The Catholic Church has a history of music that brings people closer to Christ. It’s what we hope to do. Stylistically, this music has changed over the last several hundred years, but especially since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960’s.
Similar to the revolutionary wave of folk-style music that pioneered the post-Vatican II musical culture, the Catholic Church has seen an evolution of a new genre of music, typically named “praise and worship music” or “contemporary music”. This music includes a wide array of instrumentation, from guitar and piano to percussion and a troupe of backup singers.
The contemporary music genre has received a lot of support and a lot of reservation from pastoral musicians in the Church. While some see this modern style of music to be a strong source of evangelization for the Church- especially with younger generations- some see it as a style too similar to pop music for use in the sacred liturgy.
And yet Pope Francis has been quoted as saying: "Gregorian chant, polyphony, popular and contemporary music resonate in the liturgy, bringing the past and present generation together in praising God."
How do we find common ground in the age-old “style wars”? What can we learn from more modern music in our ministry today?
Today I talk to the minds behind WorshipNOW Publishing, a new publishing company that created the WorshipNOW hymnal. If you haven’t heard of WorshipNOW, you will very soon. In many ways, their hymnal is revolutionary- as is their perspective on contemporary music in the Church today.
Whether you use contemporary music or not in your music ministry, take a listen to today’s episode. Today I speak to Gabriel Wanous and Chris Nolin, two of the minds behind WorshipNOW. We discuss what is the WorshipNOW hymnal, along with the mission and motive behind modern music today.
SHOW NOTES
Directions to find the “Formation Going Forth” for the week:
Log in on the right hand portion of the screen, and select the link, “FROM THE CONVENTION”.
Choose “Convention Breakouts”, and “Prayer Services”.
Select the “Night of Worship and Healing” there from this year’s NPM National Convention in Raleigh.
Gabriel Wanous, Founder and CEO
Gabriel holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration/Technology and has been leading liturgical music in the Catholic Church for over 20 years. In 2013, after a long discernment of God’s will, Gabriel and his wife decided to leave his secular career of 13 years to take a full-time job in music ministry and live a life completely surrendered to Christ. Due to the lack of Catholic resources for new music, Gabriel began creating custom arrangements for his music ministry team and worship aids for his congregation including publishing the very first WorshipNOW Hymnal. In 2017, at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Gabriel founded WorshipNOW Publishing, a new Catholic publishing company with a mission to evangelize and help other parishes integrate modern worship music into their liturgies with an inspiring, engaging, and balanced approach. Gabriel and his wife, Katie, currently reside in Panama City Beach, Florida with their four children.
Chris Nolin, VP of Relationship Management
Chris is a graduate of St. Michael's College in Colchester, VT with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Music. Chris brings over 20 years of experience as a Director of Music leading various styles of ensembles from traditional, contemporary and Spanish along with over 15 years of corporate Sales & Marketing experience to his role as VP of Sales & Resource Development at WorshipNOW Publishing. He is currently serving as the Director of Music at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe, TX and is in pursuit of a Masters in Sacred Music at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX where he is anticipated to graduate in December of 2019. Chris and his wife, Nancie, currently reside in Conroe, Texas with their four children.
For more information about WorshipNOW, check out www.worshipnowpublishing.com. You can also find WorshipNOW on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Visit NPM's digital resource library, referenced at the end of the episode.
All content of this podcast is property of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians or its content suppliers and is protected by United States and international copyright laws. For information about the podcast and its use, please contact us.