Deborah Ann Wong
CURRICULUM VITAE
Bridging the Church and Academy in the area of contemporary worship practice
EDUCATION
2019 - Present
Duke Divinity School
Th.D. in Liturgical Studies
Dissertation (Working title): "For the Love of God: Augustine and the Promise of Contemporary Praise & Worship"
Committee: Lester Ruth (chair), Jeremy Begbie, Fred Edie, Warren Smith, James K.A. Smith
Duke Divinity School
August 2016 - May 2019
Master of Divinity summa cum laude
Thesis: "The Heart of Worship: The History and Development of Prayer and Praise in Wesley Methodist Church (Singapore)"
August 2009 - May 2013
Carleton College
B.A. in American Studies magna cum laude
Thesis: "What We Talk About When We Talk About Diversity: International Student Experiences as Foreigners in the United States"
Advisor: Dr. Deborah Appleman, Hollis L. Caswell Professor of Educational Studies
FELLOWSHIPS & AWARDS
A Foundation for Theological Education
John Wesley Fellowship, 2021-2025
Christian Congregational Music Conference: Local and Global Perspectives, Ripon College, Cuddesdon, Oxford
Conference Bursary Award, 2021
Calvin Institute of Chrsitian Worship
Teacher-Scholar Grant, 2020 (with Lester Ruth, Adam Perez, Glenn Stallsmith, Jonathan Ottaway)
The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts
Seminarian Award of the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts, 2019
Duke Divinity School
Hoyt Hickman Award for Excellence in Liturgics, 2019
MINISTRY EXPERIENCE
2022 -
First United Methodist Church, Cary, NC
Worship Leader
2022
The Glen Workshop, Image Journal, Asheville, NC
Worship Leader
2022
The Summit Youth Academy, Southwestern College, Winfield, KS
Daily Prayer Leader
2019 - 2020
Worship Musician
Bright City Church, Durham, NC
2018 - 2019
Artist-in-Residence
Duke Memorial United Methodist Church, Durham, NC
2017 - 2019
Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC
Goodson Chapel Worship Intern
2017 - 2019
Chapel Band Worship Leader & Coordinator
Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC
2017 - 2018
Union Grove United Methodist Church, Durham, NC
Ministerial Intern
2016 - 2017
Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC
Gospel Choir Singer
2010 - 2013
Carleton College, Northfield, MN
Mustard Seed Band Worship Leader & Coordinator
2005 - 2016
Barker Road Methodist Church, Singapore
Worship Leader
JOURNAL ARTICLES
“Transcending Tradition: A Reappraisal of Methods for Studying Charismatic Worship.” Proceedings of the North American Academy of Liturgy, Annual Meeting, Kansas City, Missouri (2-5 January, 2022), 84-99.
“Liturgy in Lockdown: Restricted Movement, Expanded Worship.” Religions 13.1 (2021), 25.
ARTICLES IN EDITED VOLUMES
“Appendix A: Sample Service Focusing on John 2:1-11” in Flow: The Ancient Way to Do Contemporary Worship (ed. Lester Ruth; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2020), 101-115.
ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS
“Augustine Sings Hillsong: A Practical Theology of ‘Whoa’s,” Panel presentation, “Building on A History of Contemporary Praise & Worship: New Directions in the Study of Contemporary Worship,” Society of Christian Scholarship in Music Conference, Durham, NC, March 3, 2023.
“Transcending Tradition: A Reappraisal of Methods for Studying Charismatic Worship,” Paper presentation, Exploring Contemporary & Alternative Worship Seminar, North American Academy of Liturgy Conference, Kansas City, MO, January 4, 2022.
"The Charismatic Roots of Contemporary Praise and Worship in Singapore Methodism," Paper given for Panel "Constructing a Fuller Historiography of Contemporary Praise & Worship Practices," Christian Congregational Music: Local and Global Perspectives 2021, Ripon College, Cuddeson, Oxford, Online, Jul. 26 - Aug. 6, 2021.
"Liturgy in Lockdown: Expanding the Notion of Church," Presentation, Pandemic & Religion, Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life Virtual Graduate Student Conference, Online, Feb. 27, 2021.
"Liturgy in Lockdown: Unlocking the Sacramentality of Everyday Life," Pandemic Liturgy & Issues of Inequality, North American Academy of Liturgy Emerging Scholars Symposium, Online, Jan. 6-7, 2021.
“Charismatic versus Contemporary: Praise and Worship in Singapore Methodism,” Presentation, Exploring Contemporary & Alternative Worship Seminar, North American Academy of Liturgy Conference, Atlanta, GA, Jan. 3-4, 2020.
“Mind the Gap: Reimagining our Institutional Identities,” Workshop, Lines in the Sand: How Writing Centers Draw and Redraw Boundaries, International Writing Centers Association Conference, San Diego, CA, Oct. 26, 2012.
“Weaving an Effective Web of Writing Center Relations at Small Liberal Arts Colleges,” Panel discussion, On the Isthmus, Midwest Writing Centers Association Biennial Fall Conference, Madison, WI, Oct. 21, 2011.
POPULAR LEVEL ARTICLES
“The North American Academy of Liturgy: 2022 Annual Meeting, Kansas City, MO.” CrossAccent 30, no. 1 (Spring 2022): 32-33.
“Fasting: An Invitation to a Lenten Way of Life.” Reformed Worship 142 (Dec 2021).
“Report on North American Academy of Liturgy: Emerging Scholars Symposium, January 6-7, 2021.” CrossAccent 29, no. 2 (Summer 2021): 28-29.
“Finding God in a Pandemic and Beyond: Online and Ordinary Sacred Places.” Studying Congregations. July 6, 2021.
“Networked Congregations: Together and Apart.” Studying Congregations. June 23, 2021.
TRAINING WORKSHOPS / PRESENTATIONS
“Flow 2.0: Digging Deeper into Doing Contemporary Worship,” Webinar, Shepherding Souls in Worship series, Methodist School of Music, Singapore, February 18 & 25, 2022 (online)
“Flow: The Ancient Way to do Contemporary Worship (Ibadah yang Mengalir: Bagaimana Mewujudkan Ibadah Style Kontemporer dalam Geraja Tradisional?),” Webinar and book discussion, jointly hosted by Literatur Perkantas Jatim, Wonders of Worship, and Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Reformed Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia, January 17, 2022 (online).
“Blended Worship,” Panel discussion, Flow: The Ancient Way to do Contemporary Worship, Methodist School of Music Worship Symposium, Singapore, June 25, 2021 (online)
“Extemporaneity, Free Worship, Worship Words,” Panel discussion, Flow: The Ancient Way to do Contemporary Worship, Methodist School of Music Worship Symposium, Singapore, June 24, 2021 (online)
“Singing Our Lives Before God,” class lecture, Worship and Christian Formation, Duke Divinity School, March 18, 2021 (online)
“Flow: Finding an Ancient Way to do Contemporary Worship,” Panel Presentation, Shepherding Souls in Worship, Methodist School of Music Webinar Series, Singapore (Online), Aug. 7, 2020.
“Christian Worship in its Contemporary Context,” Panel Discussion, Gathered As One, Methodist School of Music Symposium, Singapore, Jun. 22, 2019.
“What Are We Missing When We Talk About Worship?,” Panel Discussion, Gathered As One, Methodist School of Music Symposium, Singapore, Jun. 20, 2019.
“Worship as Community Building: Putting the Congregation Back in Congregational Worship,” Workshop, Gathered As One, Methodist School of Music Symposium, Singapore, Jun. 20, 2019.
“Worship Leading 101,” Workshop, University of North Carolina Wesley Foundation, Chapel Hill, NC, Feb. 19, 2019.
“What is Worship?,” Presentation, Geomot Methodist Church, Daejeon, Korea, July 2016.
“Worship Leading 101,” Workshop, Charis Methodist Church, Singapore, March 2016.
"Band Dynamics 101," Workshop, Live for Christ Youth Ministry, Kyotanabe, Japan, March 2015.
BOOK REVIEWS
Review of Religious Experience and its Transformational Power: Qualitative and Hermeneutic Approaches to a Practical Theological Foundational Concept, by Sabrina Müller, Boston: De Gruyter, 2023. Practical Theology 16, no. 6 (2023): 841-842.
Review of Nurturing Faith: A Practical Theology for Educating Christians, by Fred P. Edie & Mark A. Lamport, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2021. Practical Theology 15, no. 1-2 (2022): 175-177.
Review of Global Arts and Christian Witness: Exegeting Culture, Translating the Message, and Communicating Christ, by Roberta R. King, Missiology 49, no. 2 (April 2021): 228-229.
MEDIA & PUBLICATIONS
"Flow: The Ancient Way to Do Contemporary Worship,” Podcast, New Books Network with Ryan Shelton, March 8, 2021. https://newbooksnetwork.com/flow.
"Evening Prayer, 2.27.21," Podcast, Leitourgia Podcast, Feb. 27, 2021. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0RzuctkGacTcq5vIN8cTyc?si=RwS9Gy29SDSiq33hHiouzw.
"A Prayer in Search of Holy Connection," visual liturgy in collaboration with The Work of the People,
Dec 2020. https://www.theworkofthepeople.com/prayer-in-search-of-holy-connection.
"Flow: The Ancient Way to Do Contemporary Worship, Part 2," Podcast, Music and the Church with Sarah Bereza, Episode 55, Oct. 12, 2020. https://sarah-bereza.com/55.
Lead vocals, back-up vocals, acoustic guitar on Saviour Messiah King, released July 17, 2016 by Jocelyn Ong,
produced by Loong, Finding My Sound Productions.
Backup vocals on Love of Another Kind EP, released June 16, 2015 by Yap Wei Chiang, produced by Yap Wei Chiang.
SERVICE & LEADERSHIP
2023 - 2029
The Liturgical Conference Board Member
2020 - 2021
Curriculum Committee Member
Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC
2020
CCLI+ Beyond Vetting Project Team Member
Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC
2020
Worship & Christian Vocation Task Force Member
The United Methodist Church Discipleship Ministries
2018 - 2019
Divinity Student Council, Co-President
Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC
2017 - 2018
Asian Theology Group, Co-Facilitator
Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC
2014 -
Methodist Girls' School Alumnae Association Committee Member