I drove down to Hobart (~3 1/2 hours) for Stephen Kirk‘s workshop on music in the Eucharist.
It was part of a Parish Mission Plan, that I hadn’t heard of, so I can’t be paying much attention apparently.
The presentation went through the basics of why we sing and how we choose what we sing, which was to the point and useful. He also went into functional issues, like avoiding sudden distracting change, being attentive to the liturgical flow and the use of silence. He emphasised that music should not dominate the liturgy and definitely not become a barrier to participation. He went through each part of a typical mass, suggesting the appropriate feel for each portion and I had no arguments with his guidance. His approach was open to many styles of music and based on his lived ministry in the area.
I liked his contrast of the typical suburban, low church liturgy that emphasised presence/feast/ fellowship with the higher church, Cathedral style emphasising the sacred and transcendence. He suggested the former could lack transcendence and the latter the closeness to God. He suggested an Incarnational approach as a bridging construct to avoid the excesses of each. My take is that in a cultural sense, Australians typically find their way to transcendence through the fellowship of a low church approach, and too much input that is foreign to their experience of the sacred is a barrier to finding that, but obviously that will vary from place to place and may well be evolving. I have certainly been struck at times in my life, by the unexpected and transcendent work of the Spirit, through well done “low church” style Liturgy.
He was kind enough to do some singing, despite a voice seemingly ravaged by the previous night’s concert.
His “Open Up” was used as an example of a gathering song.
“We Adore You” was his example of a communion song.
He used examples from his “Mass of Clare” in his talk about songs for the Eucharistic Liturgy.
There were thirty or so music ministers there, mostly from Southern Tasmania, and I’m sure it was a good investment by the Archdiocese and hopefully is to be part of ongoing support for parish music ministers.