BENSONHURST — Deacon Jaime Cobham has earned several titles in his life, both in his personal life and professional career. He is a husband, a father, a member of the clergy staff at St. Athanasius Catholic Church for seven years — and the “Dancing Deacon.”
That last title, which is how he described himself during an interview about his time at Our Lady of Charity with the late Father Jim Goode, comes exclusively from his expression of faith.
After over 20 years in the diaconate, Deacon Cobham notes that the power of the word while celebrating Mass is reinforced through motion — a power reinforced when an entire congregation is moving to a beat.
“If there is a beat, my body expresses a beat. I am not fixed. I am not paralyzed at the altar,” Deacon Cobham told The Tablet.
Both of Deacon Cobham’s parents are from Panama, and while growing up, he felt his self-expression was muted in religious spaces, one could see the joy on the faces of fellow parishioners, he explained, but “you would not say, ‘Hallelujah!’ ”
But it was when he was placed at Our Lady of Charity in Crown Heights, under the guidance of Father Goode — known as the “Dean of Black Catholic Preachers” — that he bore witness to the power of outward proclamation of faith.
Nearly all of Father Goode’s homilies began with him singing “Blessed Assurance,” joined by those in the pews. Alongside the readings and homily, the power of the choir and that song brought the congregation together.
“He encouraged all, so you could have begun the Mass being very subdued and controlled but you were encouraged to let yourself go, to let yourself feel and let others feel with you, always understanding who is the star of the show, [God].”
Since coming to New York City, the deacon has noted how much music can play a part in cultural celebrations, particularly since he has spent the past 10 or so years concentrating on Hispanic Masses. Music is “fundamental in the Hispanic Mass,” he said, and he always was drawn to how it can enhance the liturgy.
Deacon Cobham’s movement is less of a formal dance than swaying in motion with the beat the choir sets during hymns and songs. To him, music is part of human existence — artists often mimic their music tempo to the beats-per-minute of a heart, eliciting different emotions simply through the beat. Music can be used to bring forward emotion during the liturgy as well, he said.
The Catholic Church is in agreement with him in that aspect. In 1994, the Vatican issued the “Instruction on Inculturation and the Roman Liturgy,” a document reinforcing that singing is instinctively accompanied by dance movements and swaying — but that parishioners should not let that overwhelm the liturgy.
While movement and dancing are welcomed with open arms by Deacon Cobham, he does caution that “you aren’t at a club” while in church.
“Such forms of external expression can have a place in the liturgical actions of these peoples on condition that they are always the expression of true communal prayer of adoration, praise, offering and supplication, and not simply a performance,” the Vatican document reads.
This holds up a sort of warning issued in a 1975 Vatican document, “Dance in the Liturgy,” which states that in Western culture, while dancing can be tied with love, it can also be tied to “diversion” and “unbridling of the senses.”
There have been disputes about how music is being implemented into celebrating Mass — a June 2023 study by the Pew Research Center showed that only 61% of Catholics who regularly attend church in person said they were extremely or very satisfied with the music, compared to 75% of Protestants.
But by reinforcing the power of music as a faith tool within the diocese, Deacon Cobham said, the church can help build community within a congregation.
“I think that when you go to Mass, it’s not just the opening of the word. It’s not just the sharing of the Eucharist. It’s the whole universal experience of the person. When that is enhanced by the music, and the liveliness of the Mass, it’s helpful to some people,” he said.