9 posts tagged “music ministry & me”
Growth in numbers and in spirituality is what I always asked God for my choir and its members. I hate to say this but for months we have been stagnant: only a few (and I mean few) songs have been taught to us, motivation for members to show up is a little bit mundane even if I was giving grave threats of all sorts, and no parishioner has ever contacted us for interest in becoming a music minister.
I do not believe I have done my part that well. I know we gave out mini-fliers that I printed, posted primers and membership forms that I also printed, and behaved and served well for people to be impressed and eventually be enticed to join the group. But never did I muster the strength to make an announcement during the interlude between the communion and the recessional parts of the liturgical celebration because of pride. Damn pride. Or was it the fear of affirming to myself that we are not growing. I know that we do a great job with our mass services but there is this need in me for the group to grow in numbers. I know spirituality will come, though at a later time, but I do believe that they'll slowly see the path that Jesus walked.
My worries were due to the things that transpired during the conversation we had with our newly installed parish priest. While practicing for our evening mass service that Sunday afternoon, he walked in and commended us that we do know our craft very well. Knowing that he himself is a former choir member, it felt like he was really impressed but I really saw something bad coming our way. Call it pessimistic outlook or years of training of knowing how people will actually soften the blow. I know very well that he will just sandwich a nasty violent reaction with first, comforting (not to mention flattering) words, and secondly, a recommendation. Boy did he ever made the first move! Suddenly, his tone changed and said that our "voicing" can't be heard over the audio system. He immediately ruled in the ultimate reason which is due to the acoustics of the parish so he encouraged us to really go near the microphones whens singing. Good thing the halitosis issue of a former member has been taken care of or I couldn't possibly stand singing the entrance hymn without vomiting the second we are in the first five notes of the song.
Moving on, he also scanned the room and quickly found out that there were only five of us present at that moment: my choirmaster, my two sopranos, my accompanist, and me. I told myself that we were doomed. He commented in our lack of number which my choirmaster clarified that others were just late for the practice. The priest brushed the excuse aside and told us that we should consider recruiting new members. And then he told us an unimaginable thing: merging with another choir. He particularly told us a specific choir who we can do the merger with.
Weeks passed and I forgot all about the blow. That does not sound right, eh? Well, Rich, our accompanist, told me that a merger was proposed unto us by the specific choir mentioned by our parish priest during the conversation. I said that I'll think about it but in a positive way. Our problem of getting members will be finally resolved although mergers are not my thing. I have this sorta bad experience during college about mergers. Let's say that it didn't go well for me and I ended up crying because I was hurt. A lot.
See, merging two groups are tricky: it will be a merger not only of systems, people, but of passion. Wait, that's a copy for a commercial regarding bank merging. Point taken from the thought actually but what is bothering me is my view of merger as a clash of cultures. Both groups all have established identities already and a shared experience or worldview about service in the church. I just cannot disregard those years we spent together as a group and the years they spent together as a group as well. It might be true that both groups share a passion for what we do best but there's always the but thing that will really bite you hard in the ass.
A
part of me says that I'm just overanalyzing all the things that were
said by my choir members about this merger issue like whose name of the
group are we going to retain, what will be the flow of command, who
will be in command, and the new (or soon-to-be renewed) interpersonal
issues between the members of both groups. I have to have a meeting
with the other group to slightly alleviate my worries or I'll lose my
sanity and my precious sleep. Maybe it'll also be a good thing if we do
the meeting with the parish priest. He shouldn't take this lightly
because I'm not.
Lord, please make me a fitting instrument of your Will; and, may I learn to spread Your love everyday of my life beyond the music. Amen.
Isn't this sweet? I'm so inspired by this when I read it at a co-member's signature in a message board for music ministers.
Music, as the cliche goes, is a universal language that all understands. It is also noted to be one of the most effective tools used in conveying and teaching something, whether to a child or an adult. This, in my honest opinion, is the very same principle that a choir applies every time they render their choral services—they, or rather we, minister faith through music.
I am a music minister. For those who are
unfamiliar with the rudiments of what my group and I do, I
would like to take this opportunity to clarify that a choir is
different from
that of a chorus (or a chorale) although these terms are
interchangeably used most of the time.
See, a chorus is an ensemble of singers that primarily performs opera
and
theatrical-like pieces. A choir, however, makes use of liturgical or
sacred
music in their repertoire. The two can also interchange their
repertoires depending on the event. Choirs, sometimes, do chorale
repertoires in concert while choruses also include liturgical or gospel
music during their concerts, too.
For us Catholic Christians, according to one of the
speeches presented in the 2005 Bayan Umawit Choir Convention, music becomes one
with the liturgy and it is through music that a choir ministers what the church
stands for. But how does a choir use music to minister? According to Father
Manoling Francisco, a Jesuit priest and one of the co-founders of the Bukas
Palad Music Ministry, a choir ministers faith by singing in liturgy. From the
verb minister, which means to give help to somebody in need, choristers (or
choir members) give voice to the fervent prayers that dwell in the hearts of
our brothers and sisters.
Additionally,
choirs are also called to worship and not "to perform."
They are there to encourage and help the congregation sing the liturgy
during
the Eucharist or any other liturgical celebrations of the season for
that matter. Choristers are part of the Church and they should, which I
do with my members, remember to keep a proper decorum at all times,
whether you're inside or outside the parish. As we are part of the
church, the Eucharist can still go on without us, a thing that we have
to keep in mind. We, however, cannot go on without the Eucharistic
celebration.
A question was posed to me by a former trainee of ours. He asked me how it is possible that we lead the congregation in singing during the liturgical celebrations and help solidify the worship experience. To answer his I-dont-know-if-I-can-answer-this question, I cited some examples of the music used in the Eucharist. Let’s take, uh, the Entrance Song. From the term Entrance, you might think that it is suffice to say that it is sung during the start of the celebration. Duh? Yes! As stated in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, this song purposely opens the celebration. Aside from the obvious, the choir sings this in order to intensify the unity of the church (church as the social idea and not the structure) and to further set the theme of the season or a particular celebration.
Alleluia, on the other hand, is a song sung
joyfully in every
occasion other than Lent. It is sung by the choir to lead the church in
reflection
before the Gospel is read. The Presentation Song in the Preparation of
the Gifts, however, is sung in order to accompany and celebrate the
communal
aspect of the procession of the gifts and by the people who present
them
themselves. Before, I thought it was really called the Offertory but it
was really a misconception over the years daw according to a parish
priest under the Diocese of Novaliches.
The last example I gave to him is the
Communion song. According to David Haas, a highly
regarded liturgical composer of English-speaking nations,
Christological songs
in the Communion part of the mass is carefully picked out by the choir
in order
to remind the people of Jesus’ self offering as we take in the body of
Christ. Kailangan ng solemnity during that part because, di ba,
parishioners communicate with God by kneeling and praying for the
absolution of their sins and for giving thanks to Him for the blessings
they have received after receiving Jesus' body in the form of the host.
The list of the songs and its accompanying explanations goes on and on, and I didn't care to elaborate much to Him because I believe I am not a subject matter expert regarding this matter even with the 8 years of serving the Church as a choir minister. There are still many things I have to learn. But what we must remember, according to Saint Augustine, my former school's patron saint, (and this I leave you with): He Who Sings Well, Prays Twice. The choir is there to help the people sing and commune with God better, however, it is up to them (and, including us who are music ministers) to partake in the Eucharist. There might be distractions along the way but we have to keep in mind that Sunday is God's rest day and it's fitting that we give an ample of our time to hear His Word and to participate in the communal celebration with our brothers and sisters.
As a chorister, I know being one does not have “material perks”. We don't get compensated for serving, that's for sure. Although, from my personal experience, I haven't got any serious or life-threatening ailment and, I think, my prayers are answered in a jiffy.
At the end of it all, even if managing my choir gives me lots of headache and amps up my stress levels, I am happy to say that with the humbling gift of voice He has given me, I know in my own little way I get His Message across to others.
Earlier this day, I received an SMS from one of my high school classmates asking who is better off in portraying the comics series Bakekang on a television network. The message prompted Sunshine Dizon first, a grown-up star who has a track record of cheesy shows when she was a tweeny. Surprisingly, the joke, of course, came to the end. The message asked if Mike Enriquez, a newscaster, was more appropriate for the role because of the way Bakekang was portrayed in the comics series. Bakekang, see, is an ugly duckling--and I think she will forever be--and the most prominent feature of her "ugliness" is her nose, which is looks similarly just like Enriquez's. I was laughing when the thought of having cuts on the budget means no prosthetics for Sunshine. It would definitely make the production of the series cheaper because Enriquez does not have to wear prosthetics thus lessening the budget needed.
Speaking of Bakekang, we use this nickname to an applicant in our choral group. I know that we're meany for giving her that nickname; but, I swear it was not her attributes that made us give her that monicker. It's her sickening outlook towards service and the continuing behavior of not-practicing-but-belting-it-out-as-always like she was an regular in our choir. For crying out loud, she's still just an applicant! I know very well what my organization is capable of achieving and the standards are just getting poorer and poorer by the minute she sings with us. My sopranos looses their keys, she wants to invade my alto position whenever no one is around (she does not even know the respective melody of that voice spectrum), and disses the officers like she was herald as our savior. Oh well, I'm not coming back with our choirmaster owning up to his decision to keep her. Ang nakakalungkot, mas nanghinayang ang choirmaster namin na mawala kaming matitino kesa na siya na hindi.
I have been pouring out some of my free time to myself, enjoying life to the fullest. Lately, I had an itch to revamp the choir's website from pastel-y type of site to a silver-y kind. The reason for the change of color? My older brother told me that the site was too girly and too stupid to look at. Consequently, I had acquired tons of new tricks for the Adobe Photoshop 7 so I did that to achieve a professional feel to the site. Check it out here. Thanks.
I'm currently revamping the Villa Maria Youth Choir website and did some of that too on the site's logo. Feel free to email me at oweynj (at) gmail (dot) com for your comments and suggestions.
I hope that things will be finalized before I go home.
Ever since I got here, I have not been into any Christian gathering or whatsoever in this place. Then I heard from my parents that we will go and hear the second mass in Aramco this Friday.
Surprisingly, they kept their promise. Last Friday, after what seemed like an hour of picking out the bestest church outfit in my closet, my father speeded 120 miles per hour on the road to Aramco, where the mass was held.
Aramco, according to my mom, is a joint company of Saudi and Americans. They dig oil daw. Mom also told me that my dad used to work there but did not like the salary though the benefits are really awesome. You get to live the American way because the compound has some kind of "freedom" since they could held mass and other Christian gatherings in the school's gymnasium.
What I loved most of all is that there are no noisy churchgoers inside the gym (if you could call people who hear the mass in a gym a churchgoer ;P). Back home, yes over there, you could hear almost everyone murmuring aloud (yes, it is oxymoronic, I know) something every minute. I think I was lucky since the priest who administered the mass was the newly appointed one in the area. I also loved the choir; nice vocal gymnastics with the songs that I am very, very familiar with. I must admit, however, that melodies of most songs are quite bland for my taste. Pinoys are still the best in concocting Christian music, I swear.
At the end of the mass, we were told to line up so we could receive last Ash Wednesday's ashes. I lined up where the priest was standing and was dumbfounded when he put the ash on my hand rather than my forehead. Then I remembered that even though the compound has certain "freedom", I was still in an alien territory.
Hindi ko nakumpleto ang walong simbang gabi na ipinangako ko sa aking sarili. Pero sa pagkakataon na ito, I gave my time wholeheartedly. Our group, the Villa Maria Youth Choir, sang this morning for God and for His people.
Mother of the Reedemer Parish's Conference Room. 11 ng gabi kami nakarating nila Ate Idat at Ken-ken dito. Hinintay kasi namin ang aming choirmaster na si Kuya Daniel (yung nakapula po). Bryan and the others were there ahead of us. Natutunan ko sa gabing ito: huwag kumanta ng puyat.
Kuya Michael, our newest member. He's currently manning the keyboards for the group. He's from Bicol, malapit lang kina Pepay sa Gubat. Irosin yata yung place nila. We've talked alot about Bicol, my fourth home province.
Ate Idat and I waiting for the mass to start. Inaantok na nga kami eh... pero kailangan may kumanta para tulungan ang mga tao na magdasal ng dalawang beses. I was still beaming with pride because it's our second simbang gabi as a group.
Eto yung mukha ng poon ng aming simbahan kapag simbang gabi. Maganda s'ya. Maayos ang pagkaka-ayos nilang nasa PPC (Parish Pastoral Council). Ang tagal ni Father Roger lumabas ng mga panahong ito, pero masaya ako kasi iba ang ambience ng simbahan nung umagang ito.
Joni, our soprano section leader, and Ofelia, our alto section leader. Reunion ito!! hehe... ^_^
As some of you know), I quit my academic job in May to pursue what I believe to be a higher calling - the production of print media that is envisioned to play some role in bringing teens to a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. There is a severe lack of encouraging, life-affirming, nation-building literature among local magazines today - Kerygma and Fish are stellar examples of Christian lit - and we cannot deny this affects the spiritual and emotional growth of our youth.
We Filipinos who have the resources to make a difference in the lives of our fellow Filipinos have the duty to be the best we can be, and offer our lives as offerings to God, that He may use us to win people and change lives for His glory.
I have taken this challenge in my own unique way, and I humbly call upon you to help me in this endeavor. Please spread the word among your friends and family that on November 27, 2004, Saturday, we, the people who stand for virtue in print media, fight fire with fire, with the debut release of LIVEtheLIFE Magazine, relevant reading for the lifestyle with purpose. Please review the following release for more
information on the magazine.
When we sing in church of "coming back to the heart of worship," when we sing, "it's all about You, Jesus," that's what it's all about. This is our humble way of
doing what we can to make our nation a better place, our way of offering ourselves up ad majorem Dei gloriam. I pray you can join us in this endeavor by spreading the word and buying a copy of the magazine on November 27.
May God bless you in everything you do.
LIVEtheLIFE Magazine, the country's first glossy Christian magazine for teens and young adults, hits magazine stands November 27, Saturday!
Power-packed with 56 pages of cool Christian content, LIVEtheLIFE Magazine's debut issue includes:
Kitchie Kitchie Cool - Get into the head of Kitchie Nadal! We're giving away her autographed CD with your name on it!
Overcoming Failure - Get over your failed exams, your ex, and not making the varsity!
Catchin' Tha Spirit - Kanye West, Mase, Michelle Williams, and other American hiphop stars on their faith!
Waaay Above the Rim - The Christ-centered lives of NBA superstars David Robinson, Allan Houston, Derek Fisher, and Richard Jefferson speak for themselves!
Bloggerhythm - We spotlight three outstanding Christian teen bloggers!
Who Doesn't Know Jack? - The pros and cons of masturbation!
Survivor - We feature Maybelle Ti, breast cancer survivor!
Teen Titan - Get to know Stephanie Sol, Ms Teen Philippines 2004
Soapbox - Sonni Viudez on God's sense of humor and Tina Matanguihan on dorm life
Slim4Him - lose weight Biblically!
Manna - great news, Godly views
Citrus - Cut out encouraging Bible cards for your loved ones!
We Like - Write in to tell us about your favorite product!
His Story - comic strip by Ariel Atienza
And more features!
Listen to Wave 89.1 and Jam 88.3 as LIVEtheLIFE brings you some of the coolest, life-
affirming music from Kitchie Nadal and others!
Check out www.PinoyExchange.com as LIVEtheLIFE's Realm of Thought goes online with
thought-provoking discussion!
Visit www.livethelifemag.com for cool desktops and other cool online freebies!
Fight fire with fire on November 27! Help bring this nation back to God!
"Where there is no vision, the people perish." - Prov 29:18
---from superblessed media---
We at Superblessed Media invite and encourage youth groups, churches and schools to make LIVEtheLIFE part of their habit. With advice based on the Word of God, left-of-center design, and features that are both interesting yet godly, LIVEtheLIFE can help affirm the values you work so hard to inculcate in your youth. Contact
superblessed@gmail.com or text 09209073962 for [discounted] subscription and distribution inquiries.
LIVEtheLIFE Magazine. Relevant reading for the lifestyle with purpose.
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