Now before I introduce my guest for today I want to share a story about how today’s guest impacted and influenced me in my pastoral music journey.
Eleven years ago I was in my undergraduate studies in Pittsburgh, and we were hit by a massive snowstorm. The storm dumped over 18 inches of snow on the city and left the city paralyzed for several days. We, as college kids, enjoyed the benefits of school closures while living on campus….except unfortunately, something tragic occurred that year. A student died on campus during the snow storm.
Because the roads were so bad, music students involved in Campus Ministry were asked to lead the music for an impromptu Mass on campus, as the Campus Ministry Music Director couldn’t get to campus. (No one could.)
The Mass was scheduled for that evening, but we got to the chapel early. It turns out that the entire fraternity (of which the deceased was a member) had gathered early, not sure of what to do next. They sat in the pews, looking and surely feeling lost.
As we walked in and saw the loss and grief on all of their faces, we wordlessly grabbed a hymnal from the pews and just started to play through it. One student would quietly mouth the hymn number from the hymnal, and we would gently sing it through the microphone. Anything we could think that could possibly provide comfort, we played.
And the group of campus ministry musicians that assisted that day were various ages, backgrounds and ability levels, but honestly, it didn’t matter. We just wanted to bring our fellow students music that could maybe provide comfort during a time of such loss.
While I understand that it’s an incredibly sad story from which to begin today’s episode, I think it’s worth sharing because today’s guest taught me- and the rest of my fellow budding pastoral musicians- to truly be engaged and involved in pastoral music.
Today on the podcast I sit down with Stephen Steinbeiser.
For 33 years Steve served as Director of Music and Liturgy for Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. During his time at Duquesne, Stephen also served as the national Chair of the Campus Ministry section for NPM.
Steve’s strengths always lies in inclusion and activation. He always made sure that all campus ministry musicians were included and that their gifts would be fostered and grow. And in our case, campus ministry musicians didn’t necessarily mean music majors! Nevertheless, they all had a place at the table to minister, and Steve taught us how important that was.
Steve joins me from his home in Murrysville, Pennsylvania.
SHOW NOTES
Bio: Stephen Steinbeiser
For 33 years Stephen Steinbeiser served as Director of Music and Liturgy for Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to his many duties at Duquesne, he worked closely with the Spiritan Congregation for local, national and international retreats and events, including the 300th Anniversary of the Congregation on Pentecost Sunday, 2003, at Saint Étienne-du-Mont Church in Paris, France.
During his time at Duquesne, Stephen served as the national Chair of the Campus Ministry section for the NPM.
Stephen worked locally with the Passionist Order at St. Paul of the Cross Monastery, the Felician Sisters, the Sisters of Charity at Seton Hill and extensively with the Sisters of the Holy Spirit at the Martina Spiritual Renewal Center. In addition to helping with Pittsburgh Diocesan events, Stephen also served as the guest liturgist for the Redemptorist Congregation, preparing and directing liturgies for their 5 year-long merger process incorporating their Saint Louis, MO and Oakland, CA provinces into their new Denver province. He also served in Pittsburgh and Milwaukee as the liturgist and musician for the Religious Formation Congress.
He continues his music ministry in his home parish, Mother of Sorrows in Murrysville, PA, as well as in the Greensburg and Pittsburgh Dioceses.
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