A few thoughts on "Chicago's Influence on Religion"

As I read through the article, I found myself having a few different thoughts on "Chicago's Influence on Religion", by Martin Marty. 


"Moody came as a young businessman who was soon found to be a success at “soul-winning.
The first was about Moody -- he arrived in Chicago as a "soul-winning" man.  He promised hope, renewal, etc, to the American people.  For so many people, the idea of "soul-winning" is important -- I believe that an American ideal is that people always want to be better, and people idolize those who they think are the best.  Because someone can offer people a way to be better, to be "soul-winning' and pure -- a way to reach their own goal -- it makes sense that Moody would go to Chicago.  It was a huge city (it still is).  It didn't really have the risk of failure because there were so many people and so many possibilities to succeed.
"Moody came as a young businessman who was soon found to be a success at “soul-winning.


The second, is that even in religious growth can race not be escaped.  But this time, no one could argue that race wasn't a plus -- most African Americans were Christian of some sort, and because this was the dominant religion, people couldn't scorn them from their religion.  African Americans could escape their race barriers just a tiny bit when it came to religion - they were allowed to believe the same as white people; it was something both races could identify with.
"After the Catholic immigrations, the greatest change came during and after the two world wars and in the prosperous postwar period, when African Americans by the many thousands migrated, especially from the rural South. They brought with them Methodist, Baptist, and later Pentecostal faiths associated with the South. They made their homes in the South and West Sides of the city, areas which most whites left. Catholicism and white Protestantism became increasingly suburban phenomena, although Catholic parishes persisted and Catholicism remained the majority faith in the city."


The third is about African-American gospel music.  When I saw this paragraph, I immediately thought of my experience in choir.  In every single choir I've been in I have sung gospel music, even including Cantorei this year (we've already sung two gospel pieces).  It is fun, it is upbeat, it is different, and it is a reminder that much of our musical heritage comes from our religion -- whether it be gospel music or old hymns. 
"The Chicago influence has spread to other arts as well. One can make the case that “gospel” and “soul,” major African American contributions to religious music, originated in Chicago. Thomas Dorsey was the pioneer of gospel music, and singers like Mahalia Jackson helped carry it to the rest of the nation and much of the world. Long before that, Billy Sunday's musical partner, Homer Rodeheaver, influenced the kind of evangelistic gospel song popular in revivalistic Protestantism.Northwestern University's school of music fostered world-acclaimed classical church music, for example through the compositions of Leo Sowerby. GIA Publications, under Catholic auspices, and Hope Publishing in Wheaton, an evangelical house, have encouraged and published music that shapes styles across the nation and wherever American religious influence spreads."