We have officially entered into the new church year, and with that, the beginning of the Advent season. Advent is, of course, a time of longing and expectation for the birth of our Lord, and yet it can be some of the challenging days of our year. From extra rehearsals to cold and flu season to preparing binders of music for Christmas musicians, Advent can be a very busy time for pastoral musicians.  

At Ministry Monday, we know how you feel. That is why we are beginning the Advent season with one of the highest-rated “Key Changes” from this year’s NPM National Convention. What is a “Key Change”? A “Key Change” was a breakout option at the convention that was meant to refresh its attendees on a topic they may already know about, in a smaller time frame than a traditional breakout session.

The Catholic Church has a history of music that brings people closer to Christ. It’s what we hope to do. Stylistically, this music has changed over the last several hundred years, but especially since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960’s.

Similar to the revolutionary wave of folk-style music that pioneered the post-Vatican II musical culture, the Catholic Church has seen an evolution of a new genre of music, typically named “praise and worship music” or “contemporary music”. This music includes a wide array of instrumentation, from guitar and piano to percussion and a troupe of backup singers.

The contemporary music genre has received a lot of support and a lot of reservation from pastoral musicians in the Church. While some see this modern style of music to be a strong source of evangelization for the Church- especially with younger generations- some see it as a style too similar to pop music for use in the sacred liturgy.

And yet Pope Francis has been quoted as saying: "Gregorian chant, polyphony, popular and contemporary music resonate in the liturgy, bringing the past and present generation together in praising God."

How do we find common ground in the age-old “style wars”? What can we learn from more modern music in our ministry today?

When we think of pastoral music composers, we think of David Haas. Marty Haugen. Dan Schutte. Tony Alonso. Jesse Manibusan. Ed Bolduc. Steve Angrisano. The list of well-known composers goes on and on. They are names that we see on our choral octavos, or on the composer’s credits of our hymns each week. In a way, we create this cultural divide between those who compose and those who take their songs into the churches for ministry. I’ve heard people say, “I can’t do what these ‘big name’ composers do.” And yet they arrange choral works for their choir, or write their own psalm setting to match the musical needs of their parish.

Some of us might feel a tugging on our hearts to compose, writing down a scripture verse or little segment of a melody that we keep thinking about. But how do we act upon that call? Even more, what if we don’t see ourselves as composers, and stop ourselves before we even put pen to paper?

As a pastoral musician, composing sacred music may seem daunting. Today David Kauffman and I discuss how to honor that call from the Spirit, and how any pastoral musician can grow such gifts.