#161: The Modern Needs of Music Ministry: A Conversation with Simply Liturgical Music

It goes without saying that we, as pastoral musicians, have experienced a world of change in our ministries in the last year or so. The things that we never second-guessed, such as congregational singing, the incorporation of hymnals and choirs into our liturgies, became health risks. As we hopefully look towards a re-introduction of the elements that we so cherish in ministry, many of us are re-examining how we execute these elements. Do we continue to purchase hymnals in our parish, or do we look for something else? Do we embrace the technological use that many of us depended on during the last year?

SHOW NOTES

Bio: Kelly & Carly Barth

We started this venture as a way to self-publish Kelly’s compositions. When our composer friends found out what we were doing, many of them asked us to do the same for their music. What started as “I’ll just create a quick website and put my music out there” has grown to a comprehensive catalogue of beautiful liturgical music created by composers from all over the world.  

The mission that has become Simply Liturgical Music is to reimagine the liturgical music industry through the use of digital technology. By doing so, we are connecting composers to congregations in a way that’s never been done before. 

All of us at SLM continually pray for all who endeavor to richly bless liturgical worship through the gift of music. We ask that you pray for us as well!

Sincerely, 

Kelly James & Carly Barth

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#160: The Pandemic of Racism Before the Pandemic (REPLAY)

And now today we feature a replay from the 2020 National Convention in our “Black Lives Matter” series. Today’s replay was one of four sessions at last year’s convention addressing the sin of racism head-on. While this episode is late to celebrating the social progress we’ve made in light of Juneteenth being an official federal holiday, we hope that it reminds us of the work we still have to do in our society to treat each other with kindness, true acceptance and equality.

#159: Taizé Music Series (part 3 of 3) (with Dave and Lauren Moore)

This month Ministry Monday is offering a 3-part series about Taizé music. We began the series with reflections by David Anderson, Editor-at-Large for GIA Publications and Director of Music and Liturgy at Ascension Catholic Church in Oak Park, Illinois. Last week we featured a conversation Brother John Glasenapp, a Benedictine monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey in southern Indiana, about the psychological and historical reasons as to why simple, repeated music including Taizé is so successful.

Today we widen the stage and re-frame the conversation. I spoke with Lauren and Dave Moore this week about the power behind simple refrains repeated consistently over time. You see, Lauren and Dave are the minds behind the Catholic Music Initiative, a sacred music collaboration based in the Dallas area. The Catholic Music Initiative’s goal is to compose beautiful liturgical music; to create a collaborative platform that leavens the heritage of our Faith through the formation of dedicated composers and musicians giving glory to God; and to bring the focus back to Jesus in the Eucharist with nights of Adoration, solid Catholic hymns, and education in our history and Tradition.

Today we consider the likeness between contemporary Catholic (and just Christian) music and Taizé music. How are they similar? Can we embrace the idea of simple music altogether to unify our communities, especially in a time when congregational singing is only just returning to our churches?