This episode of Ministry Monday is sponsored by ONE LICENSE. Did you know that ONE LICENSE offers comprehensive options for posting your worship services online during COVID-19 and has brand new blog resources on virtual choirs, practice-tracks, and updating your backdated reporting? For more information, and to view their blog, visit news.onelicense.net. ONE LICENSE — inspiring congregational song!
Advent is never an easy time for those in ministry. We are used to the increased demands of time, talent, and commitment to our prayer and faith towards Jesus’s birth. But each year we depend upon a paradigm from the year before. We know that the hymn at communion wasn’t long enough last year, so we add another song. We know that 3-part pieces are better for the choir, as our tenors tend to go out of town come Christmastime. We build upon the experiences of past years, but in essence, we know what to expect.
What do we do if that paradigm, those years of experience are gone? What can we expect in a year like this? How do we plan? What do we do?
That is the framework of our conversation today.
Today I chat with Holly Mohr, Director of Religious Education for the South Side/Mount Washington Parish Community in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Holly oversees a multi-faceted, inclusive religious education program which includes a vibrant Young Adult Ministry, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program, small discipleship groups as well as an inspiring RCIA program each year to bring the newly faith-filled candidates into the Church. I’ll admit that I know Holly fairly well. We’ve worked together for several years now. The reason I asked to speak with her today on the podcast is because Holly has the beautiful gift of seeing the sacred in the chaos which, in all honesty, I do not possess at times. That lens of celebrating the sacred among us is so incredibly valuable in a year like this when we, the faithful and our role as pastoral musicians, are compromised, questioned and lost. If you’re feeling even a bit of uncertainty in your ministry or just in life this Advent season, this episode is for you.
SHOW NOTES
Bio- Holly Mohr
Holly Mohr serves as Director of Religious Education for the Prince of Peace/Saint Mary of the Mount Parish Communities in Pittsburgh, PA. She finds inspiration in Montessori pedagogy, peace and justice movements, reading and yoga.
Here are Holly’s book recommendations mentioned in today’s episode:
To Dance with God - Gertrud Mueller Nelson (Paulist Press)
The Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living for Real Life - Kendra Tierney (Ignatius Press)
For more about Kendra Tierney, mentioned in today’s episode, visit her website at CatholicAllYear.com.
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