Lutheran Devotions – The Disney Way
Is it possible to put Devotions and Disney in the same sentence and still be serious? Unfortunately, it has been done (by people in the LCMS, no less).
Today (April 22, 2008) is the 10th Anniversary of a worship service held at the Oregon Pastors’ Conference (Northwest District LCMS) which my family has called the “Disney Service” (available for download). Included in the service were three texts set to familiar Disney tunes from Disney movies:
- We’re Forgiven – “Be My Guest” from Beauty and the Beast
- Pray to God – “Kiss the Girl” from The Little Mermaid – pay special attention to the versification of the Lord’s Prayer.
- Will They See the Lord in Us? – “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” from The Lion King
Before you ask if this is some sort of practical joke, I assure you that it did occur. Both of my parents were there and witnessed it (with disapproval). However, I was told that a number of people embraced it.
And what is my point? No matter the quality of the text (or lack thereof), the associated tune makes a BIG difference. What will people think as they sing these songs? I would suspect scenes from the respective Disney movie. Dancing furniture and kitchen utensils. A romantic boat ride. Music has power and musicians and pastors have a high responsibility to use music to faithfully proclaim the Word — not trivialize or obscure it.
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4 Responses to “Lutheran Devotions – The Disney Way”
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That’s sick.
I had to laugh, though. The drawing at the end of the program, where it says something like ‘It’s Easter morning from now on’–was that supposed to have been a place setting?
Really, what it looked like to me was the seat in a wooden outhouse.
Pardon my saying so, but I’ve been there and done that, and that’s just where I sat at the time.
So, I guess you could say the program came to a good end.
(Believe me, if I didn’t laugh I’d barf. And that picture would come in handy again….)
The piece of “contemporary art” was supposed to be the bulletin cover. I never would have thought to equate it to an outhouse — interesting perspective.
Is there a copyright issue here? Should the composers of these melodies been paid a royalty for the public use of their work by the Oregon Pastors’ Conference? I feel a seventh-commandment urge to help my Disney neighbor improve and protect his property and business.
Christopher — that’s a good question about copyright law. My understanding (and I’m no copyright lawyer) is that in a “religious worship service” you can play/perform copyrighted religious material, but you cannot record, print out tunes or words, etc without copyright permission. When a church buys a hymnal (e,g, Lutheran Service Book) they are welcome to use the resources therein, but as soon as they start recording, projecting, printing anything copyrighted it bumps up to a whole new level.
Here’s a tidbit from the Music Publishers’ Association:
IS IT PERMISSIBLE TO PERFORM COPYRIGHTED RELIGIOUS WORKS IN CHURCH SERVICES WITHOUT FIRST OBTAINING PERMISSION FROM THE COPYRIGHT OWNER?
Yes, “the religious services exemption” in the Copyright Law permits for the performance of copyrighted religious works in the course of services at places of worship or at religious assemblies. However, performance licenses must be obtained from the copyright owner for any musical performance outside of a specific “worship service” including concerts and special musical programs.
Given this, and that Disney songs are NOT typically religious, there would seem to be some potential copyright issues in performing the songs. Did they get permission? I have no idea.