2 A Singing People

The preface to the 1953 Hymnal of the Church of God states, “We have been a singing people. Our songs have served both to draw us into greater communion with God and to provide a witness to others of what Christ has done” (Nicholson 1953, iii). When the next Hymnal of the Church of God was published in 1971, the editor introduced it by writing, “The people of the Church of God have a tradition and a deep love for vital and meaningful congregational singing” (Nicholson 1971, iii). Following in this line of thought, the editors of the 1989 hymnal reminded its users, “Historically the Church of God as a movement expressed faith through vibrant singing and meaningful worship. The early hymnals produced by the church were more than song books, they were testimonies of faith, expressing our theology through music” (Newell and Vader 1989, preface). This love for singing is made obvious by the fact that the 1989 hymnal was the seventh major collection of hymns and spiritual songs to be published in the short lifespan of the Church of God movement. Between its founding in 1881 and the publishing of the 1989 hymnal, the Church of God produced, on average, a new collection of hymns and songs every 15 years, an astoundingly rapid rate when compared to other Christian faith traditions.

Why was singing so important to the Church of God, and why did singing sink its roots deeply in the soil of the Anderson University campus? Perhaps it was because this community of faith, which chose not to adopt a specific creed or tightly reasoned set of doctrines, turned to song as the most expedient way of expressing its beliefs. Rather than articulating its faith through theological tenets, this community defined its faith in song. In addition to providing a powerful and moving way of expressing their faith, singing provided something equally important to the Church of God movement—a deep and profound way of knowing God through personal experience. This way of knowing one’s faith could not be defined in words, so it was not subject to argumentation or rebuttal. This experiential knowledge of one’s faith was a defining characteristic of the Church of God movement, and music was the principal connection to this personal life of faith.

Equally important was the sociological impact of singing. Music provided a powerful way of creating a close-knit community of faith within Church of God congregations, just as it does in today’s churches. Uniting our voices in song bolsters our beliefs and creates a shared perspective on the world. When we sing together, we create a common worldview and a collective sense of reality that shapes the way we live and respond to life’s triumphs and challenges. If hope is to be found in the midst of hardship, and if clarity is to be found in the midst of uncertainty, they are likely to arise within a community of faith where beliefs and burdens are shared and where one finds footing for life’s most challenging days. Blending our voices in song makes possible an intense level of connection that binds people together, making it possible to share the deepest parts of our human and spiritual journeys.

This essay examines the ways in which singing and other types of music fostered this experiential way of knowing God and created community in the church and on our campus. These ways of knowing and sharing their faith were present when the Church of God began and when the Anderson Bible Training School was founded in 1917. They remain deeply rooted in the fertile soil of AU’s campus, where music has been nurtured and has evolved from its early and accessible forms to the more sophisticated and nuanced expressions of faith that are the hallmark of a mature university. This type of musical growth can happen only when music is fully embraced and encouraged to bloom in ways that lead to advanced levels of artistry, and it can happen only when music is shaped equally by the traditions of the liberal arts college and the traditions of the church.

The Sounds of Faith

In “Sounding the Symbols of Faith: Exploring the Nonverbal Languages of Christian Worship,” Don Saliers reminds us of the songs and rituals we shared as children when we gathered for times of play. Whether dancing, telling stories, or playing games, children naturally sing together and teach each other the tunes and chants that accompany their spirited interactions. These shared musical moments create instant acceptance and community, and they become a deeply embedded part of our childhood memories and our personal identity. Songs provide one of the earliest ways in which we form bonds of friendship that shape us for a lifetime.

Saliers goes on to remind us that this natural way of singing our childhood rituals carries over into the ways we know and experience our life of faith as adults:

So the shared music-making in the gathered assembly is about the book of our memories; about the font of our baptism, or death and resurrection; about the table where we “taste and see” the goodness of the Lord. In this gathered community, shared music-making helps the human body remember long after the mind has forgotten. Those children knew what we adults so often forget: that there exists a natural, communal way in which we come to vitality in life. Thus, human beings have always ritualized life and sung it in our work, in our festivals, in our solemn occasions of grief and joy. Whether around campfires or in recital halls, on the playground, or in a synagogue and church, the act of singing has brought us together in a kind of acoustical gathering of life. Singing has released for us, through a natural language of doxology, what the human soul longs for, what signals the transcendent. For the dance of the children is more than their dancing, and their song is more than their singing, and their mutuality more than their friendship. It’s a sign of what we’re meant for: a God-given liturgy on earth. (Saliers 2005, 18-19)

This “acoustical gathering of life” is central to the experiential dimension of faith, reminding us that we are more than we can express in the rational ways of knowing and thinking that are the hallmarks of modernism and the legacy of the Enlightenment. Saliers reminds us that:

We are more than we can think. We are more than we can feel. So singing and making music together that expresses our life before God is, in this way, identity confirming and future opening—duty and delight. Something about being human requires this. Something about the way we come to know and understand our destiny and our world through the senses is provided for us; things God holds out for us in the gathered assembly. (Saliers 2005, 19-20)

The singing of a gathered assembly offers a way of knowing our world that is different from, but no less valid than, what we know through reason and rationalism. Our singing allows us to know our world and our faith directly and experientially. As with all of the arts, singing gives expression to the deepest levels of our humanity that are otherwise unknowable. When we unite our voices in song, we share in direct and unmediated ways our life of faith and our most vulnerable levels of humanity. In our singing, we become one.

Church of God Heritage Hymns

In the absence of a clear statement of their Christian beliefs, early members of the Church of God turned to hymns as a way of articulating their beliefs and strengthening their sense of community. Not only did they sing hymns that were shared with other Christian congregations, but the Church of God enjoyed a healthy number of hymns that were written by its own church leaders and were sung exclusively by its own congregations. Most of these hymns were written by five early leaders of the church, including one of the primary pioneers of the Church of God movement, D. S. Warner (1842-1895). It is interesting to note that these five hymn writers were also ministers and evangelists, giving further credence to the idea that the Church of God expressed its religious beliefs primarily through song. It is also interesting to note that four of these hymnists worked for the Gospel Trumpet Company, which provided them an expedient way of publishing their music. One of these early hymn writers, Barney E. Warren (1867-1951), served as music editor for the Gospel Trumpet Company for more than 50 years and composed the music for more than 2,000 hymns and children’s songs.

The other early hymnists in the Church of God movement included Charles W. Naylor (1874-1950), lyricist and evangelist who worked briefly for the Gospel Trumpet Company; Andrew L. Byers (1869-1952), evangelist, pastor, and composer of hymns who also worked briefly for the Gospel Trumpet Company; and D. Otis Teasley (1876-1942), lyricist and composer of hymns who also worked for the Gospel Trumpet Company. These hymn writers did their work at a pivotal time in the life of the Church of God, a time when this newly formed Christian movement needed something to bind it together and provide a sense of shared identity. These hymns became the voice of the church, providing a way for people to articulate their beliefs while also expressing their feelings about their faith.

These hymns are now referred to as the Church of God heritage hymns, and they were written in the form of typical Gospel hymns of that era. Harmonically, they are simple, consisting of a few predictable chords. Melodically, they are easy to sing and remember, often including a musical refrain that is repeated after each verse of the hymn. The lyrics consist of personal expressions of faith, making frequent use of the pronouns “I” and “me” rather than making reference to the global community of Christian believers. All of these qualities combine to make the Church of God heritage hymns personal, memorable, accessible, and reassuring. While they are not musically adventuresome, they are sonic “comfort food,” providing an expressive, though often sentimental, connection to one’s life of faith.

Music Was There In The Beginning

The vibrant life of song that characterized the Church of God movement in its early and formative years carried over naturally to the Anderson Bible Training School when it was founded in 1917 “for the purpose of providing instruction for those who feel called to the ministry . . . and for the training of music directors” (Strege 2016, 18). Given this mission statement, it was not a surprise to find that a music professor was one of the first faculty members hired by ABTS. In fact, this first music instructor, Henry C. Clausen (1880-1960), was the only full-time member of the ABTS faculty when it opened its doors in 1917. Maintaining and furthering the music that had already established deep roots in Church of God congregations was imperative. Participatory worship required the leadership of skilled musicians who were strong performers but who also grasped the academic side of music including music theory and choral conducting. The founders of ABTS were keenly aware of this need for well-honed musicianship, and they acted accordingly by creating a full-time faculty position in music. Henry C. Clausen was one of two original faculty members who brought college training to their work at ABTS. He held a two-year diploma from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, and he had experience serving as a music director in Church of God congregations. Clausen came to ABTS as the embodiment of all things musical, serving as both a professor and a professional role model for students. He taught a two-year cycle of courses, including voice and piano lessons, choral conducting, and music theory—all of the basic knowledge and skills needed to serve the church as a competent music minister. Clausen laid a solid musical foundation that served ABTS well and anchored the place of music in its curriculum. His work ensured that music would be woven into our campus for the next century and that it would be an indelible part of our collegiate identity. We owe much to this visionary pioneer of music (Strege 2016, 19).

Not only did Clausen establish a solid musical foundation for the Anderson Bible Training School, but he also raised its musical standards to the more elevated levels of Christian churches outside of the Church of God and to the musical standards of other college music programs. While Clausen’s vision for higher artistic standards was viewed by some as being hedonistic and self-serving, he found acceptance on our campus, and his musical practices quickly became embedded in our musical culture. Clausen’s success in achieving his artistic goals can be attributed to the support and protection offered by strategic leaders of the campus, including Russell and Bessie Byrum, who were kindred spirits with Clausen and his more expansive vision of the educational mission of ABTS (Strege 2016, 29-30).

As ABTS grew, the tradition of maintaining a strong music faculty continued. In 1919, Ruth Plantz, a graduate of the Indianapolis Conservatory of Music, joined the ABTS faculty to teach piano and other types of instrumental music. Professor Plantz was followed in 1925 by Cecil H. Hartselle and in 1930 by piano professor Paul Breitweiser. By the early 1930s, ABTS had evolved into Anderson College, and the School of Music was firmly embedded in its academic structure and its liberal arts curriculum. In these early days of Anderson College, students had the option of earning a four-year Bachelor of Music degree, a three-year certification as a voice or piano teacher, or a two-year certificate in music. As was the case from its opening days, music remained a preeminent program on this campus. From here, the vision would continue to grow (Strege 2016, 124-25).

Choral Music—A Tradition of Excellence

In 1928, Clausen formed the Glad Tidings Chorus, the first formal choral ensemble on our campus. He had no way of knowing that he was beginning a tradition of choral music that would thrive over the coming decades to become one of the distinguishing hallmarks of Anderson College and, in time, of Anderson University. While the Glad Tidings Chorus was a voluntary choir that was intended primarily for the edification of the campus community, it would eventually give way to a grander vision of choral music that would reach far beyond our campus and would bring us international acclaim

In 1945, Robert A. Nicholson joined the faculty of Anderson College and succeeded Henry Clausen as the leader of the music program. Nicholson was the youngest member of a faculty cohort that was hired by President John Morrison to bring a new energy to the AC campus. Nicholson fit the bill perfectly, having established a strong academic record as an AC student and developed his musicianship by singing in the Glad Tidings Chorus and the choir of Park Place Church of God. While Nicholson did not major in music at Anderson College, he possessed a natural proclivity toward music and showed great musical promise, traits that would allow him to complete graduate music studies at a reputable music school. Nicholson was exactly the type of talent that President Morrison wanted and needed. President Morrison had a vision for a touring choral ensemble that would act as an ambassador for the AC campus. At a time when the Church of God was concerned about the academic mission of the college and was convinced that liberal forces were moving the college away from its ecclesiastical roots, he reasoned that a choir could do much to calm the stormy waters and demonstrate to concerned churches that AC students were strong in their faith and were spreading Christian messages through their music. To that end, Robert Nicholson established the Anderson College Choir and set out to fulfill the vision of President Morrison.

At the time that Nicholson was hired to guide the music program of the college, it was agreed that he would pursue graduate studies in music. His solid academic work as an undergraduate at AC allowed him to matriculate at New York University, where he would complete his doctoral degree some eight years later (Strege 2016, 155-157). During his years at NYU, Nicholson had the opportunity to study with two of the leading choral conductors of his day—Fred Waring and Robert Shaw (Strege 2016, 205-206). Fred Waring was the conductor of The Pennsylvanians, a popular choral ensemble that performed frequently on radio shows and completed a number of highly regarded recording projects. Known for the precision and clarity of their diction, Fred Waring’s choir elevated choral music to a new level of artistry. Nicholson had the opportunity to attend workshops given by Fred Waring where he learned much about the rehearsal and conducting techniques that made The Pennsylvanians so successful.

It was in these workshops that Nicholson became aware of Robert Shaw, a young apprentice in the Waring organization and a rising star in the world of choral music. This association with Shaw led to an opportunity for Nicholson to sing in Shaw’s Collegiate Chorale, a New York-based choir of the highest caliber that was taking choral music to an even greater level of musicianship, gaining the respect of music critics not only in New York City, but across the nation. Shaw’s Chorale performed serious choral music on the radio and in the early days of television, partnering with, among others, renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The Collegiate Chorale embarked on extensive tours that took choral music into communities that had never before heard classical choral repertoire or a choral performance of this caliber. Shaw’s choir won accolades as they blazed a new trail that popularized choral music in America.

The influences of Waring and Shaw on Nicholson’s conducting and on his vision for choral music cannot be overstated. Waring’s focus on lighter and more popular music was balanced by Shaw’s interest in more complex concert music. Both were important to Nicholson, who took what he learned from Waring and used it to his benefit when he was appointed music director for The Christian Brotherhood Hour, a national radio program of hymns and church music sponsored by the Church of God. His experience with Shaw’s concert music served him well in elevating the Anderson College Choir to the level of artistry that was expected of a serious collegiate music program. Clearly, Nicholson was the right choice for that moment in the history of Anderson’s music program. In addition to establishing the AC Choir and elevating its musical standards, he took the choir on numerous tours to perform in Church of God congregations and a variety of respected concert venues across the nation. Choral music at Anderson College was on an upward trajectory.

The Crescendo

In 1958, Robert Nicholson assumed a new leadership role on the campus, taking up the mantle of dean of the faculty. As he widened his scope of responsibility to oversee the entire academic program of the campus, it was time to find a new leader for the music program, someone who would maintain the standards that had already been established and would build on the momentum that was already in motion. F. Dale Bengtson turned out to be the natural choice for this leadership role. Bengtson, an AC alumnus, joined the AC faculty in 1960 to build the instrumental program, and in 1963 he became conductor of the AC Choir, a post he held for 10 years. Under his leadership, the AC Choir made its first tours of Europe. In the early 1960s, the choir took a six-week tour that included performances behind the Iron Curtain, and 10 years later, they took a four-week tour that culminated with singing in a large choral festival in Vienna. One of his most enduring accomplishments came in 1965 when Dr. Bengtson led the first performance of Candles and Carols in Park Place Church of God. This performance of Advent and Christmas music quickly became an annual favorite, eventually moving to Reardon Auditorium to accommodate the large audiences. For more than 25 years, these performances were broadcast on PBS stations across the nation and on two international cable networks. Candles and Carols still exists on our campus, and for many people it marks the official beginning of the Christmas season.

In 1970, Dr. Bengtson was named chair of the Department of Music, a leadership role he maintained until his retirement in 1995. These years saw many significant developments in the program. In 1974, the Music Department went through its first accreditation review by the National Association of Schools of Music, leading to the program’s initial accreditation later that year. National accreditation has continued without interruption to the present day. In 1976, Anderson College was granted a chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda, the national music honor society, and in 1977 the Music Department launched its music business major, one of the first programs of this type in the nation. This program continues to bring large numbers of students to the campus.

The year 1980 saw a landmark event in the history of music on this campus. The Music Department moved into its current home, the Krannert Fine Arts Building, after being housed in temporary settings, such as converted houses, and after sharing facilities with Park Place Church of God. The opening of the new music building brought a sense of permanence and security to the music program, allowing it to operate in spaces that were designed specifically for music classes and rehearsals. The formal dedication of the music building in the spring of 1980 was highlighted by performances from several distinguished guest artists.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the Church of God the following year, Don Marsh was commissioned to create musical arrangements of ten Church of God heritage hymns. The orchestral tracks for these stunning arrangements were recorded in Pasadena, California, then the choral tracks were recorded by the AC Choir at Bill Gaither’s Pinebrook Studios in Alexandria, Indiana. These arrangements elevated the heritage hymns to a new level of musical sophistication, taking them from predictable gospel songs to engaging musical gems. Two of these arrangements are still performed on a regular basis by the AU Chorale, maintaining a vibrant connection to the musical heritage of the Church of God (Bengtson 2007, 22-26).

In the 1970s and ‘80s, men’s choirs were popular, performing ensembles on college campuses across the nation. Anderson College was no exception. At the direction of President Robert Reardon, who wanted to recruit men as they returned from the VietNam conflict, the AC Male Chorus was formed by Dr. Gene Miller, a choral conductor of immense talent and depth. The ensemble quickly grew to include more than 60 men and excelled in its artistry, winning an invitation to perform at the Regional Convention of the American Choral Directors Association, a prestigious and coveted honor among college choirs. In the early 1980s, the Male Chorus became the first AC ensemble to perform throughout Finland, a country to which our choirs would return many times in the future. In addition, the Male Chorus traveled to Washington, D. C., to perform for a National Prayer Breakfast hosted by President Ronald Reagan. All of these performances won strong accolades for the ensemble and garnered international attention for Anderson College. Alongside the Male Chorus, the AC Choir continued to thrive. Dr. Miller brought his artistic vision to this ensemble from 1973 to 1979 before passing the baton to Paul Smith, who led the choir for the next five years. Richard Sowers joined the music faculty in 1984 and served as the ensemble’s conductor until 2021, completing the longest tenure of any conductor since the ensemble began. In 1987, when Anderson College revised its academic structure and became Anderson University, the name of the Anderson College Choir was changed to the Anderson University Chorale. This new name did not alter its commitment to the highest levels of artistry. Under Dr. Sowers’s direction, the AU Chorale continued to perform in highly visible venues, further expanding AU’s reputation for musical excellence. Selected highlights from Dr. Sowers’s 37-year tenure include:

• In 1987, the Chorale traveled to New York City in March to sing for the Sunday morning services at the historic Riverside Church, an important hub of religious and musical activity that was closely affiliated with Union Theological Seminary. The Chorale received an invitation to return for a second performance a few years later.
• On the day following the Chorale’s first performance at Riverside Church, they performed the Brahms Requiem in Avery Fisher Hall at The Lincoln Center.
• In 1991, the Chorale was one of four choirs invited to perform at the National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association in Phoenix, Arizona, a coveted honor among college choirs. The Chorale performed just before the keynote address by Robert Shaw, the conductor who shaped the musical life of Dr. Nicholson many years before.
• In 2002, the Chorale performed for the Regional Conference of the American Choral Directors Association in Indianapolis, Indiana.
• The Chorale was selected to represent the state of Indiana for the celebration of Indiana Day at the Washington National Cathedral, singing for a Sunday morning service.
• In March 1996, the Chorale marked the 50th anniversary of the ensemble by traveling to Southern California where they performed for the national broadcast of the Sunday morning services at the Crystal Cathedral in Anaheim.
• Over the course of many years, the Chorale partnered with the Anderson Symphony Orchestra to perform some of the most important works in the choral/orchestral repertoire, including Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, Mozart’s Requiem, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Brahms’ Flos Campi, and Rutter’s Requiem.
• In an ongoing partnership with the Carmel Symphony Orchestra, the Chorale performed many important works in the Palladium at The Center for the Performing Arts, including Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Orff’s Carmina Burina, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.
• Following in the footsteps of Dr. Miller and the Male Chorus, Dr. Sowers took the Chorale on its first Nordic Tour in 1986, traveling to Germany, Denmark, and Finland. The Chorale completed 12 tours of Scandinavia over the span of 32 years. On each of their Nordic tours, the Chorale performed in many of the same venues, always welcomed back warmly and enthusiastically. Because of these repeated performances and the dedicated following of Scandinavian supporters, the AU Chorale became part of the great choral tradition of the Scandinavian countries, which have given us some of the finest choral ensembles in the world. (Sowers 2022)

Choral music was not the only way in which the music program excelled on our campus. In 1960, Dr. Bengtson had been hired to build the instrumental music program, and that emphasis has continued through the years without interruption. In 1969, Dr. James Rouintree took over leadership of the instrumental program and guided it until 1998 when Dr. Susan Taylor stepped into the role, bringing a strong vision and fresh energy that expanded the program significantly. Upon Dr. Taylor’s retirement in 2018, Dr. Adam Waller assumed this role, elevating the artistry of our instrumental ensembles to new heights. Instrumental music continues to be a vital part of our campus life.

Musical theatre and opera performances are deeply woven into the fabric of our musical heritage. Musical theater productions made an early appearance on our campus as a natural extension of the theatre program, but it was taken to new levels of excellence by Dr. Fritz Robertson and Prof. Laurel Goetzinger, two dynamic faculty members whose vision invigorated our musical theatre productions and elevated the beauty of opera performances on our campus. The foundation that was laid by these two faculty members led to the creation of a musical theatre major under Dr. David Coolidge that brought together our thriving programs in music, theatre, and dance. The musical theatre major continues to grow in quality and quantity. The number of lyric theatre performances given on our campus and the high production values of these performances are unique for a campus of our size. Strategic partnerships with the artistic community in Indianapolis makes it possible for AU to hire leading designers for sets and lighting as well as strong choreographers. These partnerships augment the artistic vision of our faculty and bring unparalleled levels of artistry to our musical theatre and opera performances.

Recent decades have also seen a growth in the strength and reputation of the music education program on our campus. This undergraduate major is viewed by peer institutions as one of the strongest in the Midwest, and for more than a decade every graduate of the music education program has found employment as a music teacher within a month of completing the program. Through a grant from the Falls Departmental Initiative Fund in 2003, the School of Music began offering graduate-level summer courses that led to certification in the Orff-Schulwerk teaching methodology. The three courses in this certification program quickly expanded to include a variety of supporting courses, leading to the formation of The Summer Studies Program in Music Education. This program evolved rapidly into a master’s degree in music education, a degree program that brings graduate students to our campus from all over the world. Every year, more than 100 students travel here to take these summer courses, and more than 30 of those students are also pursuing their master’s in music education at Anderson University. These programs have garnered international attention for Anderson University, making them gems in our academic crown.

Vision and Leadership

The campus of Anderson University provided fertile ground for music to take root. The Church of God was steeped in musical traditions before this school welcomed its first students. Those musical practices were supported by The Gospel Trumpet Company (later known as Warner Press) and the hymnals it published on a regular basis. While these factors were important in giving music a strong start on our campus, another factor strengthened our musical culture—the vision of campus leaders who believed in the value of music and invested in it even when it was costly to do so.

The late 1960s brought a pivotal moment in the life of the music program at Anderson College. The Music Department was struggling for enrollment, causing President Reardon and Dean Nicholson to ask a difficult question: Given the high cost of 1-on-1 instruction in music and the high cost of the instruments, equipment, and facilities required by the music program, could the program be sustained? Eliminating the music major and the costs associated with the program, instead offering only some musical activities, would be less of a burden on the institutional budget (Bengtson 2007, 25). At pivotal moments such as these, institutional leadership has the responsibility of making decisions that will set the course and trajectory of the campus for decades to come. At an earlier moment in 1945, President Morrison had made the decision to strengthen the music program by hiring Robert Nicholson to create a choral ensemble that would repair and enhance our relationship with the church. That set in motion a musical agenda that played out over the next two decades. When another decision point was reached in the 1960s, a different set of campus leaders were at the helm—Dr. Nicholson and President Reardon.

Through his close affiliation with the music program, Dr. Nicholson had firsthand knowledge of the importance of music, but now he was in a different role that required him to look at the situation from a new perspective. He was now charged with maintaining the overall health of the school’s academic mission, and that charge might have required him to close the costly music program for the benefit of the greater campus. President Robert Reardon, the other voice in this conversation, also knew of the importance of music on a personal level. Not only did he grow up in the musical traditions of the Church of God, but he went on to develop his musicianship to a high level by studying organ at Oberlin College, one the nation’s finest music schools. Like Dr. Nicholson, President Reardon laid aside those personal loyalties to make a decision for the good of the entire campus. After weighing all the factors and giving the matter careful consideration, these two leaders decided to maintain the music major, knowing intuitively and experientially what the early Church of God hymnists knew—music has an unparalleled power to express the deepest levels of our humanity and spirituality. Through their actions, these two leaders demonstrated their belief that music is a central component of a liberal arts education, which, at its best, encompasses both mind and spirit.

Following the example of President Reardon, President James Edwards also supported music as a central component of a fully-orbed college experience. As a student at Anderson College, Edwards sang in the AC Choir, took voice lessons, and gave a senior voice recital, even though he was not a music major. From his personal journey, he knew of music’s ability to transform the individual and to bring a campus community together in profound ways. President Edwards’s strongest contribution to music resulted from his decision to construct York Performance Hall and Galleries, which opened in the fall of 2012. York Hall provides us with a world-class venue for musical performances. Its acoustical properties are stunning, and they can be adjusted for different types of musical performances. The hall has received accolades from every guest artist who has performed there. Under their watch, presidents Morrison, Reardon, Nicholson, and Edwards invested in the music program, believed in its value, and became its staunchest guardians in moments when their rational minds would tell them to act otherwise.

Music as a Bridge to God

If Anderson University is to fulfill its mission as a liberal arts university and a church-related campus, we must educate the whole person—mind, body, and spirit. One of the vestiges of Enlightenment thinking that has gripped Western culture for centuries is the idea that mind, body, and spirit are separate entities, and that the mind offers the only way of knowing ourselves and our world. Recent thinking and research tells us otherwise. We can also know ourselves and our world in non-rational ways. We can know things through experience, feeling, and intuition, all of which are housed in and known through the body. These experiential, non-rational ways of knowing, while different from rational knowledge, are equally valid. The dominance of rationalism has now given way to the inclusion of the non-rational and deeply personal types of knowledge that are the true hallmark of our humanity.

Music taps into this incarnate way of knowing, providing ways for us to explore and express that which cannot be captured in words. Music is experienced in the body, and it is a way of knowing our deepest regions, our soul, that inner region of life where we sense the presence of God that abides within each of us. It is here that our human spirit mingles with the Spirit of God, leading to personal and spiritual transformation. It is one of the primary ways that we grow into the image of God. Viewed in this way, music is more than a diversion, more than a source of entertainment, and more than an adjunct to our lives. Music is a conduit for spiritual transformation. As Don Saliers reminds us:

Let our music, then, . . . not be a luxury but something like breathing, like heartbeat, like manna in the desert. Let it not be so much a public status symbol, not so much an aesthetic treat, but an instrument whereby our loves, our hopes, our anguish, our delights, yes even our untruths may be, as it were, refined. That whatever purity of heart may remain in the human scene can be sounded and tasted there, and hence, bring life. (Saliers 2005, 21)

In his classic work The Idea of the Holy, theologian Rudolph Otto affirms the importance of non-conceptual and non-rational ways of knowing, reminding us of the similarities between religious experience and aesthetic experience, both of which elude words and rationalization. He writes,

It is essential to every theistic conception of God, and most of all to the Christian, that it designates and precisely characterizes deity by the attributes spirit, reason, purpose, good will, supreme power, unity, selfhood . . . . Now all these attributes constitute clear and definite concepts: they can be grasped by the intellect; they can be analyzed by thought, they even admit of definition. An object that can thus be thought conceptually may be termed rational . . . .

We count this the very mark and criterion of a religion’s high rank and superior value—that it should have no lack of conceptions about God. . . . But, when this is granted, we have to be on our guard against an error which would lead to a wrong and one-sided interpretation of religion. This is the view that the essence of deity can be given completely and exhaustively in such “rational” attributes as have been referred to above and in others like them. (Otto 1950, 1-2)

Otto goes on to assert that the holy “completely eludes apprehension in terms of concepts. The same thing is true . . . of the category of the beautiful” (1950, 5). Exploring this comparison of the holy and the beautiful, Otto compels us to use metaphorical language when trying to describe the holy, a quality that he compares to a musical composition because of the way it “eludes conceptual analysis” (1950, 59). Rather than defining the holy, Otto asserts that, like an aesthetic experience, the holy can only be known as a “feeling-response” (1950, 6).

Not only do religious experience and aesthetic experience have similar qualities, but they are often experienced together. Aesthetic experience, with its ability to awaken our spirit, serves as a bridge to religious experience. In Art and the Religious Experience, F. David Martin explores this relationship and postulates that these two experiences are ways of returning to God:

Art is a gift of Being. That is why art, despite its autonomy, has always served as the principal sacred bridge . . . to the religious experience, and continues to do so even in these apparently post-religious times. And that is why the participative experience of art is more than just a way back to Being . . . . The participative experience of art . . . always includes the presence and articulation of Being.

Both the participative experience and the religious experience spring from the same empirical ground; both involve love for Being; both are intimate and ultimate; both are attuned to the call of Being; both are reverential in attitude to things; both step beyond the confines of self; both give man [sic] a sense of being reunited with “that with which he is most familiar”; both give enduring value and serenity to existence; and thus both are profoundly regenerative. The participative experience, then, always has a religious quality, for the participative experience penetrates the religious dimension. (Martin 1972, 66-69)

Martin’s words were echoed by Pope Francis during his visit to America in September of 2015, when he celebrated an outdoor Mass in Philadelphia and then enjoyed a performance that included a variety of artists ranging from the Philadelphia Orchestra to Aretha Franklin to The Fray. In his closing remarks, Pope Francis thanked all the artists for their gifts of beauty, and then quietly reminded us that “beauty is a pathway to God.” Like Martin, Pope Francis recognized the inextricable bond that holds beauty and spirituality in close communion.

So what does this mean for Anderson University? It means that our commitment to music and our commitment to spiritual growth go hand in hand. Music not only aligns with our desire to be a strong liberal arts university, but it also fulfills our mission of promoting spiritual transformation within our students. What the founders of the Church of God and the early hymnists of this church movement knew intuitively, we now know more fully. Through the work of philosophers, theologians, psychologists, and neurobiologists, we now have a better understanding of the ways in which music and all the arts carry the potential to shape us and transform our lives. The ways in which music has been nurtured on this campus is a strong testament to this knowledge. AU’s commitment to music has set us apart from many other institutions of higher learning. May this commitment remain strong, allowing us to educate the whole person and fulfill our mission in the future as intentionally and as fully as we have in the past.