music may generally help ND individuals regulate emotions and process sensory information more pleasantly. Could congregational music play a similar role in the life of Christian communities? This sectional suggests that it does, and, drawing from our ongoing fieldwork with Christian communities across the US with the support of a Lilly Endowment Inc grant, offers insight and resources for enhancing worship in other local congregations.