Exploring the relationship between identity and worship for Korean American churches. Presented at 2009 TG Conference and 2009 Korean Worship and Music Conference.
7. Noun
identity (plural identities]
1. The sameness some individuals share to make up the
same kind or universal.
2. The difference or character that marks off an individual
from the rest of the same kind.
3. A name or persona—the mask or appearance one presents
to the world—by which one is known.
This criminal has taken on several identities
4. Knowledge of who one is.
I've been through so many changes, I have no sense of identity.
This nation has a strong identity.
5. (algebra, computing) Any function which maps all
elements of its domain to themselves.
6. (algebra) An element of an algebraic structure which,
when applied to another element under an operation in that
structure, yields this, second element
8. 1 , , a case of mistaken identity
an identity of interests
2a [ ] , ; , admit[reveal]
one’s identity b , , lose
one’s identity
3 ·
4 ( )( );
5 ·
6[ old ~] · · ( )
9. Identity may refer to:
Philosophy
Identity formation
Identity (philosophy), the sameness of two things
Identity (social science)
Identity theory of mind, in the philosophy of mind, holds
that the mind is identical to the brain
Law of identity, a principle of logic
Personal identity (philosophy)
Mathematics
Identity element, a special element in a set or structure
with respect to an operator
Identity function, a function that does not alter its
argument
Identity (mathematics), an equality that holds regardless
of the values of its variables
Identity matrix, a square matrix with ones on the main
diagonal, zeros elsewhere
10. Social science and psychology
Cultural identity, a person's self-affiliation (or categorization by
others) as a member of a cultural group
Gender identity, the gender with which a person identifies (or is
identified by others)
Identity In Organizational Communication, organizational
communication scholars look at how our membership in different
organizations shapes our "selves", both in our workplace and in our
group affiliations
Identity politics, the focus of political debates around questions of
group identity
Identity (social science), stemming from cognitive theory,
sociology, politics, and psychology
National identity, belief in membership of a nation
In some countries where there is more than one "nation" in the
state or identity is otherwise confused, there may be a debate over
what the nation's real identity is, see:
Britishness, Scottish national identity
Canadian identity, Québécois nation motion
Online identity, established and used by computer network users
(see also Digital identity in Computer Science)
Psychological identity, an individual's unique identity that develops
11. Business
Accounting identity, a basic accounting relation that must hold by
definition
Corporate identity, the physical manifestation of a business brand
False identity
Identity theft, the deliberate appropriation of someone else's identity
(without that person's permission) for criminal purposes
Illegal resident, a spy assuming the false identity of a national
Computer science
Digital identity, the representation of identity in terms of digital
information (see also online identity in social science)
Federated identity, identity management with defined trust relations
between independent principals
Identity column in SQL Server, a database field whose values uniquely
identify a row in the table
Identity (object-oriented programming), a property of objects that
allows those objects to be distinguished from each other
Law of identity, laws that define a unifying identity metasystem
Religion
Christian Identity, a Christian religious movement
12. gender nation profession culture
race spiritual ethnic family
economic age church
a multitude of identities
30. crisis of identity
occurs when we lose our voice and awareness
of self;
i.e. we lose the power to define ourselves or
31. the korean
american
experience
begins with this very
sense of
disorientation, loss,
and haunting, just as
much as it does
success, prosperity,
determination, and
40. “The primary concern of the
Bible is our identity
formation, that is, who we
are in the grace of God
rather than moralistic
41. Asian American Biblical
Interpretation must move beyond
idealized and essentialist notions
of culture and a tendency to utilize
the immigrant experience of
marginality and liminality as
normative of all Asian Americans
to emphasize particularity,
contradiction, and complexity in
order to counter oversimplified
personifications of what
constitutes Asian American.
Notes de l'éditeur
ahree lee created this film by taking a picture of herself everyday for three years. and what you see here is over the course of 3 years, this woman change aspects herself. we see the evolution of her hair, her glasses, her clothes. in some sense, her identity is shifting and in process.
what does identity have to do with worship?
this is the first half of a quote by the social theorist, marshall mcluhan.
when God speaks a word, light is created, worlds are formed, order is shaped out of the chaos, and life orients itself around God.
worship is all about that new orientation around God. but worship is an act of creation on our parts. it is where we put words together. our art, our architecture, our musical instruments, our voices and we create worship. which leads us to the second half of the marshall mcluhan quote...
the worship we create is for God and for the body of Christ in the church. but that worship also shapes us. it reflects us, it reveals us, it hides us, and it forms us.
in a very real sense, worship forms our identity. and our identity forms our worship. and this is where the traditional understanding of worship in church has been deficient, because in many korean-american churches, our vocabulary in worship is quite limited. in fact, most of our worship vocabulary are borrowed words. our arts are imitated arts. our churches are growing, but in a hollow sense because we are unaware of how our worship is shaping us as a people.
so it seems a extended discussion on identity is necessary if we are going to explore emerging forms of worship.
but let’s try and get our heads wrapped around the concept of identity. what is it? what do we mean when we’re talking about identity.
with distinct, multiple definitions of identity, you can see why a conversation on identity is hard to place.
at the very least, we understand there are a multiple identities (here are just a few of the big ones). some of them you are born with, some of them you can change, some of them are nurtured in a community, but we have all of these within us. or do we?
the modern understanding of the self was that the individual was a blank slate, a tabula rasa. that your perceptions and your experiences fed your knowledge, and with knowledge, you are the one who formed your identity. Modernity assumed
in the modern mind, knowledge is power. power gives you control over yourself, your surroundings, over others. identity in the modern sensibility is about progress, advance, utilitarianism, manipulation, laws, order, hierarchy. the individual remains at the center.
the postmodern shift has also meant that we know that our identities represent different and competing narratives from different communities. our identities and our selves are “fuzzier” than before. we are torn. in dilemma. in crisis. dysfunctional.
there are competing narratives and systems, various struggles for power and establishment of knowledge.
and these tensions exist over different dimensions as well. with the self in the middle. there are layers of global culture, popular culture, and subculture towering on them.
but these different layers of culture, while they all influence and impact, the various identities and selves, there is a clash. there is an economy happening at a very real level. these narratives are trying to re-write one another.
and these tensions exist over different dimensions as well. with the self in the middle. there are layers of global culture, popular culture, and subculture towering on them.
but these different layers of culture, while they all influence and impact, the various identities and selves, there is a clash. there is an economy happening at a very real level. these narratives are trying to re-write one another.
and these tensions exist over different dimensions as well. with the self in the middle. there are layers of global culture, popular culture, and subculture towering on them.
but these different layers of culture, while they all influence and impact, the various identities and selves, there is a clash. there is an economy happening at a very real level. these narratives are trying to re-write one another.