Lausanne World Pulse – Hip-hop, Jazz, Folk, Traditional…Using Dancing of All Styles to Share the Gospel

July 2006

By Mary Jones

Dance Fellowships Austria encourages and networks Christians interested in or involved with dance and movement.

In the 1970s there were only a few churches that had heard about dance as a way of expressing worship or evangelism; in fact, most evangelical churches would have regarded it as quite inappropriate. Dance, although a part of faith expression in the Bible, had virtually been lost in the Church for centuries; people began associating dance with secular entertainment, difficult-to-interpret culture or sexual stimulation. My own parents did not think dance appropriate for Christians so it was somewhat of a surprise when at the age of thirty I felt a strong call to become involved in dance as ministry. While in the United States, I started a small dance group at my church and taught children in the local school system. Upon my return to Australia I founded the Christian Dance Fellowship of Australia (CDFA). During this time several Christian arts organisations came on the scene and after CDFA had been operating for ten years we decided to help other countries found their own dance fellowships. Since that time Christian Dance Fellowships have started in twenty-five countries on all continents.

The purpose of the dance fellowship is to encourage and network Christians interested in or involved with dance and movement, whether amateur or professional. It also seeks to provide training and to serve church communities that want to introduce or develop ministry through dance. There are three distinct advantages to using dance in worship: (1) it is visual and eye-catching, (2) it reaches the heart rather than the head and (3) it is not usually associated with the Church. Combined with music and often with words, it has a strong impact and a huge potential to reach a modern audience.  

Styles of Dance in Worship
There are many styles of dance used to reach different groups of people. Hip-hop is popular with the younger generation. Many youth groups have used it to attract and train youth and to outreach to other youth. A dance group is a practical discipleship group where people learn to relate, minister and develop as Christians. There is a growing body of Christian music in the hip-hop style, but often the message carried is not so much in the words of the song as in the life and energy of the dancers. It is important in all dance styles that the dance is “redeemed” instead of simply taken from a secular environment and copied. Even if put to Christian music, some movements may not express the right atmosphere or values. This may be true, too, of facial expressions or costumes. Choreographers, leaders and dancers need to prayerfully seek to make adjustments so that what is conveyed speaks of Christian values and conveys God’s presence. Hip-hop, especially when combined with a testimony or short message, can be very effective in reaching young people.

Mary Jones is founder of Christian Dance Fellowship of Australia. She is dean of dance studies at Wesley Institute in Sydney, Australia. In 2004 she served as co-convenor of Redeeming the Arts Issue Group at the Lausanne Forum in Thailand.