A Joyful Noise for God
October 17, 2024
An Interview with Medomfo Owusu, MDiv ‘27
“Your body’s got to be active in this. Even if you feel out of key and out of tune, you’re called to praise.” Medomfo Owusu’s laughter is lyrical when she describes the joy that comes from wedding her passion for music with her call to ministry. A native of Ipswich in the East of England, Medomfo wasted no time in pursuing this dream. After graduating university in the summer, she immediately enrolled in Garrett’s Master of Divinity program. “I know I eventually want to do a PhD to study Christian music in the African diaspora, but I also want to serve God in ministry—and I’m so glad I don’t have to choose between the two,” she says.”
This precocious spirit is nothing new. When she was just eleven years old, Medomfo revived a dormant Christian Fellowship with the chaplain at her school, assigning classmates Bible passages to read—a group which she says actually attracted as many atheist and agnostic students as it did Christians. Throughout her university studies, she sang and played the violin at a nondenominational Church while also singing in her college chapel’s high Anglican choral tradition. Needless to say, the diversity of religious expressions at Garrett helps her feel at home. “At Garrett, you get to learn from people from East and West Africa, South and East Asia, people who were born in the states and people who migrated here. There are Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Catholics all within the teaching faculty—that’s not even talking about the students,” she grins.
Another source of gratitude is the way that faculty model her own bivocational dreams. “Especially for us Gen Z creatives, so many of us want to be multi-hyphenates. We want flexibility to express all the things God gives us to minister to others,” she says. “And it’s such a blessing to see how many professors are multivocational as well—a lot of them are ordained and still practicing ministers, they weren’t expected to give that up.” For Medomfo, that visible reminder testifies to an ancient truth—that this has long been the model for ministry. “It’s helpful to know that this is not God’s first rodeo dealing with bivocational leaders,” she quips. “This has been God’s story for centuries, even going back to Catholic monastic communities.”
Part of what beckons Medomfo to both music and parish ministry is a womanist conviction that faith should care for the entire person, not just the mind. “Womanism invites me to bring my full spirituality, musicality, creativity—my love for nature, for dance, for family,” she says. “I don’t have to question whether that’s part of my faith, it is already there.” As Medomfo talks, she deftly weaves biblical exegesis into her own sense of call. “I think of the moment when Mary is pregnant with Jesus and visits Elizabeth, even just the sound of Mary’s voice makes John kick inside of Elizabeth’s womb, filling her with the Holy Spirit,” she explains. “When we hear beauty from another child of God it can ignite life in you and remind you that you also bear God’s image.” Singing isn’t just a pretty sound in this conception, it’s embodied praise. “When you feel how God is working through your body, it helps you recognize how God is working through other people, too.”
Medomfo says that ministry lets her use this physical connectedness to help people feel known and loved. “There’s something really special about the chance to listen to people,” she says. “I’m passionate about giving people space to tell their stories.” One of the gifts she thinks church offers, though, is a process of discipleship that also helps people know they belong to something larger than themselves. “It’s not just about having a personal faith,” she concludes, “Being in community with other people is what helps us grow into the fullest versions of ourselves.”