Role and Work of Women in Church Music: Early Church to Reformation
Type of Submission
Podium Presentation
Keywords
Church Music, Women, Early Church, Medieval Music, Reformation, Counter-Reformation
Proposal
How has the role and work of women in church music shifted over time? First, women participated during the early church period in evangelism, in practicing Christianity in the home, and in communal worship, in spite of the surrounding Roman culture that viewed women as subservient to men. Next, as the church grew into the Medieval era, the roles women had in music fluctuated. Events in the lives of Hilda of Whitby and Hildegard of Bingin serve as examples of the freedoms and restrictions that these women faced. Finally, the Reformation brought certain restrictions to both Catholic and Protestant women. Certainly, Catholic women’s music making of the Reformation period was more restricted than before the Reformation. Nonetheless, women overcame restrictions from church leaders, social standards, and even the busyness of everyday life to create church music that stands on equal footing with that of their male peers. Christian women today stand on the shoulders of these women who refused to be downtrodden, but rather lifted their songs to God. This paper establishes that the role and work of women in church music is the role and work of every Christian, male or female: to bring glory to God.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Publication Date
2023
Role and Work of Women in Church Music: Early Church to Reformation
How has the role and work of women in church music shifted over time? First, women participated during the early church period in evangelism, in practicing Christianity in the home, and in communal worship, in spite of the surrounding Roman culture that viewed women as subservient to men. Next, as the church grew into the Medieval era, the roles women had in music fluctuated. Events in the lives of Hilda of Whitby and Hildegard of Bingin serve as examples of the freedoms and restrictions that these women faced. Finally, the Reformation brought certain restrictions to both Catholic and Protestant women. Certainly, Catholic women’s music making of the Reformation period was more restricted than before the Reformation. Nonetheless, women overcame restrictions from church leaders, social standards, and even the busyness of everyday life to create church music that stands on equal footing with that of their male peers. Christian women today stand on the shoulders of these women who refused to be downtrodden, but rather lifted their songs to God. This paper establishes that the role and work of women in church music is the role and work of every Christian, male or female: to bring glory to God.
