Abstract:
Music and religion are closely linked as seen in the use of music in many religious practices. Since the introduction of Christianity to sub-Saharan Africa, it has undergone several renewals with the current wave being Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity (P/c), which has been described as the fastest growing form of Protestant Christianity. Considered as experience-oriented, P/c presents the platform for exploring the experiential dimension of worship through music in the Ghanaian context. The purpose of the study was to examine the role of music in P/c ritual and to investigate the link between music and prophetism through the collective and individual lived experiences of members of the Mount Calvary Cross Ministry, a Ghanaian P/c church located in Accra. The ethnographic approach was employed. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2019 and 2021. The observation, interviews, and documents yielded over 30 prophecies/revelations related to music, and 13 shared religious/musical experiences. The data was analysed thematically and interpreted in relation to the theory of embodiment and Pentecostal/charismatic spirituality. The findings are that, music aids prophetism but it is not always a requirement in the performance of prophetic functions. The lived experiences of music and prophetism affirm the religious potency of music to trigger religious experiences when music-making is approached from the spiritual dimension through total engagement of both the material and immaterial aspects of the music-maker’s personhood. Health and wellbeing are benefits of P/c music-making as adherents encounter hierophany via prophetism. Thus, the grooming of church music-makers should encompass the technical and spiritual dimensions in order to achieve the therapeutic effects of music in worship.
