As we begin the episode today, we want to let you know about something exciting that we’re working on. I’ve been thinking about what we want to do in the last week of 2019, the last week of the decade.
Instead of releasing a new episode on December 30, we want to hear from you, our listeners. What was your favorite Podcast episode of 2019? Email me at ministrymonday@npm.org and let us know. The Podcast episode with the most votes will be released as the “Best of” episode for 2020.
The deadline to submit your vote is Monday, December 23. Simply email ministrymonday@npm.org and let us know what was your favorite episode of the year!
And now, back to the episode today.
If you are “in the trenches” in music ministry, you know that this week can be, in some ways, tougher than Christmas week itself. It’s the last week before Christmas, and you might be making last minute binders for your trumpet players….as you get an email from your chorister that says they have the flu, and won’t be making the last choir rehearsal before Christmas. At the same time, you must prepare music of your own! One year I sat down to play the 4 pm Mass on Christmas Eve and as I began to play the prelude, I realized that I never prepared a binder of music for myself.
Not only do we need to prepare binders, but we need to prepare multiple prelude and postlude selections….while still wrapping gifts and preparing for the non-liturgical part of the holiday itself.
How do we stay afloat? What can we do in a jam-packed week such as this?
For our 3rd week in Advent we wanted to bring you an article from J.W. Pepper that really resonated with our themes of self-care for us pastoral musicians. Chris Titko, the author of this blog entry, is the Church Editor for J.W. Pepper. Prior to working at J.W. Pepper, Chris spent 35 years serving various churches across the US. He has a degree in sacred music from Westminster Choir College and a degree in choral conducting from Indiana University Bloomington, with further graduate studies at the University of Oklahoma. He also serves as the organist at First Presbyterian Church in Ambler, Pennsylvania.
The second half of today’s episode features two brief interviews from our Ministry Monday archives.
First, Matt Maus shares with us how he finds the energy for the endurance of Christmas…with the endurance found in exercise and physical self-care. And lastly, the final interview is short and sweet but full of the spirit: Anna Betancourt shares how she stays focused on all the right things during Advent, bringing into focus the spiritual things we all need as we prepare for Christ’s birth.
Matt Maus
SHOW NOTES
The article, “Holiday Self-Care for Church Musicians,” can be found on J.W. Pepper’s website by clicking here.
More information about our speakers today can be found by clicking on their names:
The songs used today can be found here:
Anna Betancourt
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (Oregon Catholic Press)
“Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” (GIA Publications)
“Creator of the Stars of Night (arr. Kenneth Lowenberg)” (GIA Publications)
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