My parish is offering a refresher series on Catholic teaching. The "lectures" are taking place in between Sunday Masses, and have touched on Devotions, The Catholic Bible, Church history, etc. I have been asked, as the Director of Music, to give a presentation on the role of music in the Mass. At first they were going to call it "why do we have to sing so much", to which I responded, "we don't." That got some interesting looks.
Anyway, the series has been drawing over 100 people a week, and I really don't care to baffle everybody with Church documents and such, though I am quite familiar with them. Background: the music program used to be much less traditional, but my changes over the past year seem to be well-received. We do the usual hymn-sandwich, per the Pastor, and I usually chant at least the Communion Antiphon, lightly accompanied on the organ. I use our grand piano sparingly, and the organ, although it's an Allen, I play it like I stole it. The choir is getting more confident, and plans are being made for a pipe organ. Brand new, large church. Decent acoustic.
I have a few ideas, including a timeline of important points in Church history, musically speaking, and some props from our musical past, but am by no means experienced in giving this sort of presentation. So I'm wondering, in a few words, what would you talk about if given this opportunity?