Ministry Monday

Last week we spoke with Andre Heywood, who shared with us his tips for choral vocal health during this time when extra singing meets “cold and flu season.” Today, you’ll hear from four different guests: Anna Betancourt, Orin Johnson, Matt Maus, and Teresa Yoder. All of them are music directors with at least one parish. All of them have additional responsibilities, such as leading other ensembles, teaching, or keeping another job. They all work in different parts of the United States, and they all answered the same questions, sharing their own perspectives, wisdom, and experience.

It is tempting to think of Advent as something to endure or get through. But, this approaches this important and holy time through a deficit lens. And, if we have been thinking of Advent in survival terms, it’s difficult to change when the season is already half over. So, you will hear our guests respond to two questions: What do you do in order to thrive during Advent? And, what can we do today to start thriving, too?

You and I both know how busy this time of year is. I’ve said it on this program before, and you are feeling it out there, working and rehearsing and planning and more. So, I won’t belabor the point. What I will say, however, is that we are here to help. One of the most consistent comments NPM hears from members is how valuable it is to be connected to other people doing similar work. It doesn’t feel so lonely or isolated, and it is helpful to discover best practices and to learn from one another.

So, over the next three weeks, we will be presenting Advent episodes meant to connect, to share, and – in some cases – to triage. You’ll hear practical tips, suggestions, and ideas. Most importantly, you’ll hear from other pastoral musicians working in the “trenches,” just like you.

To kick us off, we are beginning with Andre Heywood. An exceptional choral conductor and in-demand clinician, Andre will share with us his tips for choral vocal health during this time when extra singing meets “cold and flu season.” We’ll also hear an original Advent reflection from Luke Rosen in this week’s Ministry Moment.

Happy New Year! While the new calendar year doesn’t begin for another five weeks, we are about to begin the new liturgical year. Usually, a new calendar year brings time for reflection on the year that is ending, and time for setting resolutions for the year ahead. Unfortunately, for many of us in pastoral ministry, we don’t get to start our new liturgical year with the same sort of intentional reflection that is common at the start of the calendar year. We’re in the thick of holiday preparations, we’ve got special rehearsals, Advent lessons and carols, penance services, school programs, family celebrations, and so forth. Further, in the secular world, we’ve already been celebrating Christmas since the end of October.

So, today, we’re providing a brief pause at the start of the new liturgical year. We are sharing two pieces to help frame the Advent season. The first is a reflection on the liturgical year – the importance of time, the meaning of the journey. The second is a comparison of American culture and American worship, exploring how the values of each are complimentary to – or, as often as not, in conflict with – one another.

As you listen to these explorations, I encourage you to listen to them through the lens of Advent. How does our celebration of Advent change when we consider it in the context of the entire liturgical year, viewing it as the first steps on our liturgical pilgrimage? How is our celebration of Advent mired in the competing values of popular culture? In our roles as liturgical leaders, how can we intentionally form our ensembles, our colleagues, and our communities so that the message of Advent might be communicated clearly to all?

Here in the United States, we are gearing up for another holiday week. I don’t know about all of you, but, for myriad reasons, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I enjoy the food, the counting of blessings, the time spent with family and friends, the pause, the reflection.

But, while my enthusiasm for Thanksgiving has not waned over the years, the simplicity of my understanding has. I recognize that Thanksgiving can stir a complex and sometimes conflicting sense of emotion. Not all celebrations are peaceful. Not all tallies of blessings seem to be as long. Not all family gatherings are akin to Norman Rockwell.

In a particular way this year, I think of the challenges we face in our Church, our communities, country, and our world. Scandal. Division. Violence. Natural disasters. Illness. War. Anger. Apathy.

So, today, in the midst of the messiness of life, we are pausing to give thanks. To do so, we’ll hear from the writings of four voices, each helping explore what it means to be grateful. I’m hoping you’ll find this to be a sort of mini-retreat, and so I’ve interspersed music selections between each reading. If you can’t listen to the entire episode at once, listen to a portion each day. I hope you are able to find time this week to let these words and melodies sink in, challenging and affirming, and, in a special way, feeding and forming.

This past year, NPM offered its forty-first convention. For more than four decades, NPM has been gathering, forming, and celebrating pastoral musicians in national and regional conventions offered across the country. For just as long – in fact, for a little longer – NPM has offered formation, celebration, and connection through the publication of Pastoral Music magazine.

Today, we’re talking about the NPM magazine as it transitions to a new editorial staff. We’ll discuss the following questions: Why, when we so often hear that print media is dying, does NPM continue to offer a magazine? What impact does NPM hope the magazine will have on the practice of its members? What can we expect to find in the new issue when it lands in our mailboxes in a few weeks? And more. To explore these questions, we’ll speak with Kathy Felong, the new editor of NPM’s magazine. We’ll also hear an excerpt from Pope Francis’ message on World Communications Day 2018 in this week’s Ministry Moment.

You’ve heard us mention repeatedly the importance of invitation in our work as pastoral ministers. It’s a challenging topic, partly because we need to learn how to do it (though we’ve got a pretty good idea). Mostly, it’s difficult because invitation is often an exercise in vulnerability. We’ve got to relearn, retrain, risk failure, and so forth.

Today, we’re digging deeper into the topic of invitation to speak specifically about instrumentalists. Why do we invite instrumentalists differently than we do singers? What can we do to better extend welcome to the members of our community who have instrumental skills to offer? We’ll speak with composer and teacher Zack Stachowski, who will issue a special Christmas season challenge. We’ll also hear from the writings of Fr. Matthew Kelty in this week’s Ministry Moment.

Eucharistic Adoration is a traditional Roman Catholic devotion that has experienced renewed attention and interest over the last decade or so. Parishes across the country now offer regular opportunities for adoration. College campus ministries, summer youth programs, and national conferences are adding opportunities for adoration, as well. So, for those of us in liturgical ministry, how are we to handle this devotional practice?

Lorraine Hess

Today, we’ll hear a special workshop presentation from Msgr. Rick Hilgartner and singer/songwriter Lorraine Hess. Offered at this year’s NPM convention in Baltimore, Fr. Rick and Lorraine presented a workshop titled “Eucharistic Adoration: A Communal Invitation to Mission.” In their session, they offered historical, theological, liturgical, and musical suggestions for communities who wish to shape vibrant experiences of Adoration. They will also argue that Vatican II’s emphasis on the ecclesial and missional nature of all worship invites us to reimagine a reformed version of Adoration that will nourish a truly Eucharistic vision of Church.

For the last four weeks, I’ve been inviting you to share your feedback and suggestions for this program through our first listener survey. Thank you to those of you who took the time to respond. We are busy reading through your comments and analyzing the data and will use what you shared to inform our program planning into the future.

If you missed out on the survey, don’t fret! You can always share your thoughts with us through our website, ministrymonday.org.

Many of our survey responses told us that you appreciated hearing voices from the past – audio recordings from conventions or workshops from ten, twenty, or even forty years ago. Of course, one of the challenges of bringing your archival recordings is that the sound quality is often rough, and there is only so much I can do to improve it. Many of you also shared that you found topics related to the spirituality of ministry to be helpful and impactful.

So, today, we’re going to try to hit two targets with one episode. We are pleased to share with you an article on the spiritual life of pastoral musicians and liturgical ministers. Originally written for the April 1987 issue of Pastoral Music Magazine, author and composer Ken Meltz shares ways for we who are music makers to ground ourselves in liturgical spirituality. Titled, “Stepping Outside the Routine,” Ken reflects on the proliferation of the term “spirituality,” and on the fact that we pastoral ministers often do a poor job of feeding our own spiritual and prayer lives.

A few weeks ago, we featured a workshop presentation given by Jaime Cortez on the topic of planning and leading bi-cultural liturgies. We heard from many of you, thanking us for featuring an important topic and for providing practical, useful tactics that you could use in your own community. Today, we continue this important conversation, this time exploring the ways we can shape unity within our communities while still honoring diversity.

So, in place of our customary interview, today we are bringing you an audio program from the Open Your Hymnal podcast. Open Your Hymnal, cohosted by Zack Stachowski and by me, is a special project aimed at breaking open the best-loved and most-common liturgical music in the Catholic repertoire. Each episode explores one song and features conversation with the composer and, sometimes, special guests.

We are pleased to present today our interview with composer Bob Hurd about his song “Pan de Vida,” one of the earliest and best-loved examples of purpose-built bilingual liturgical music. Bob discusses what influences his music, how he relies on scripture for his texts, and the best ways we can bring unity to a world and a Church that is increasingly divided. This is a great conversation for anyone who ministers in a multi-cultural setting.

We’ve already discussed the topic of Evangelization in previous episodes. I’m sure your bookshelf has at least a handful of resources related to the subject. I’m sure you’ve been to at least one meeting or workshop where evangelization was discussed.

So, how are your efforts faring?

Pope Francis is often quoted as saying that Christ knocks on our hearts to be let in, and on the doors of our churches to be let out. We often think of evangelizing as going out – and certainly, it is. But we also hope that the end result of our going out will be to have others come in – to join our community, to worship with us, to enter the fullness of the Church.

Today, we’ll hear about one parish’s initiative to increase their engagement with the families in their community. St. Isidore’s Catholic Church in Macomb, Michigan, began offering an evening Mass on Sunday’s. Billed as the “Mass for Busy Catholics,” it was an attempt to open the door just a little further and to give more opportunities for worship. Now, another weekend Mass might not be the answer for your community. However, I hope that you hear in this conversation the importance of being open, trying new things, and meeting families where they are. We’ll also hear from a soon-to-be Saint, Pope Paul VI, in this week’s Ministry Moment.