C HOIR IN THE P EW
Song and Supporting Active
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hroughout our collective history as a Church, music has always been an important part of our worship. As Bishop Robert Barron says, “The Mass is not a lecture or performance that we witness from a distance. That is why we are called to full, active, conscious participation in the Mass.” Participating in the Mass through music brings us together in harmony both with one another and with the triune God. Here at Our Lady of the Assumption, a new ministry called Choir in the Pews works to encourage and support active participation in the Mass through song. “From King David singing psalms to Christ singing hymns with His disciples to the beauty of Gregorian chant, to the resounding fourpart harmonies of traditional hymns, to the contemporary songs we commonly hear today, the Church has a robust musical history and tradition,” says Music Director Casey Oliver. “Although I have been wanting to begin a ministry like this for years, it was the pandemic that made it clear
Music Ministry members David Cuny, Tracy Fernandez, Patti Phillips, and Casey Oliver lead the music at the Sunday 11:00 am Mass.
to me that this had to be my top priority moving forward.” As Casey notes, singing alone at Mass at the beginning of the pandemic was difficult. “When the assembly was finally allowed to sing at Mass again, and when we all sang the ‘Alleluia’ together again for the first time, it was such a profound experience for me,” she says. “The pandemic shed a bright light on something I have observed for years, which is a gap of sorts that can exist between the Music Ministry and the assembly.” One of the ways the Music Ministry tries to combat this “gap” is by including a variety of styles of liturgical
music during the Mass to appeal to as many as possible in our diverse parish community. Beautiful music creates an experience that can bring people together from all walks of life, and when music brings people together in worship, it is a transcendent experience. “My most memorable and profound prayer experience while singing during Mass took place while singing the ‘Holy’ during the Eucharistic Prayer,” Casey says. “I was the music director at a new parish in Henderson, Nev., and we initially met for Mass in a simple school gym. The last note of the ‘Holy’ resonated in a sacred way, even though we were in a gymnasium, because it was me, along with the choir, along with the assembly — it was all of us together filling that space with the voices God gave us. “Light was shining brightly through the window on all of us, and the physical vibration of everyone singing in that room together made me truly feel like we were part of the ‘choir of angels,’” she adds. “When you fill a worship space with the sound of all the continued on page 5
“We don’t measure the assembly’s participation by decibel level. We want to facilitate the participation of the assembly by providing as much practical support as we can, and then by allowing the liturgy and the Holy Spirit to work in people’s hearts.”
— Casey Oliver, Music Director 4
