is the Devil in Indigenous Dance? “Ed Lapiz” “ Pastor of Day By Day Ministries” "GCoMM Asia" GCoMM Singapore Global Consultation on Music and Missions ASIA 2010

 

Cultural Redemption Part 1: breakout session 5: 7th July 2010     (11:30am - 1:00pm

Cultural Redemption Part 2: breakout session 6: 7th July 2010       (2:15pm - 3:45pm

Global Consultation on Music and Missions ASIA2010
Singapore Bible College, 9-15 Adam Road, Singapore 289886

“We’d like for the church to be the sanctuary, not the cemetery of indigenous culture.”

Pastor Ed Lapiz founded and heads the Day By Day Christian Ministries, a Bible-based Christian fellowship with communities and works of service in the Philippines, Japan, Pakistan and other West Asian countries, in Canada and the United States of America. Pastor Ed’s advocacies include the development of Filipino nationalism, preservation and progressive reuse of cultural heritage, the redemption and restoration of the arts for use in Christian worship and the liberation of Christianity from needless boxes of outdated, inappropriate or restrictive philosophies and traditions.

He founded and heads the KALOOB: Philippine Music and Dance Ministry, a group of dedicated dancers, musicians and teachers that research on indigenous arts, redeem, restore, and rededicate the same to God, reinterprets and uses them in Christian liturgy and teaches and promotes such ministry among Christian worship teams and other enthusiasts.

His academic background includes studies in Mass Communication and Anthropology, a Bachelor’s Degree in Philippine Arts and a Master’s Degree in Philippine Studies at the University of the Philippines. He is currently taking up his doctoral program in Philippine Studies at the same university.

"She was the only one alive in the village who still knew it well. There was reluctance in the old woman's voice, for this was a holy dance, and not to be performed at whim. But the need to be hospitable to the kind visitor was more powerful. So she arose and, like a teacher, showed how a particular gesture is made, how to balance on one leg with grace, and how to be one with the spirit."

For centuries, Christians have feared the rituals and song and art of the indigenous. For centuries, Christianization meant colonization: the stamping out of what is native and local in costume and culture.

So neckties replaced gold trinkets.

But is there really something to be afraid of? Pastor Ed Lapiz reveals a point of view that has taken him decades to develop. He has researched, recorded and archived more than 200 indigenous rituals, dance, music and costumes and musical accompaniments, many of them heretofore unknown outside of their local settings.

In a lecture at the Global Consultation on Music and Missions ASIA2010, which will be held in Singapore on July 7th, the Pastor talks about Cultural Redemption: “We’d like for the church to be the sanctuary, not the cemetery of indigenous culture. And this can happen if the church not only stops rejecting indigenous culture but will actually use indigenous expressions in contemporary Christian worship.”

If interested in attending his groundbreaking lecture on how Christians should regard culture, click on the GCoMM logo at right, or go to www.gcommhome.org.

Is the devil in
indigenous dance?