Last Friday I sent resumes out to two nice looking churches in the city of Providence. Both of these parishes have pipe organs augmented by Rodgers (one is all new - Rodgers with Southfield pipes, the other is a Rodgers that augmented the already-existing Kilgen; both have three-manual consoles). Both have a history of good traditional music despite RitualSong in one church and the dark green Gather Comprehensive in the other.
The parish with RitualSong and the Southfield pipes is a parish that I worked at in the mid 1980's. I left there on good terms, on the day that the pastor who hired me retired (he died five years later). Back then the organ was a two-manual Allen and the pew books were Seasonal Missalette and the 1975 People's Mass Book.
The other parish (with Gather Comprehensive and the Kilgen pipes) is a former parish of my friend and longtime mentor Reuel, who had accompanied me in a couple of concerts in my ghosthouse days. Further, it was built in the mid 1800's by Patrick Keely, who also built the cathedrals in Providence and Fall River, as well as the famed historic St. Mary's in Newport RI, the first Catholic parish in Rhode Island, where John and Jackie Kennedy were hitched.
The ideal goal would be for Reuel and me to get our old jobs back or each other's jobs back. It is with a heavy heart that I report Reuel just got sacked from his church last week. The pastor of that church just came back to Providence a month ago (he was pastor at that same parish in the 80's and 90's) and decided to bring back the former music director, who specializes in happy-clappy crappy stuff. Two years of an actually good music program gone to waste!
Please pray for both Reuel and myself.
Peace,
BMP
3 comments:
Re: Reuel getting sacked:
I sometimes ask my priest, "and what happens when you leave, or I leave, or we both leave, or this church gets closed, or whatever?"
and he responds that the people will always have the memory and the experience of good liturgy. And likely, wherever they go next or whatever happens next, they might ask, "what about this other stuff that we used to do? Can't we do some of that"
I mean, I don't explain it as well as he does, but the people WILL remember good music and liturgy, and they will remember, "there was something about that kind of music that was just...special." and of course being average Americans there will be no way they can describe it, but they won't forget it, and they might even seek it out and even ask for it!
so, I don't believe something like those two years were ever wasted.
Prayers coming.
Good luck ...........
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