James Abbington, the first person appointed as the Joseph B. Bethea Professor of the Practice of Sacred Music and Black Church Studies, has died at age 65.

Abbington was previously associate professor of church music and worship at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, Ga., and associate visiting professor of Christian hymnody at Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Conn. His position at Duke Divinity School began July 1, and he was in Durham, N.C., that month to participate in the Black Religious Autobiography Summer Seminar, sponsored by the Duke Divinity Office of Black Church Studies and the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. 

“The news of the passing of Dr. Abbington has, in the words of Psalms 22, melted my heart. I grieve for his family, friends, and our Divinity community,” said Edgardo Colón-Emeric, dean of Duke Divinity School. “We dreamed dreams with our first Joseph B. Bethea Chair, and we will miss the professor, the performer, and the person. This July, I heard him playing the piano and lifting his voice in song during the summer seminar at the Divinity School. Dr. Abbington is now with the Lord, but the echoes of his joyful presence among us will reverberate in my soul and this school for years to come, and this fills me with hope.” 

Abbington intended to arrive on campus at Duke for the fall semester, but he suffered complications after a medical procedure. He passed away Sept. 27 in Georgia, surrounded by loved ones. 

Several of us had the privilege of spending a week in July with Dr. Abbington. We witnessed his excitement about coming to Duke, gleaned from his deep well of wisdom, and were blessed to hear him play as he unpacked the richness of hymns and spirituals. Dr. Abbington was more than a gifted musician, he was one of the foremost scholars of church sacred music, whose work illuminated the significance of the Black church and its hymnody for generations to come. His scholarship didn’t just live on the page; it lived in the classroom, at the piano, and in every conversation where he lifted up the importance of song for our faith and community.

Mycal Brickhouse D'16, managing director of grants at Leadership Education at Duke Divinity

Services

The funeral service will be held on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 2 p.m. at Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga. The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Hale will be officiating the service.

The service will be livestreamed by Friendship Baptist Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests your consideration to contribute to the Friendship Baptist Church Music Scholarship Fund in memory of Dr. W. James Abbington Jr.

Tributes

  • As part of Candler Black Excellence, a multi-year initiative celebrating the school’s Black faculty, alumni, and students, watch James Abbington discusses the differences between traditional and traditionalism and how both affect music in the Black church. Secular music, broader Black culture, European hymns, and even a genre created to disparage Black people are all part of the story—as are Dr. Abbington’s masterful musical illustrations. (Ending music is “Worship Melody” by Eman’s Track.)
  • Read a tribute to James Abbington from GIA Publications, a major publisher of sacred choral music, hymnals, sacred music recordings, music education materials, and other fine products.
  • Duke Chapel will offer a musical tribute to James Abbington on Sunday, Oct.5, a revised version of his arrangement of the gospel hymn "Shine on Me (I Heard the Voice of Jesus)" for inclusion in the Chapel's new hymnal. The arrangement will include his edits and changes, led by piano and bass and the Chapel Choir.