Church Music Ministers and God's Word

As a Cathedral Cantor ministering in a particular denomination, but often asked to sing for other church denominations, I found that doctrinal and arrangement peculiarities in church lectionaries, psalm books and hymnbooks reflect differing doctrinal agendas, and may contain editorial revisions and errors. Lectionaries are books that provide clerically selected, themed scripture readings, sometimes with recommended music, for the days of the church year. The hymns and psalms sung during church worship enrich the scriptural theme of the day by echoing or reflecting on the scriptural texts. Lectionary readings are always selective, and denominations often promote their doctrines by omitting particular Biblical texts from their lectionaries, that appear to challenge or contradict their views. It is well known that particular church denominations favour particular Biblical translations. Church musicians attached to, and educated in the traditions of particular church denominations, are required to use their particular denomination's authorised Lectionary, and a denomination approved Biblical translation, in their church's sung worship. When doctrinal or liturgical schisms arise, or are created, by dissenting factions within church denominations, this presents a huge difficulty for ecumenical church musicians who favour church unity and wish to promote it. Unwitting use of a censored Biblical text or the "wrong" Biblical translation in church music may provoke a self righteous storm of objections from indignant clergy and parishioners. However contemporary church musicians may be less attached to denominational churches and agendas, less knowledgeable about lectionaries, more eager to use contemporary ecumenical church music, and less insistent on maintaining compositional, technical, liturgical, theological and performance excellence and integrity in church music.

Editing of church music texts to reflect particular doctrines (or absence of doctrine) is not uncommon in today's churches. One day, as a Cantor, I was instructed to sing a contemporary hymn translation that scrambled the meaning of the original text, placed the rhythmic word accents wrongly in the melody, and reversed the doctrine the hymn writer intended to communicate. I researched the origins of the hymn, compared all its variants, re-translated the hymn accurately, with proper scanning that matched the rhythm and melody of the music, and informed the minister that I would sing my version, which I did. Yes, I took a risk, and the research took time and effort, but in my view it was important, and luckily, the minister agreed with me. Reviewing and correcting error-ridden church music texts is traditionally part of a properly trained Cantor's role.

Yet many church musicians today think it doesn't matter what words they sing or play, as long as the music attracts a congregation who pay their dues. Others think it's fine to chop a meaningful verse or two out of a psalm, hymn, or a Bible passage, to meet time constraints or avoid uncomfortable verses. Some clergy see no harm in depriving a church diocese of an accustomed lectionary, requiring parishes to decide between several conflicting lectionaries, or allotting conflicting lectionaries to different service times or styles geared to different age groups. Upset, divided congregations are left wondering why their worship has been disrupted. Depriving a church congregation of its accustomed texts, hymns and lectionary, or concatenating texts and lectionaries so services are unrelated or difficult to follow, is like depriving a people of its language: it is unnecessarily disruptive cultural abuse.

Do the other great faiths mess around with their sacred texts and ritual schemas? No way! The traditional readings and music of Jewish Passover, Muslim Ramadan and the Birthday of Buddha are never altered. Different doctrinal groups may make different scriptural translations, as the various churches have done, but the traditional religious texts of these faiths are firmly adhered to by international and regional religious leaders, and mischievous meddling is banned. Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist traditional texts and music can be memorised validly from childhood, and quoted in discussions. A faith whose adherents' have memorised its integral, authentic teachings and rites is bound to be stronger than a faith that is ignorant and careless of its texts, doctrines and rituals.

Among the religions, only contemporary Christian Churches now willingly engage in wholesale textual mangling of their scriptures, hymn texts and lectionaries. This is largely because a great many church texts and music repertoires were deliberately disconnected from their ancient roots, and reduced to the level of a saleable commodity by church authorities. Is this is unconscious or conscious self-sabotage? The value of Christian sacred texts is often unrecognised or disregarded, seldom memorised, and seldom quoted, and many church members have become totally unfamiliar with their heritage of sacred music. Many Church congregations objected to this destruction, but, in Australia at least, they were ignored and told they must accept inevitable changes. In my generation an avalanche of competing church texts and lectionaries roared down upon church congregations and well-nigh buried them in textual confusion. Deregulated by the leaders of English-speaking and European descent churches, church music and liturgical texts became a market competition free-for all. Clergy deprived of a known music repertoire and secure liturgical frameworks resorted to the liturgically simplified, cheap "hymn sandwich" marketed by licensing bodies, in desperation. Fed a diet of over-simplified translations, and deprived of their inherited treasury of memorised scripture, psalm and hymn texts, many church members rejected the ancient scriptures and their complex meanings. We still teach that Jesus Christ is the Word of God, but we have crucified God's Word, yet again.

There is no logical reason why Christians should put up with this iconoclasm of Christian texts, music and liturgies. We are, like those of other faiths, still a People of the Book. Although the damage has been huge, some Christians are making a massive effort to salvage traditional church texts and music. I believe that all Church musicians have an important role to play in salvaging Church music texts, rediscovering their doctrinal and musical origins, and restoring them to their former glory as public religious music accessible to all Christian people.

RSCM Hymnfest at St Andrews Cathedral Sydney

On Sunday 15th June 2014 I attended an enjoyable RSCM Hymnfest at St Andrews Cathedral, Sydney (Australia), hosted by organist and music director Ross Cobb, and accompanied by Peter Jewkes on the pipe organ, together with a brilliant brass consort. I was surprised by the overwhelmingly large attendance of men, since Church music gatherings usually attract a preponderance of women. However I shared praising God in womanly song with three great companions, all fine Church musicians: Sister Marie Levy (renowned Church music scholar and foundress of the Sydney Gregorian Schola, now retired), Godelieve Ghavalas, organist and music director of St Patrick's Church Hill, Sydney, and Robin Ruys, organist and music director of Hunters Hill Anglican Church. Ross Cobb rehearsed a selection of traditional and contemporary hymns with us, then presided at the following hymn-laden Evening Service, and was recorded. Can't wait to hear the recording, Ross!

Saturday 19th October 2013 Ballarat Anglican Diocesan Synod approves ordination of women priests

Vespers . . . the Evening Prayer of the Church

Vespers, otherwise known as Evening Prayer, is prayer throughout the world in many Churches. It is one small section of the immense Christian Church prayer system known as the Liturgy of the Hours or the Divine Office. Scratch a Christian prayer and you'll find that it originates or has an echo somewhere in this ancient system. Vespers has a very large Christian musical repertoire, that is greatly underrated, and deserves greater exposure and use in Churches and Christian homes.

Some years ago I made a Powerpoint Presentation on Vespers to explain how it is used today in many forms and in most Churches. Of course this is only an introduction - Benedictine sites in particular contain much more detailed information about how Vespers and the other six prayer offices are planned and performed.

Here's the Vespers Presentation link to copy and paste into your URL -

http://www.slideshare.net/elizabethsheppardstb/the-divine-office-evening-prayer-vespers

If you find my presentation useful, please use it, with acknowledgement.

Village Choirmasters & Cyberchurch Technomusos

In surveying the full spectrum of Church music literature and repertoires, I'm increasingly struck by the glaring disjunct between nostalgic attachment to the comfortable, nostalgic village choir model, versus adventurous pursuit of state of the art Church technomusicianship. Church music leaders seem drawn either to past traditions of various kinds, or alernatively to forward-looking Church music sounds and genres. Contrary to expectations, young musicians are not exclusively drawn to technologized music, and many. techno-obsessed Church musos are well on in years. But the most effective Church music leaders are always those who are prepared to move out of their musical "pleasure and comfort" zone just a little, and strike a compromise between these two extremes.

Consider Johann Sebastian Bach, a solid family man, the most staid of village Kapellmeisters, well versed in traditional hymnody and counterpoint. Yet he was so fascinated by the new hammerklavier and its well tempered tuning, that he composed the series of studies in all keys, still used as the basis of building keyboard technique today. Genius, it seems, is open to new ideas and methods, especially when they can be used to shape old musical forms in new ways relevant to the time.

Benedictine Church Music . . . a brief overview

As part of my Church History studies for the BTh, I bravely tackled the ginormous subject of Medieval Chant Reform.

I managed to produce a general summary, and received a generous assessment . . . but in retrospect I think it may contain some bloopers.

Readers, please let me know of any errors. Here's the link to my essay, on the Scribd publishing site:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/25040634/Medieval-Chant-Reform-and-Benedictine-Monasticism

The Growth of women's Church Cantor Ministry in Australia

In 1967, when I first started singing as an Anglican chorister at St Peter's Cathedral in Adelaide, the Church Cantor tradition had pretty well died out. Clergy canted with varying quality, choristers sang, and soloists within the choir were just singers. The Decani and Cantoris seats still adorned Anglican Cathedral Churches, but the origin of the Cantoris seat had been largely forgotten. At that time the title of Cantor was reserved for Jewish male synagogue Cantors. Then Jewish women took up the liturgical Cantor baton, and, following the role model of Miriam, revived the art of the Jewish woman Cantor. Their lead was invaluable.

I had been singing in Church choirs all my life, but in 1996 I was called to formal Church Cantor ministry after my parish Church burned down. I looked for contemporary female role models to follow, but I found that no liturgical singers in parishes were familiar with the ancient female Church Cantor tradition still practised in some convents and abbeys. I had learnt about Gregorian chant and polyphonic Church music with Dr. David Swale of Adelaide University, and I was fortunate to find excellent mentors in the Royal School of Church Music and the UK Guild of Church Musicians, who helped me to shape and develop my female Cathedral Cantor ministry. My models were gleaned from historical female Church Cantor traditions, the Australian Conservatorium system and experienced Church musicians supplied my musical training, and a six year theological degree filled me in on the ecclesial skills and understanding I needed. I waded through a varied Church music repertoire, honed my liturgical liaison skills, was surprised and bemused by petty, aggressive competition between Church music factions, took part in a program that established a fair fee structure for accredited Church Cantors, and managed to sort out the musical wheat from the chaff. I discovered that being a Cantor involves not only liturgical singing, but also substantial pastoral liaison, choir section leading, liturgical conflict resolution, keyboard accompaniment, making therapeutic music CDs and singing in hospital chapels to assist chaplains, and arranging and composing Church music and liturgies in collaboration with Church communities and music directors. Oh, and of course, sound system checking / adjustment, liturgical animation of responses and communal singing, and producing computer music scores on demand.

Twenty one years later, the art of the Church Cantor has been revived in Australia, with classes for Cantors of sll ages flourishing in many Churches. Although the quality of Cantor instruction varies, much progress has been made in reviving communal worship through music. Yet although most committed Church Cantors in Australia are female, formal clerical recognition of female Church Cantor ministry has been slow to catch up. In most mainstream Churches there is no reason why female Cantors cannot be liturgically commissioned. After completing my tertiary Cantor training ( 2 years of theory, residential schools, Church music history snd form, liturgy, assignments, viva voce examination, practical examination, and a local Practicum with portfolio) through the UK Guild of Church Musicians, I was commissioned as a professional Church Cantor by Archbishop George Carey and Cardinal Basil Hume in 1998 at Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle, and awarded the ACertCM Cantor (UK).

Female Church Cantors in Australia (and worldwide) are a brave, long-suffering and competitive breed. All the Australian women Church Cantors I have met have a genuine desire to serve and honour God rather than themselves. A few are paid, but most are volunteers, who pay for their own tuition. A favoured few, such as June Nixon and Kathlleen Boschetti, have achieved remarkable heights of Church music mjnistry in Australia. So It grieves me (and also God, I think) when ill advised, self-appointed Church music critics accuse all female Church Cantors of impious self-aggrandizement, rail against women in ministry, and declare them unwanted. Their negative criticisms are ridiculously unproductive.