A hundred or so masked parishioners in the pews of the United Parish in Brookline joined together at a recent service and sang "Lord, I Want To Be A Christian In My Heart.”
This song, like many that churches sing all over the country, comes from a musical tradition of spirituals originally composed by African people enslaved in America. As a national reckoning with racism has grown over the last year or so, members of the United Parish began asking whether it was appropriate for the predominantly white church to sing these songs. To address those concerns, the church introduced a unique program to help carry on the legacy of this music in Roxbury, and they're hoping to be a model for others.
"There was growing discomfort around how to use Negro spirituals, appropriately and respectfully,” said the congregation’s minister of music Susan DeSelms.
Source: This church is paying 'royalties' when it sings spirituals composed by enslaved Africans