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c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Toby Jones is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), a rock musician who plays guitar in bars at night and the author of the recently published “The Gospel According to Rock.” Jones, 46, is associate pastor of the 450-member First Presbyterian Church of Harbor Springs, Mich., where […]

c. 2008 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Toby Jones is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), a rock musician who plays guitar in bars at night and the author of the recently published “The Gospel According to Rock.”

Jones, 46, is associate pastor of the 450-member First Presbyterian Church of Harbor Springs, Mich., where he lives with his wife, Molly, and three children. He talked about becoming a pastor, leaving to teach at a private boys school and then coming back, and the connection he sees between faith and rock.


(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

Q: In your book you say that you went into the ministry “for all the wrong reasons.”

A: For the first 30-some years of my life, I was caught up in what others expected of me. I had this sense that I was “supposed to” serve God and live a noble life. But I was not serving with any joy.

Once I encountered the utter humanness and politics of the church, I was devastated, disillusioned. I was too immature to be a pastor the first time around _ too idealistic, too judgmental, too convinced I was right about far too many things.

I needed to find out who I was deep down. Playing rock ‘n’ roll music in bars and clubs helped, as did working in homeless shelters, teaching high school English, coaching sports, getting married, getting divorced, losing my mom in a car wreck and losing friends to AIDS, drugs and wars.

Q: When did you become interested in the similarities between the gospel and rock lyrics?

A: About two years ago I was at a Spinning class and we were working out to a Bob Seger song called “Roll Me Away.” I went home and in 10 minutes generated a list of over 100 songs that spoke to me in a spiritual way.

Q: Why do a book?

A: Because both the gospel and rock music have been misunderstood and misconstrued. The gospel is ultimately about Jesus _ the person, what he did, the path he walked, the way he treated people. … What we have come to call “Christianity” is something Jesus would not recognize.


On the rock ‘n’ roll side of the equation … rock seems to generate irrational fear in Christians. But Jesus was all about “Be not afraid.” He was all about entering into the culture of his day, not fleeing it.

I am not afraid of rock, nor am I afraid of Harry Potter books. To the contrary, I see traces and glimpses of God in the creations of my culture. That’s the trick, as I see it: learning to see, hear and experience God in all of life.

Q: Bruce is the Boss of gospel-themed lyrics, right?

A: Springsteen is right up there when it comes to spiritual content. Obviously, Bono and U2 have offered quite a bit in this arena too, but they acknowledge being Christians _ at least three-fourths of them do. What’s great about Bruce _ and crucial to my argument that God can speak anywhere and through anyone _ is that he has never acknowledged or espoused a particular faith.

Q: Anyone else?

A: Sure, even some of the hip-hop artists. Check out Ludacris’ “Runaway Love.” It’s filled with compassion toward kids and what they grow up with these days. Jack Johnson and John Mayer have powerful gospel connections in some of their latest efforts. Ben Harper and Lenny Kravitz also have some very spiritual songs.

Q: You point out that rock music has helped bring apartheid in South Africa, famine in Ethiopia and the plight of the U.S. farmer to a wider audience. What about today?

A: If you listen carefully to Springsteen’s latest record, “Magic,” you’ll hear a bitter attack on the politics of George W. Bush and total disgust at the war on terror. Bruce was masterful in the subtlety of his attack, but it’s an attack nonetheless. There are a lot of artists singing out against American foreign policy and our assumption of moral superiority.


Q: What’s on your iPod?

A: About 1,800 songs across several genres, but clearly dominated by classic rock. I do have some ’70s funk, disco and lots of Earth, Wind & Fire.

Q: Earth, Wind & Fire?

A: They are the perfect blend of jazz, rock, funk and pop. They are the best dance band ever.

Q: What do your parishioners think of your two vocations?

A: You’d have to ask them. I think most are intrigued and fine with it. I’m sure some think I’m going off the deep end.

Q: Have you ever shown up late for a Sunday morning service because of a gig the night before?

A: No, but I dream that I have all the time.

(Janet Fillmore writes for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland.)

KRE/PH END FILLMORE775 words

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