Music ministers should focus on building bridges and creating unity, speakers said at the National Association of Pastoral Musicians’ Western Regional Convention in Sacramento Aug. 1-4.

The principle that all are one in the body of the Lord is more important than cultural, ideological, musical or liturgical differences, they said.

“We need to resist going down the black hole of anger regarding how we translate our texts, what we will sing, or which musical styles are most appropriate for our Masses,” said liturgical composer David Haas in an opening keynote address Aug. 1.

“We still have something wonderful to sing about: God is still here, calling all of us to receive what we have been given from God as gift and give it back lavishly in service to the Lord and one another,” he added.

About 600 people, mostly church musicians but some liturgists an clergy as well, attended the convention at the Radisson Hotel. They came from California and more than 30 other states and several nations. They participated in 44 workshops, several prayer services and a eucharistic liturgy at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in downtown Sacramento, with Bishop William K. Weigand presiding.

The Sacramento convention was one of three regional events held this year by the association, which has about 9,000 members. Sacramento Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Garcia referred to the convention theme — “What You Receive, Give As Gift” — in his remarks welcoming the attendees.

“God has given us the gift of temperatures that are not 115 degrees,” he said with a smile, referring to the lengthy heat wave that blanketed the state for much of July. “You breathe in life-giving air and transform it into song. God blesses this whole community through the work you do, sharing your God-given gifts in the service of his people.”

Haas, one of the country’s most noted liturgical composers, said the “full and active participation by all the people” called for by the Second Vatican Council involves something much deeper than getting worshippers to join in singing.

“The primary focus of all liturgical and catechetical mission-based service is Jesus Christ, who never wrote a document himself but who did call us to love one another,” Haas said. “That is the common ground we should look for. Everything we do as musicians must point to Christ, must deepen our relationship with him.”

Haas lamented the tendency in some parishes to develop “red state/blue state” mentalities where, he noted, the attitude is often, “You not only cannot disagree with me, but there is something wrong with you and I have to stop you.”

“We have to stop fighting, put down our swords, truly love one another — intentionally and unconditionally — and listen to one another in love,” he said, “because these debates are tearing us apart.”

Haas urged music leaders to reject “musical snobbery of any kind”; to expand their parishes’ musical repertoire beyond “what you like”; and to learn from their assemblies and “listen to their voices,” for the liturgical celebration is not about how well a person sings or plays music. “As pastoral musicians, we must decrease and our assemblies must increase,” he said.

Composers Pedro Rubalcava and Peter Kolar led a workshop on the difficulties of building bridges and unifying parish communities that have different languages and cultures. Rubalcava and Kolar also spoke prior to the convention July 30 at a Hispanic ministry day held at Holy Rosary Parish in Woodland.

They invited their audience to reflect on terminologies used in planning celebrations — multicultural, multilingual, cross-cultural, intercultural — and to reflect on how the composition of the parish community compares with that of the parish leadership.

A true intercultural liturgical celebration is not achieved simply by using a song or reading from another language, the presenters said. They said it must begin by connecting with parishioners outside of liturgy and genuinely learning to know and appreciate the ethnic communities apart from their own.

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood,” added Msgr. Raymond G. East of Washington D.C., in the conference’s closing keynote talk Aug. 4.

He urged music ministers to reject the “my way/your way, win/lose” approach to decision-making. “Synergize,” he suggested. “It isn’t about my way or your way, it’s about our way. It’s about solving problems, celebrating the other, honoring the other.”

Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto of Orange, in a workshop following his keynote talk Aug. 2, noted that hospitality is a key to promoting genuine unity and participation by all.

“If you want good musicians and talented people of any kind to emerge, you have to create that space where they feel welcome and invited to step forward to share their gifts,” he said.

Bishop Soto added that in dealing with issues and challenges rooted in a parish’s cultural diversity, pastors must be both interested and active as part of the unity-building process. At the same time, because pastors’ assignments “are not forever,” it is imperative that parishes have structures and processes in place — such as pastoral councils — that can address such issues long term.

“Pastors, and bishops for that matter, need to invest in lay leadership,” he said. “The pastor can be a bridge, but after a while it is unfair to expect him to always be the moderator.”

Mercy Sister Suzanne Toolan addressed the music minister’s spirituality in her Aug. 3 keynote talk. The composer of one of the church’s most popular post-Vatican II hymns, “I Am the Bread of Life”, Sister Toolan, who ministers at Mercy Center in Burlingame, urged music ministers to “stay in touch” with their spiritual selves in order to best perform their ministry.

“To be a Christian minister of any kind means, first of all, to be a believing person,” she said. “That means to be continually developing a deeper relationship with God, and doing so in the community, in the world and for the world, at liturgy and in personal prayer.”

Sister Toolan urged her audience to continually remind themselves of why they became music ministers. “Give attention to why, as well as how, we do our ministry,” she said. “Jesus has risen, and we are here to proclaim that good news. We have many challenges, but if we can be a truly Christian community we can be the hope for the world Jesus asks us to be.”

Jackson Schoos, director of the Sacramento Diocese’s office of worship and co-chair of the local convention committee, called the convention “a resounding success.”

“We are profoundly grateful to the national association for entrusting Sacramento with the responsibility for putting on such an important event, to all the talented presenters who shared their knowledge and their faith with us, and to all our friends and colleagues who came to Sacramento to pray, sing and learn together,” he said.

Mike Nelson is editor of The Tidings, weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

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