This month’s episode of Music and the Church features a conversation with Dr. J. J. Wright. J. J. directs the University of Notre Dame Folk Choir, one of America’s most influential Catholic music ensembles. He is a Grammy Award winning jazz musician, composer of O Emmanuel, an album which debuted at the top of the …
An Interview with J. J. Wright, Director of the University of Notre Dame Folk Choir Read More »
Do you wish you prayed every morning? Or most mornings? Or at least, some mornings? For a long time, I didn’t pray in the morning. But then I realized I could sing prayers and everything clicked!
Catholics can sing! Here’s how one music director leads congregational singing at Mass in bilingual and multi-ethnic parishes.
Church services can be incredibly distracting places, especially for leaders—you’re in the choir, you’re reading the scriptures, you’re leading prayers, you’re preaching the sermon. What does it mean for us participate with our hearts—not just our lips!—when we’re busy with mundane things like adjusting a microphone or remembering a last minute announcement?
What is virtuosity? It isn’t just about the sound itself, but who makes the sound and how they make it. Today’s episode is the third in our series on virtuosity. In the last two episodes, Joshua Busman and I both considered whether virtuosity is or isn’t acceptable—and why—in evangelical worship music and in fundamentalist Christianity. …
Interview: We discuss the musical training of ministerial students with Harrison Russin, Lecturer in Liturgical Music and Dean’s Fellow at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (Yonkers, NY). He also shares his experience directing a choir in non-metrical chants; surveys the (many!) kinds of Orthodox music heard in churches across the U.S.; and explains why some Orthodox churches …
This post is part of a series on the National Congregations Study, a sociological study of religious congregations in America. Check out my summary of the study’s main findings and specifics on worship services, the growing informality of worship services, and what the study tells us about the power of small groups and choirs. Who knew …
Drums Are Not That Common And 6 Other Surprises from the National Congregations Study Read More »
This post is part of a series on the National Congregations Study, a sociological study of religious congregations in America. Check out my summary of the study’s main findings and specifics on worship services, the surprises and highlights of the study, and what it tells us about the power of small groups and choirs. The recent report …
National Congregations Study: Worship Is Increasingly Informal Read More »
This post is part of a series on the National Congregations Study, a sociological study of religious congregations in America. Check out my summary of the study’s main findings, the growing informality of worship services, the surprises and highlights of the study, and what it tells us about the power of small groups and choirs. Want …
National Congregations Study: How Does Your Worship Service Compare? Read More »