PIMSPontifical Institute
of
Mediaeval Studies

Dr. Carl Bear earned his PhD in 2017 at the Graduate Theological Union with a dissertation entitled “Christian Funeral Practices in Late Fourth-Century Antioch.” Among his publications are “Why Luther Changed His Mind about Music: Martin Luther’s Theology of Music in Light of His Liturgical Reforms,” in Luther im Kontext: Reformbestrebungen und Musik in der ersten Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts, edited by Michael Klaper (Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 2016), 15–38, and with Sarah Kathleen Johnson, “Medieval Hymns on Modern Lips: An Analysis of Medieval Texts and Tunes in Twenty-First-Century Protestant Hymnals,” The Hymn 69.1 (2018): 10–16. Dr. Bear is currently Director of Music Ministry at St. Giles Kingsway Presbyterian Church, Toronto. During his association with the Institute, Dr. Bear plans to explore the role of the congregation in early liturgical music, focusing on sixth and seventh century Gaul. His project will contribute to understanding the “silencing of the laity” in liturgical music that scholars have observed emerging in the early middle ages.