RandomHouze Productions

I’m excited to announce my new article in the latest Oregon Catholic Press Today’s Liturgy Nov ’11-Feb ’12.

Click here to find the article in it’s entirety, with pictures and links of additional resources.  click here

The following was posted in a parish bulletin last week.  This is a good article for catechesis so I thought it might be worth sharing to everyone:

The cantor leads and sustains the singing of the assembly. The cantor may also sing solos or alternate with everyone else. Whether your church is blessed with a choir or prays without one, the cantor helps integrate the service.

The cantor is also one of the ministers assigned to parts of the Mass. When the priest, deacon, cantor, servers, assembly and others accept their respective roles, we all celebrate Mass with more understanding. The cantor may lead the psalm at the ambo, assuming the same position as the reader of Scripture. The cantor may read or sing the petitions of the penitential rite and of the general intercessions. The cantor may lead other music such as the Alleluia, the Lamb of God and the Communion song. Thus the cantor adds a degree of solemnity to the Eucharist. A cantor will also provide encouragement and example for others to join in singing.

A well-trained cantor blesses the community. Cantors should possess enough musical ability to execute their ministry, but they need something more. They need to be men and women with religious understanding, who can not only sing a text accurately but also share their faithful soul and inspire the prayer of others. A good cantor will invite participation in song and spirit.

Some people prefer not to sing when they hear the cantor. In our culture, we expect that someone singing into a microphone is a soloist, so we may forget that all of us are “performers” at church. When the cantor leads our song, we should sing, not listen.

Since the cantor sings praise, prayer, petition and sorrow, the ministry demands someone experienced with life. Cantors who share their struggles and joys in song will help us meet ours.

©1997 Resource Publications, Inc., 160 E. Virginia St. #290, San Jose, CA 95112,(408) 286-8505, Paul Turner, pastor of St. Munchin Parish in Cameron, Mo.

(courtesy of my favorite Christian Media guru Phil Cooke)

1) Return every call and e-mail quickly. Show up on time, even if you’re the only one there. Dress like you deserve your salary. Believe me, that will put you ahead of a surprising number of people.

2) Write thank-you notes. Remember birthdays. Remember the assistants, and the secretaries, the coordinators, and the mailroom folks. This is a people business. And people never forget how they are treated.

3) Every day, you are placing a brick in the tower of your reputation. Remember, everything you do, big and small, either adds or subtracts from your reputation.

4) Watch what you say in elevators, in restrooms, on airplanes and in casual conversation. She could be the client’s wife. He could be the boss’s brother. She could be your competitor’s accountant.

5) Don’t care who solves it. Just get it solved.

6) Learn how to tell a story: Every client presentation, every report, every commercial-it’s all about stories. Stories are how human beings make sense of the world. If you want to succeed in this business, be able to tell stories in ways that capture your audience’s attention.

7) When emotions are running high, make sure yours are running low. Life is unfair, so learn to lose with dignity. And, learn to win with dignity. That means no excuses. No crybabies. No bragging. No trashing. Learn how to move on.

Proofread. Spell-check.

9) Good enough, isn’t. There is going to be someone out there who will sleep less and work harder, will give up their weekend, and give it one more shot. That is the person that I bet on to win.

10) Think different. Be brave. The world is full of people with conventional ideas who go along with the crowd. It’s the mavericks and the dreamers who move things forward. When you hear an idea that makes you nervous, makes you sweat, occasionally gather your courage, take a stand, take a risk, suck it up and go out on a limb. Hey, you might even be right.

Training Local Church Musicians, by Mark Hayes

“…It’s a different world out there in church music ministries these days. Worship wars threaten to fracture congregations. It would seem that there is a schism between traditionalists and worshipers who want solely praise and worship music. Where do our seminaries and colleges fit into this dilemma? How do we train future music pastors to be relevant when seminaries and music conservatories appear to be stuck in a time warp? Mark offers practical advice to educators on how and what to teach students so they can be relevant and potent leaders in the ever-evolving church music scene…”