Life is a pilgrimage. For the Senufo of Cote d'Ivoire, life consists of following the kologo, that is the path, the road, or the way. As such, kologo is a key Senufo term that speaks of the directions people choose to follow in life. A central aspect of following the Christian pathway among Senufo believers occurs through music. Music serves as a major communication vehicle that speaks profoundly into the people's lives. Thus, Pathways in Christian Music Communication addresses the problem of contextualization of Christianity in Africa via the use of a people's indigenous music. It focuses on the significance of culturally appropriate songs for effective communication of the Gospel within the African context.
In providing a history of the development of Christian songs among the Senufo, a musical analysis of the songs and music culture, identifying communication theory at work within the music-making process, and a content analysis of an emerging Senufo lyric theology, King shows the pivotal role that a people's cultural music plays in integrating a people's worldview and daily lives with biblical teaching. Finally, King examines the influence and effect of songs in communicating the Gospel by showing how the "pathway of a song" leads to changes of allegiance to the living God and transformed lives. Although set in West Africa, essential principles and guidelines for doing ethnomusicological studies within missiology lies at the heart of this work.
Roberta R. King is Associate Professor of Communication and Ethnomusicology at Fuller Seminary's School of Intercultural Studies, teaching in the Global Christian Worship program. She is the author of Music in the Life of the African Church (2008) and A Time to Sing: A Manual for the African Church (1999). Based in Nairobi, Kenya, for twenty-two years, King taught at Daystar University while also conducting research and ministering with WorldVenture as an ethnomusicologist in nine African nations.