My friend Mary Jane had some nice things to say about our music ministry.
Only yesterday I was rolling around the Internet, looking for inspiration on the role of music - and what did I find? A draft of a document on the music ministry at St. Edward. If this was written by a team, it's the most concise team-produced document I've seen in my life. Way to go, St. Edward!
Actually the document was not produced by the team. It was produced by me for the team. It does not yet have universal acceptance among the team. Indeed it sometimes has significant opposition. This is why it is still considered a draft. Formation sometimes takes time and patience, and the entertainment models of our culture often still prevail.
I thought I recognized that voice in the document. With some people, formation is like dripping water on a rock. If you keep it up long enough, the message will make an impact.
First rate.
Or the rock will.....
I wish there were more citations of the original documents. Having the Catechism paragraphs with their footnotes to the original documents seems less helpful that filling in the citations to which the superscripts point.
There are a number of experts, if not church documents, that back up the opinions on choice of instruments, use of microphone, etc, so that there is more hope that the vision might outlast the term of the current pastor.
Our folks don't sing the Schubert Mass well. Even when we had hymnals in the pews, the Holy, Holy didn't seem to be a time when people want to have their nose in a book. Because there's a significant variation in the text, people just drop out and let the choir sing it.
In the context of St. Edward and the Diocese of Oakland, it would be nice to see more about multicultural liturgies and the role of music in such celebrations.
If we start with the perspective of sung prayer, I think it helps.