Father:
I will keep you in my prayers. I think the core issue is to educate your parish with what liturgy is. Just before the Sanctus is sung, you say words to the effect “We join with all the choirs of angels and saints as they sing to Your glory.” At that moment the distance between what is going on in your parish and in heaven is nil. If we believe that, then the rest flows from acknowledging and acting on that belief. Does the music played reflect heaven or is in the the style of “Cats”? Does the environment reflect that we are surrounded a cloud of witnesses or is in the case of the former UW Catholic center in Madison, more redolent of the bottom of a municipal swimming pool. If your people believe and try to, in your liturgies, demonstrate the transcendent nature of what is being done, the rest should fall into place.

Have you looked at the CMAA section Chant Cafe ? Kathleen Puth's post on June 24th has five good points to start from.

My advice is to proceed slowly, but in the right direction. Perhaps adding the Entrance and Communion Antiphons is a good place to start.

Also, I would explain why you are making a change each time you do. Lack of understanding about changes is why the liturgy has strayed so far afield from what the Council Fathers had intended.

One could also direct that fewer verses of familiar but questionable hymn settings that are not composed as a complete arc of prayer (cough) be offered.

Reverend Father,

Welcome to the forum.

May I suggest that one part of the process of choosing a new director of music would be to have a retreat for the choir? In this way, you can present to them the spiritual mission of the choir. Mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, confession and the like give you an opportunity to focus on addressing the underlying problem before the new hire arrives.

Another possibility is a series of sermons preached about the importance of music in the Mass, and the theocentric nature of it. When you're preaching about music, you're giving the musicians some of the recognition they think they deserve (although you can't give them all the recognition they think they deserve, because they apparently think they walk on water) while helping to form the parish as a whole.

Since the parish population appears to be more "progressive", start with either the clear statements of the latest Council (Latin must be preserved; organ should have pride of place, the treasury of music is greater than any other art). Teach them about participation, and how it must first be interior. I'm reminded of a line from the movie War of the Vendee: "One Paternoster".

You want 3 things in your musician:
- high level of musical ability
- leadership skills
- ability to play well with others.

I’ve seen things end badly when a priest made changes quickly. Also when changed styles rapidly.
Slow is the key. Education is also important.

But in the end, baby boomers aren’t going to change their musical tastes. If you can rebuild your parish with young families, traditional music has a chance. Older generations will tolerate it under certain circumstances, but probably not exclusively. Even if they aren’t hippies, boomers like eclecticism, and informality. It’s true in how they dress, the architecture of the houses they build, and in their taste in music.

If you wish to be delivered from the wasteful and expensive tyranny of the missalette habit an excellent alternative would be the Lumen Christi Hymnal and its companion, the Lumen Christi Missal. (You may want to acquire reference copies for yourself and your new musical director.) The former consists of about 200 impeccable hymns and about 200 Office hymns translated into English with their historic Gregorian melodies. The Missal is a complete missal with all readings and propers for the three-year cycle.

The counsel here to go cautiously and provide much catechesis is sterling. However, having a plan which includes getting the hymnody that you want placed in the pews should be a part of your vision.

If you have a parish news letter or a weekly bulletin you may want to put regular articles in it about the nature and role of Vatican Two's actual vision for music and liturgy. Also, you may want to include a talent for swaying people and educating them in your new musical director - as well as competence in liturgy and organ and choral music. Regular, weekly meetings with your new MD should be a fixture of your relationship and mutual bonding.

When I was asked to lead a vernacular-Mass choir by the then pastor of the parish (I attend the TLM), one change I made quickly was the removal of the choir to the loft. The musicians were puzzled, but I had anticipated this, and went at it head on. I asked them why they came to Mass (answer: to worship God); and did it seem right to have their backs to Him the whole time they were downstairs (answer: now that you mention it, no, it doesn't make much sense). They adapted to the fact that they weren't the center of attention anymore, but wondered how they could possibly lead the psalm from upstairs. I said that they would lead musically, rather than visually, and they did.

Contrary to what Salieri advises (and many others here advise) the speed of the change isn't so much the issue as the organic-ness. He (and others) are right to advise that the parish has to know that the new director has your full faith and credit for implementing a plan of growth for the music (and the liturgy more generally).

Announce a change before you implement it (most of the time) so that people have the chance to adjust mentally. (For example, don't introduce Latin in Lent as a penitential act, because Latin and chant are every bit as joyful in the joyful seasons as they are penitential in the penitential seasons.) As the parish recovers its liturgical sanity, the squeaky wheels will see that you're not simply trying to "turn back the clock", or that you "hate Vatican 2" or any such thing, but merely trying to lead them closer to Christ.

chant the Mass yourself

I can't emphasize this enough, and consider it the cornerstone of any success I've had implementing good music at my parish - for the reasons given by hilluminar. Little of the other music really makes sense without this.

In a nutshell, it's the most concrete expression of singing the mass itself, not just having good music happen while mass is going on in the same room.

I think part the question is, what would happen if 25% of your parishioners (and donations) go off to Our Lady of Praise and Worship? Does the bishop look at these numbers, and think something is wrong, and advise you to reverse course? I really have no idea, and I see you have a new bishop there, so I suppose it is hard to know. I think it may take a while to build a new group of young families, so will there be a transition time when the positive changes seem to be taking too long to draw people?
Sometimes there are other things you could do, in addition to chanting the Mass. I see you have a lot of carpet there. What are the acoustics like? I would imagine they're all right, since it is an older structure, but are there improvements to be made there? If the previous music director was more performance-oriented, does that mean that the parishioners don't sing / chant? What happens if you chant the "Our Father", will the parish join in?

Somewhere in the mix I think you should introduce the idea that you and the entire congregation (including all the liturgical "ministers") are servants of the liturgy, not its masters.

After you have hired the parish's new DM, meet with him personally, and discuss a plan of action. DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING liturgically for six months to a year.

I'm going to suggest something slightly different. You're in an interregnum right now; presumably you have a cantor and guest organists keeping things going. Whatever you've been doing for an Ordinary setting is probably not good. NOW is the time to introduce the ICEL English Chant setting. Don't tip your hand. Explain to people that this is mandated to be included in all hymnals, so that Catholics have a mass setting in common, and summer visitors here will more easily fit in. By doing this, you're taking ownership of the situation, and it won't be blamed on the new DM. THEN hire your guy and let people get used to him before making your change.

It is almost impossible for any organist/choir director to fill the shoes of one who has been entrenched for years and years.

Monthly, or even more frequent meetings with her/him and you are absolutely necessary to give this new person a chance to become a staff member and not be looking for a new position before the year is out.

Making changes will not be a problem and if you are working hand in hand with this new person and together you both and weather the storm.

Abandoning the praise band music of neighboring parishes and making your choir a liturgical choir - and moving them out of the sight lines if that is possible - will result in gaining new members to the congregation who uproot themselves and plant them in your parish along with their financial support when word gets out.

Read The Renovation Manipulation by Michael Rose, to learn what not to do.

Words cannot adequately express my thanks and appreciation for all of the helpful comments and the food for thought that you've given me. A lot of things to reflect on. Perhaps I can "paint the picture" a little better, which might give even more insight as to where we were and where we've come.

I might be biased, but I think we have one of most beautiful churches in the city, with a few notable exceptions. Our location isn't the best, however. Madison is the capital of Wisconsin, and it's a crazy city which is hostile as a whole to the Church. Our parish is located in one of the largest homosexual neighborhoods in the city. Mind you, I have absolutely nothing against our brothers and sister who identify this way, but it's certainly not a two-way street. It's a challenge to say the least.

When I first arrived at the parish, the previous pastor had tried to "modernize" a traditional cruciform church. It had undergone many hideous "renovations" throughout its 90-year history. The original church was breathtaking, and if you can believe it, it was all ripped out within TWENTY years of its installation! It was magnificent in 1927 ... by 1947, to "celebrate" the creation of the Diocese of Madison, it was all ripped out. Truly sad. In 1967, someone thought it was a wonderful idea to move our pipe organ from its heated chambers in the choir loft to the sanctuary. The pipes were installed ... you guessed it ... ON AN OUTER WALL. When it gets really cold out, the organ begins to honk like a gaggle of disoriented geese. It's virtually unusable for weeks. I have no idea what the wisdom was in doing that, but it was very poorly thought out. Shocking!!

When I arrived, the choir was directly behind the altar - completely visible. So was the music director, who thrived on being visible. That was a big enabler in the performance attitude that our musicians suffer from. Not to mention that no one could really pray with all the craziness going on behind them! That renovation took place in 1995, and I got there in 2013, so almost 20 years of that. I did what someone mentioned above - we did a restoration project based on what the parish could afford to try and restore some of its beauty. We were doing another campaign for our seminarian endowment, so we simply rolled this in, and to be honest, I was shocked at the response. We received all the money we needed to do the project. We built a reredos and new side altars for our Lady and St. Joseph. New statues of them. New angels and candles for the reredos. New statue of the baptism of Christ by St. John the Baptist. One of our parishioners made a beautiful niche which houses St. John Vianney and St. Bernard, with their first class relics beneath it.

When I first rolled this whole thing out, I was very democratic - I allowed the people to see what my vision was, and I did my best to encourage it. I responded to every single person who had a question, comment or gripe. Our tabernacle was one of those that was off on the side, and it was covered in these hideous green and opaque white gems - looked like it belonged in Star Trek! The tabernacle regained its place of prominence in the center of the sanctuary, housed in the reredos and completely refinished with a beautiful lamb holding the banner of victory. New carpet, new wood sanctuary, new lighting and sound upgrades. For our little place, I couldn't have been more pleased with the results.

Not all were happy, however. Many screamed and yelled about what I was intending to do. I get it - not everyone will be happy, and I'm way beyond the "trying to please everyone" stage. But I also know that I can't have everyone angry, either. The biggest adjustment came for the choir. We looked at a lot of different options, including a return to the choir loft. Because the loft wasn't up to code, it would have taken $6,000,000 to make it work, and that just wan't realistic for us. The only real solution was to keep them where they were - behind the altar, and now, behind the reredos.

They went from being completely visible to being completely out of sight. We installed a camera system and a large screen TV so they could easily see what was happening in the sanctuary. The faithful always complained that they could never understand what the choir was singing. We installed new state-of-the-art microphones which picks them up very well now and the people can easily understand what they're singing. They also have their very own set of speakers, and they can hear everything at Mass with great clarity.

I didn't just slap this on them. I tried to spend time with them and to catechize them at that time on the meaning of sacred music and the role of the choir. I told them that when I sang in the seminary for big Masses, I didn't see anything! They kept griping that they're not really participating at Mass if they're watching it on a screen. I told them the story about how I would see very little or nothing at all when I was directing the choir or singing myself, but I never felt like I wasn't a part of what was happening. That was a dig that I was taking their limelight away more than anything else.

To my amazement, only a few people quit. The majority continued on - not very happy with me, but also not willing to relinquish their opportunity to perform, even if they weren't visible. That will take a very long time to get over ... beyond the time I'll be there, that's for sure.

I found it very interesting that the other priest who commented suggested the possibility of a non-Catholic as a musician. I've actually got an inquiry from a now Episcopal (former Catholic) seminarian who is a very accomplished musician. I didn't really give it much consideration at first, but perhaps I should allow him to apply and we can evaluate his musical skills. How prevalent are non-Catholic musicians in Catholic music ministry? Maybe it's more widespread than I know.

I didn't receive the best training with regard to sacred music in the seminary. I went to Mundelein, and we're pretty much singing the same stuff now that I did back in the seminary. I'm not foreign to music - I can sing, and as Fr. mentioned above - I do sing quite a few parts of the Mass. Mundelein taught us progressive solemnity - that you should never place a Sunday in Ordinary Time and a solemnity like Easter on the same playing field. All of the parishes I've been in have followed this continuum, and that's what I have done. I'm beginning to realize, however, that my liturgical catechesis was poor and not well-formed. I've heard of some of the musical sources that you've mentioned in this thread, but I've never actually used them, nor have the parishes I've been in previously. It's not that I don't want to, it's that I'm not sure, and those who have supported me in music haven't used them either.

CanticaNova.com for music selections

Father, from your description of your present situation it sounds like you’ve already come a long way and it looks like you’re doing all the right things. As for your way forward, I’d like suggest three things.

1) When casting a wide net to find that perfect DM, consider posting to other nearby dioceses’ job boards. Since you’re in Madison, I’d at least post on the job board for the nearby Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which as larger diocese probably has a fair number of qualified prospective DM’s. It also might not hurt to try the Archdioceses of Chicago and St. Paul-Minneapolis (as a current resident of the latter, I know it’s fairly common for Madison parishes to post up here). While hiring a like-minded and qualified non-Catholic is certainly an option, I’d try to exhaust your Catholic ones first.

2) It sounds like your music program might be ready to move on from Word and Song. Though you certainly know your parish’s budget better than me, I’d seriously encourage a hard bound hymnal, which both gives your congregation a sense of permanence in their music and will save your parish tons of money in the long run (as well as paper). Since your parish comes from more of St. Louis Jesuits background, a good option might be Worship 4th ed. by GIA. It’s not a perfect hymnal but it’s a significant improvement from W&S and it seems like you’re willing to play the long game with your music program (many traditional revival parishes in my area have made good use of W4). If your congregants like to have pew readings, W4 has a pew reading edition (with your favorite Gelineau psalms) or you could supplement it with GIA’s Sunday’s Word for $2/copy/year. If you’re worried about blowing your parish’s budget on this in the short term, GIA has fairly generous financing options that will still pay off in the long run. Again, keep playing the long game, but it looks like you might be ready to take next step.

3) Many priests on the more traditional half of the spectrum over the past few decades have tried to reintroduce Latin and/or chant during Advent and Lent. While well intended, I think this is a mistake, because in the eyes of the Sunday mass-goer it ties these beautiful aspects of the Church’s liturgical tradition to austerity and penance (because that is often how parishes frame these seasons). This has the additional problem of, in the eyes of your typical Sunday mass goer, bringing together two things that baby-boomer and liberal Catholics have long associated (usually negatively) with the old pre-VII days, though not necessarily together. IMHO a better idea is using the ICEL missal chants or Missa Jubilate Deo during at least part of Ordinary time or even during Christmas or Easter (if you’re really bold). The more people associate Latin and chant with beauty and sublimity, and not (rightly or wrongly) with the old days of “pray, pay, and obey,” the better.

Just some things to think about as you discern the next steps for your parish. Godspeed and let us know how everything turns out!

Father,

Don't feel the need to rush in new music. Merely having less music (at first) and more chanted dialogue will prepare the ground for new seedlings. In fact, I think you can make the case persuasively for a new approach to music in Catholic worship if you merely sing the dialogues (and anticipate that the congregation will do its part).

May I suggest also ( since I haven't seen the suggestion in the plethora of things already said) that you invite someone like (or perhaps, such as) Mary Ann Carr-Wilson to conduct a workshop on chant?

There's a helpful book about conflicts within churches called "When Sheep Attack" which you might read as a preventative measure. It's about how small cliques of disgruntled people can foment conflict in order to get their way (and even get staff or clergy removed). You may find it helpful to have your new DM read it too.

Of course you're welcome to announce the job opening here too! We'll keep it visible on the main forum page for about a week.

I'm referring to the volume by Dennis Maynard.

Gonna be contrary about the moving slow thing, which just sounds like being sneaky. Rather, let me offer a different model: how the new (and improved imo) English translation was implemented. One day the pastor announced point blank that the translation was changing. This would happen in six months and in the time between the pastors and priests would be explaining the changes and why it was being done. They handed out literature, and side-by-side translations with the changes highlighted. Six months rolls around, the new translation was used without a hitch.

Yes, a choir and a music program is a little more complicated, but the principal is the same: Tell everyone that change is a coming. Give them a change date set in a reasonable future. Use the time between to prepare and educate both yourself and the parishoners. When the big day comes, no excuses. Git 'r done.

Just a comment: do not be afraid to "make" people leave the parish to get what they want at those nearby parishes you mentioned. Provided you have done all you can to educate and prepare parishioners for changes in music, this is not a bad thing.

I would like to tell you about the parish I worked for, as organist and assistant music director, for 2 years. When I arrived in summer 2014, the pastor had been there for about a year and had brought in the new music director soon after. He made a number of changes rather quickly - including dis-allowing non-traditional hymns, using propers and some Latin, and dis-allowing girl altar servers. Needless to say, the parish shrunk quite a bit in numbers. This parish is in the KC area where there are plenty of other parishes to choose from, and many left to go to those parishes.

Not too long after I arrived, Father started a Sunday traditional Mass in the evening, and I directed the choir for that. Meanwhile, the main morning Mass became more and more like a "High Mass," eventually doing the whole ordinary (minus the Creed) in Latin, Entrance and Communion antiphons and psalms done in English chant from the Lumen Christi Hymnal/Gradual. He made the Christmas and Easter midnight Masses traditional Latin Masses (!).

I am telling you this because I want to let you know, 6-7 years after this priest began making major changes causing many parishioners to leave, what the situation is there.

Even while I was still there in 2016, while many had left, others slowly began arriving - mostly (but not exclusively) young people/families. Having the weekly Sunday Latin Mass attracted more of the same, and two of the weekday Masses also being the TLM exposed others to see its beauty and value. Shortly before I left, Father began a big renovation of the church. He redid the whole sanctuary area, putting in a baldachino over the tabernacle, a communion rail, and artwork covering nearly the whole front of the church. Took out carpeting and put in beautiful tile...redid/refinished the very old pews, etc.

After he got rid of altar girls, for a while there were only 1 or 2 regular boy servers. Even by the time I left, there were only 3 or 4. However, it has exploded in the past 3 years, with all the young families, and between the very "traditionally-celebrated" Novus Ordo morning Mass and the evening Latin Mass, there are 15-20 boys now serving - many of them, I might add, only becoming interested once they discovered the Latin Mass.

The morning Mass is almost entirely sung, except for the 1st and 2nd readings and the Roman Canon (Father never does any other "eucharistic prayer"). The parish choir now knows Latin chant Masses I, VIII, IX, XI, and parts of XVI and XVIII from the Gradual, and now always sings the Creed in Latin chant. They only sing traditional hymns and polyphonic/similar music. There are almost as many people, attending the 5pm Latin Mass as 11am Ordinary Form; and that does not take into account the fact that many people at the 11am Mass would have no problem with a traditional Mass but prefer a Mass earlier in the day. Oh, and Father began celebrating all Masses ad orientem 3 years ago.

Anyway, my whole point is, again, do not be afraid of people leaving the parish just because you make a major change that is the right thing to do. To my mind, throwing out bad music is non-negotiable and should be done as soon as possible. Others have given some good practical advice, but I just wanted to emphasize that if more priests would just do the right thing and not be fazed by what seems to be negative results - i.e. if they just had some patience - they would see results similar to my parish. God will abundantly bless those who give first importance to beautiful worship! All else will fail - or at best, struggle to be effective - without the Liturgy/worship of God given its rightful attention.

Father, my brother is actually very near you in Milwaukee, and is starting at Holy Hill now, My friend Christopher Berry is also there. Either would be good people to bounce ideas off, or have on a prospective committee to hire a musician at one point. Just PM me if you'd like their contact info.