Podcasts about ministry monday

This episode of Ministry Monday is brought to you by Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry (CSTM). Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry (CSTM) is accepting applications for Courage to Preach: A Post-Master's Certificate. Courage to Preach trains participants to read and interpret Scripture and use it as a foundational collection to preach on contemporary issues, such as racial, economic, and environmental justice. The certificate is completed over 12 months. Learn more at bc.edu/preach. NPM is blessed with a rich community of Asian/Pacific American pastoral musicians that support their parishes and the NPM community at large. Ariel Mayormita, Jose Gallardo and Maria Nieva are all pastoral musicians across the United States. They each demonstrate hospitality, kindness, and a deep Catholic faith in their lives. Today's episode highlights the deep faith and profound hospitality found in AAPI culture, from 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines to today. Our presenters to reflect on this topic today are Ariel Mayormita, Jose Gallardo and Maria Nieva, joining us from New Jersey, Texas, and the Philippines!

This episode of Ministry Monday is brought to you by Ministry Scheduler Pro. Take the pain out of scheduling church volunteers with easy-to-use software designed just for ministries. Free up your time, and make it easy for your volunteers to answer the call to serve. Start your free trial today at MinistrySchedulerPro.com. We are back from a brief Easter hiatus, and while we are happy to be back, our hearts are heavy here in the NPM National Office at the passing of our Holy Father, Pope Francis. I recently read his autobiography, “Hope,” and it gave me the chance to learn more about Pope Francis and his life as Jorge Bergoglio as well. If you haven't read it, I strongly encourage that you do, especially in this Jubilee Year of Hope. As we collectively mourn the loss of Pope Francis, our Holy Father, NPM has offered a compilation of resources for personal and ministerial use. They can be found at www.npm.org, and they will be linked int the show notes of this episode. We pray that they provide solace, comfort, and hope in the Resurrection. Today we continue the topic of sequences. Fr. Michael Joncas began our examination of the Church's current use of sequences before we journeyed through Holy Week, and today Fr. Roc O'Connor continues this conversation. Roc O'Connor, SJ has been a member the Society of Jesus for over fifty years. He served in pastoral settings for most of his ministerial life – parishes, college and universities, and Jesuit formation. He is a founding member of the St. Louis Jesuits, a group that has shaped pastoral music for all of us today and has earned worldwide recognition. Roc helps us with a primer of sorts on the sequences for Easter Sunday, Pentecost, and Corpus Christi. This particular episode is very beneficial when viewed as a video episode. You can find it in the show notes of this episode, as well as on NPM's youtube channel, youtube.com/NPMlivestream. If you can't access the video version of this episode, keep in mind that Roc allows us to flow between the Latin text, the ICEL translation, and the Roman Missal translation freely, examining how they work together and help to bring forth the sacred in some of the holiest days in our Church calendar.

Today is the last episode Ministry Monday will be airing before a brief Holy Week and Easter hiatus. We wanted to leave you with an episode that would provide a prayerful pause as you wrap up the last rehearsals, make the last binders, and write the last “thank you” notes to your Holy Week musicians. Today we begin a conversation focusing on the sequences and hear from Fr. J. Michael Joncas. What is the history of a sequence's form? What terminology predates the sequences? How can we most effectively employ sequences in our parishes? It is a great episode from which to prepare the Sequence for Easter Sunday.

This is a continuation of the Men's Ministry Monday night study in apologetics.  Join us in person!  

Today on Ministry Monday we return from our holiday break! Our first episode of 2025 features Steven Warner the founder and director emeritus of the Notre Dame Folk Choir, as well as founder of the Newman Vocare Ensemble. Like many pastoral musicians, the Holy Spirit clearly is working through Steve and his decades-long work in music and ministry. Steve is no stranger to the podcast: we spoke of his connection to Saint John Henry Newman while he taught at the Newman Centre for Faith and Reason in Dublin, and we also discussed the Catholic Church in Ireland on another episode. Today's episode focuses on his most recent project, titled “The Contemplative Classroom.” If you know Steve's music you know that many of his compositions are ostinato refrains within an accessible singing range for most singers. Steve has taken this idea and begun to make a curriculum for classrooms that cultivate healthy singing, mindfulness, and spirituality in a way that, I dare say, may not have ever been created quite like this. It's a great start for this Catholic Schools week, and a great way to begin our podcast for the year.

On our 250th episode of Ministry Monday we offer a replay from the podcast's archives on improvisation. In the midst of many Advent and Christmas preparations, I'll admit that solid improvisatory skills are an excellent tool to have in my arsenal. Today Dr. Benjamin Cornelius-Bates - a professor of musicianship at Duquesne University - shares tips on how to improvise on traditional and contemporary Advent hymn tunes this Advent and Christmas season. Ben's tips are practical for well beyond the Advent season, but I hope that they spark some creativity during a trying time like Advent for the pastoral musician.

"God has a special job for His church—to help people stay healthy and feel better. The things we eat, what we do, and what we say can make a big difference in how we feel. In this episode, we'll learn how God wants His church to teach everyone about staying healthy and feeling good."Year C Quarter 4 Week 48All Bible verses are from the NKJVFind the Lessons Here: https://mybiblefirst.org/?module=products&func=product&id2=25Connect with Us:Website: https://startingwithjesus.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/startingwithjesusFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/startingwithjesus

This episode of Ministry Monday is brought to you by Ministry Scheduler Pro. Take the pain out of church volunteer scheduling with powerful, easy-to-use software designed especially for ministry scheduling. Start your free trial today at MinistrySchedulerPro.com. This week on Ministry Monday we are excited to speak to leadership from the NPM Cincinnati, Ohio Chapter. The Cincinnati Chapter is NPM's 2024 Chapter of the Year. Today they share the challenges of the chapter and how they have embraced the power of local programming to cultivate community and recruit members.

This episode of Ministry Monday is brought to you by Ministry Scheduler Pro. Take the pain out of church volunteer scheduling with powerful, easy-to-use software designed especially for ministry scheduling. Start your free trial today at MinistrySchedulerPro.com.Part of the cultural fabric of our parish life are the songs we sing. We, as pastoral musicians, are highly aware of this fact. There are so many considerations we make when choosing the repertoire for our parish: instrumental, scriptural, melodic….but what about cultural? How much does our music adequately represent the varied, complex, beautiful human existences that make up the Church? Do we really consider the representation we provide in our music? That is where our conversation starts today. I am pleased to introduce M Roger Holland as my guest for this episode. Roger is a Teaching Assistant Professor in Music and Religion and Director of The Spirituals Project at the Lamont School of Music, University of Denver. In this episode, Roger shares his reflections on the need for representation of all races, musical and cultural styles in what we do in music ministry.

This week on Ministry Monday we revisit one of our most listened to episodes: a conversation with theologian and liturgical composer, Tony Alonso, about his work, "Caminemos con Jesús." "Caminemos con Jesús” is a collection of liturgical music that honors the Cuban musical heritage not often seen in its own right, liturgically, in the United States. In this episode you'll learn the inspiration behind “Caminemos con Jesús”, as well as the people, effort and heart from so many to make this project authentic, vibrant and full of the Spirit. It is one of many great ways to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month as well!

We're back! Ministry Monday returns after a summer haitus with new episodes! We've prepared a fall season of great episodes with topics on, of course, music, ministry, and liturgy. This week Dr. Dan Girardot (Associate Director of the Office of Worship of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston) discusses the practical, prayerful, and other musical considerations for cantors ministering in larger-than-normal Masses. Whether it's Christmas Eve, a large funeral or wedding, or a Confirmation Mass, Dan reflects on the changes cantors can anticipate and best serve the liturgy (and its faithful) at hand.

In the last episode of Ministry Monday we spoke to Fr. Joe Laramie, a Jesuit priest, about the Liturgy of the Hours. This week we continue the conversation with Michael Silhavy, Senior Project Editor for GIA Publications, Inc., as we explore the Divine Office Hymnal: what was the genesis of its creation? What is included in the hymnal? What is the format and structure? Can it be used for prayer outside of the Liturgy of the Hours? Michael addresses all of these questions and much more.

Today we speak to Fr. Joe Laramie, a Jesuit priest who currently lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Fr. Joe is also the National Director of the Pope's Prayer Network, a 175-year-old spiritual mission uniting hearts to the Heart of Jesus in the heart of the Church. Additionally he is a Eucharistic Preacher for the National Eucharistic Revival. Fr. Joe recently penned an article for America Magazine titled: "Praying the Liturgy of the Hours is worth it—even if you do it badly". We discuss what he means by that title, and how we, as followers (and oftentimes laypeople), can begin to pray the Liturgy Hours on a regular basis.

Today we chat with Kathleen M. Basi (Kate, for short) and Jaime Cortez about the Liturgical Composers Forum's New Music Review taking place this summer at the NPM convention. We discuss the basics of the New Music Review, what to expect regarding the submission process, and more. The deadline to submit any compositions for the New Music Review is June 1. Tune in and learn more today! Not ready to submit? This episode gives great tips for composers and shares how you can sit in on the New Music Review yourself.

Today we listen to an episode of Ministry Monday from 2020 that celebrates the role women play in music ministry today. We hear the stories of Nancy Douglass and Janèt Sullivan-Whitaker, both active, longtime composers and pastoral musicians. It is a great way to start our celebration of Women's History Month.

At the beginning of each year we look back at the episodes that made Ministry Monday in the last 12 months. We had several popular episodes in 2023, but one of them stood out from the rest. It featured a story of a father-daughter duo who both serve in music ministry in their respective parishes. In fact, Daniel Ladner - the father in our wonderful story - has served in music ministry for 72 years- at the same church!I can say from a personal note that this episode was one of my favorites to record. Hearing Daniel and Beth's stories, both together and separately, was so inspiring. It reminds me of the lives that light up our parish music ministry, across the country, and the gift that I have to share them with you on the podcast.

I hope you had a lovely holiday season thus far, and are well-recovered after the immense amount of effort and time you contributed to Christmas season celebrations in our universal Church today. I'm happy to share this first episode of 2024 with you, listeners! January so often comes with New Year's resolutions, which are oftentimes out of vogue for making. But what if we, as sacred musicians, made a personal continuing education resolution for 2024? This week on Ministry Monday we speak to Vince Carr from the American Guild of Organists. Vince details the AGO certification program, specifically in regards to the two, dual certificate opportunities available to NPM members: the Service Playing Certification (SPC) and Colleague exam (CAGO).

This week on Ministry Monday we are excited to speak to leadership from the NPM Saginaw Chapter. The Saginaw Chapter is NPM's 2023 Chapter of the Year. Today they share the chapter's origins, some of the chapter's most-loved programming, and some of the reasons they find inspiration and motivation through NPM, both locally and nationally.

Today on Ministry Monday we are thrilled to offer an episode from Meet Father Rivers, a podcast celebrating the life and legacy of Father Clarence Joseph Rivers. Father Rivers - a little-known but essential figure in American Catholic history - was a composer of liturgical music as well as an author on music and spirituality. Today we hear from the hosts of Meet Father Rivers, Emily Strand and Eric Styles. They interview pianist, pastoral musician, liturgist, workshop presenter and composer Mr. Ronald (Rawn) Harbor. Rawn met Fr. Rivers in 1973 and became his primary accompanist and eventually a liturgist in his own right under Fr. Clarence's careful mentorship. Rawn discusses his own approaches to composition and even shares a recording of a psalm arrangement that he's particularly proud of: Psalm 63 “My Soul is Thirsting,” on this special, most musical episode of Meet Father Rivers to date.

This week's episode of Ministry Monday features composer and NPM member Luke Rosen. Luke shares his reflections on the many things a pastoral musician can consider as they compose music, whether it's for a parish music ministry or just for personal enjoyment.

Today we go to the Ministry Monday archives and re-discover one of the most popular episodes. We speak to Brother John Glasenapp, a Benedictine monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey in southern Indiana, where he currently serves as the Director of the newly-formed Saint Meinrad Institute for Sacred Music.

Ministry Monday is happy to offer a 2-part series on Lessons and Carols! Today's episode features NPM member Timothy Lewicki, Director of Music at All Saints Catholic Church in Manassas, Virginia. Timothy shares his best practices for Lessons and Carols at his parish and provides some takeaways for recruitment, engagement, and musicality, whether it's your parish's tenth Lessons and Carols or your first time offering the service. It's a great conversation to round out our discussion on Lessons and Carols.

Ministry Monday is happy to offer a 2-part series on Lessons and Carols!Our first part of the series features Jennifer Runge, NPM member and Director of Sacred Music at Parish of the Holy Eucharist (Diocese of Portland, Maine). On this episode, Jennifer shares her best practices and suggestions on how to offer Lessons and Carols, both musically and considering the needs of a merged/clustered parish.

I'm happy to be back after a brief summer hiatus from Ministry Monday. It was great to meet many of you at the convention, both in person and virtually! And now we're back. Today on Ministry Monday we speak to Daniel Ladner and Beth Shaver, two pastoral musicians, NPM members, and father and daughter. While both have served in music ministry for decades, Daniel himself has served in music ministry for 72 years- at the same church! Today we get the chance to hear both Beth and Dan's stories in music ministry, and the impact NPM has had in their lives.

We are ramping up our summer schedules here in the Ministry Monday studio! This means plenty of preparation for our summer Ordinary Time liturgies, planning our summer formation opportunities, and of course, carving out some time to enjoy the summer sunshine as well. We found ourselves gravitating to an episode from the Ministry Monday archives, which was also a reflection from the 2021 National Convention by Kate Basi. Her Key Change presentation, named, “How to Pray While I'm Working,” reflects on the nuances we as pastoral ministers experience while participating in the Mass. I myself have found that I experience the Mass differently when I'm ministering versus when I (rarely) simply sit in the pew. How can we set our work mindset aside, or at least, pray alongside that mindset? I'd like to mention that after this episode, Ministry Monday will be taking a short break as we prepare for both the in person and virtual NPM conventions. We will return with new episodes on July 31. In the meantime, if you're participating in either the in person NPM convention in Reno or the virtual convention online the week afterward, please reach out and say hello to me. I always love meeting fellow listeners of the podcast!

Today's episode of Ministry Monday celebrates Taizé in both the small village and the music it offers in contemplation and prayer. Today we speak to David Anderson, Editor-at-Large for GIA Publications and Director of Music and Liturgy at Ascension Catholic Church in Oak Park, Illinois.David has visited Taizé, France, several times, and has led monthly Taizé services for years in his parish. He reflects about the depth and beauty of Taizé and how you can implement its music and spirituality in your parish.

This week's podcast covers Jesus' early ministry. What was the first miracle He performed? What trouble did He cause in the Jewish temple? Join us to find out.Year B Quarter 2 Week 18All Bible verses are from the NKJVFind the Lessons Here: https://mybiblefirst.org/?module=products&func=product&id2=25Connect with Us:Website: https://startingwithjesus.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/startingwithjesusFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/startingwithjesus

This episode of Ministry Monday is brought to you by Ministry Scheduler Pro. Take the pain out of volunteer scheduling with powerful, easy-to-use software designed especially for scheduling liturgical ministries. Get started with a free trial at MinistrySchedulerPro.com. Happy Easter! We hope your Holy Week and Easter Sunday celebrations were filled with music, prayer and joy at the Resurrection of our Lord. We know this episode comes to you on Easter Monday, a day where pastoral musicians are hopefully resting after Holy Week. We hope that this episode from the Ministry Monday archives allows you to strike while the iron is hot, whether that is today or later on in the Octave of Easter. One of the best practices I learned from a fellow pastoral minister was to take the time to write down what went well - and what didn't - almost immediately after a momentous liturgy took place. For events like Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Triduum, it helped me to refine the following year's preparations and made my work more efficient. If I needed an extra song at the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday, for example, I knew to add another one just in case for next year. Truthfully, I also wrote down what didn't work, and earmarked that for next year. And so we listen into the episode. You'll hear former Ministry Monday host Matt Reichert interview Mike about this topic, with the hopes that it helps you to pause, regroup, and prepare for next year.

Today on the podcast we revisit the most-listened-to episode of 2022, which was also part 1 of Ministry Monday's Exsultet series. We speak to Fr. Paul Turner about the historical context of the Exsultet, the sacred chant sung at the start of the Easter Vigil. The Exsultet is such a distinct moment in the Triduum journey: covered in darkness, punctuated by candlelight, the Exsultet is a 9-minute chant prefacing what is about to happen in the Easter Vigil liturgy: Christ, returning "from death's domain", grants us all eternal life through His resurrection. It is to begin. Today Fr. Paul Turner provides a historical, biblical and liturgical context from which to prepare the Exsultet this Lent. When was the Exsultet first sung? How did it find its place at the start of the Easter Vigil? Why are deacons so often chosen for the role? And what about the role of bees in the newest translation?We encourage you to check out the other 2 parts of this Exsultet series, including an instructional video on how to best learn how to sing the Exsultet. These can be found on the NPM website, npm.org, as well as the show notes of this episode at MinistryMonday.org.

Subscribe to Ministry Monday on Spotify Subscribe to ministry monday on itunes This episode discusses topics of infertility, miscarriage and child loss, and could be triggering for some. Today's episode faces the indescribable pain of miscarriage, stillbirth and the loss of a child. October 15 is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, and offers a chance for parishes to minister to families who carry a grief that no one ever should. We speak to Leeanne Schweiger, a woman who has started the St. Gerard Ministry in her parish.This episode discusses the St. Gerard ministry- with St. Gerard being the patron saint of expectant mothers, mothers, women in childbirth and unborn children - and celebrating a Mass to honor those who long to be parents but have experienced a tragic loss that no one should endure. For more information about Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Day as well as resources that could aid in creating a service to support those suffering in your parish, check out the show notes of this episode. SHOW NOTESBio: Leeanne Schweiger Leeanne Schweiger is a member of Regina Coeli Parish (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). She has helped to create and lead the St. Gerard Ministry, an organization that ministers to women and men who have lost children through miscarriage, stillbirth or early infancy, and to couples who are struggling with infertility. For more information about Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day, visit the following links: Star Legacy Foundation: Awareness MonthPregnancy After Loss SupportBaby Loss Awareness WeekMinistry Monday Episode #052: Of Womb and Tomb (with Kate Williams) Of Womb and Tomb: Prayer in Time of Infertility, Miscarriage, and Stillbirth (Ed. Kate Williams, GIA Publications G-9816)All content of this podcast is property of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians or its content suppliers and is protected by United States and international copyright laws. For information about the podcast and its use, please contact us.

This episode of Ministry Monday is sponsored by GIA Publications. Rooted in tradition with a clear focus on the future, Gather—Fourth Edition from GIA Publications features a diverse roster of composers and a wide breadth of musical styles in a worthy hardbound hymnal. Gather—Fourth Edition. Learn more at giamusic.com/hymnals. September is Deaf Awareness Month in the United States. To a Deaf person, being deaf is not a disability! In fact, it is a subculture of its own that provides new, beautiful ways for worship in our Church. Today we speak to Karen Shepherd, director of the Deaf choir in the Diocese of Pittsburgh for almost 20 years. Karen explores what is a deaf choir, as well as the subtleties of an “interpreted” Mass versus a “signed” Mass. Karen also spearheaded the installation of a “hearing loop” system in her church and shares what we need to know, as pastoral musicians, should we ever want to install one in our own churches.

Dr. Bob Blume of Man 4 Man Ministries stops by to share the importance of supporting men exiting the prison system. Copyright WGNR Radio 2022See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's Ministry Monday episode features NPM's 2021 Jubilate Deo Award recipient, John Baldovin, SJ. Fr. Baldovin reflects on Pope Francis's new Apostolic Letter on the Liturgy, "Desiderio Desideravi". Fr. Baldovin's reflections focus on four main points, of which you will hear identified through interlude music: Was this document expected?What is the message of Desiderio Desideravi?Liturgy and Theology of the ChurchWhat does it mean for regular Catholics? In addition, we'd like to thank the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry for allowing NPM to re-broadcast this reflection.

Before we begin, we want to hear some feedback from you, our listeners. This summer Ministry Monday will be focusing on parish mergers and its impact on music ministry. We want to know: are you working at a parish that has recently merged? Or are you about to merge with another parish? Is your diocese undergoing a consolidation? What were some of the things that best unified your parishes' music programs? Or what advice would you wish you had when you were consolidating a music program? Email us with your response at ministrymonday@npm.org. As we prepare episodes on this topic, we want to hear from you! For the next two weeks, Ministry Monday replays two of its most popular episodes, both of which focus on making the most out of the public domain. With music-buying budgets being squeezed tighter than ever, it's time to get creative! Making the public domain work for you can be a huge asset as you spend the summer planning for fall repertoire.

Today's Ministry Monday episode explores the changes to the Rite of Baptism, which went into effect in spring 2020, during the initial shock of the COVID-19 pandemic. Michael Ruzicki is the Director of Sacred Music and Liturgy at St. Mary of the Lake and Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Chicago and is also the Training and Events Manager at Liturgy Training Publications.

This episode of Ministry Monday is sponsored by the Liturgical Music Institute, taking place July 24-29, 2022 at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, 40 miles east of New York City. This 5-day immersive experience combines prayer, learning, liturgy, and music for a retreat-like experience for all pastoral musicians to experience. For more information about the Liturgical Music Institute, visit npm.org. Subscribe to Ministry Monday on Spotify Subscribe to ministry monday on itunes The Faces of Mary continues this week with two stories of Our Lady, both from different cultures but similar in devotion. We start with Dr. Gerardo Ramos, or as many call him, Dr. G. Dr. G has obtained his Master's and Doctorate program at the University of Texas- Austin, both in music. He is currently the Director of Spanish Language Publications for ILP. Today Dr. G shares his experiences celebrating and honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe, both in Mexico, North America and the Americas as a whole. Our second and last interview for today's episode comes from Christopher Ferraro. Chris is also the chair of the Pastoral Liturgy Interest Section on the NPM National Council. Chris is the Director of Music at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Lindenhurst, New York. You can probably guess why I've asked him to speak today. As his parish's namesake, Chris celebrates large liturgies and celebrations honoring Our Lady of Perpetual Help each year. He was kind enough to share some insights and reflections with us today. SHOW NOTESThis episode originally aired on May 25, 2020. Click here for the original episode. All content of this podcast is property of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians or its content suppliers and is protected by United States and international copyright laws. For information about the podcast and its use, please contact us.

Next week Ministry Monday will celebrate its 200th episode! As we prepare for that 200th episode, we look back at Ministry Monday's 100th episode. Released on April 19, 2020, the 100th episode was produced as we stepped newly into the pandemic. We were a month into a jarring Lenten and Easter season, with many of us not leading our parishes in music ministry in a “normal” way. Pastoral ministry had, in many ways, screeched to a halt, in the newest days of the pandemic. We celebrate the courage and faith we find in Episode #100, and look forward to celebrating Episode #200 with you next week!

Today's episode focuses on an exploration of our Baptism. We may feel that our baptismal calling is fully expressed in pastoral ministry, and in many cases, it might. But what if the Holy Spirit has different plans for us? What if we feel our baptismal calling change? How can we reflect and truly listen to the calling of the Spirit? Brother Louis Canter from the Diocese of Orlando, Florida, begins our conversation today. Brother E. Louis Canter, OEF serves as a Pastoral Assistant for two parishes in the Lakeland Florida area. In subsequent Ministry Monday episodes, Brother Louis has reflected on the role of lay leadership in today's Church, and the spirituality of the saints and holiness among us. Today we speak about baptism and begin at a liturgy we all have experienced very recently: the Easter Vigil.

Ministry Monday has returned from its Holy Week and Easter break! We hope that your Triduum celebrations were prayerful and filled with song, prayer and the joy of the Resurrection. We also hope that you've found some rest after Holy Week as well! Today we continue the topic of sequences. Fr. Michael Joncas began our examination of the Church's current use of sequences before we journeyed through Holy Week, and today Fr. Roc O'Connor continues this conversation. Roc O'Connor, SJ has been a member the Society of Jesus for over fifty years. He served in pastoral settings for most of his ministerial life – parishes, college and universities, and Jesuit formation. He is a founding member of the St. Louis Jesuits, a group that has shaped pastoral music for all of us today and has earned worldwide recognition. Roc helps us with a primer of sorts on the sequences for Easter Sunday, Pentecost, and Corpus Christi. This particular episode is very beneficial when viewed as a video episode. You can find it in the show notes of this episode, as well as on NPM's youtube channel, youtube.com/NPMlivestream. If you can't access the video version of this episode, keep in mind that Roc allows us to flow between the Latin text, the ICEL translation, and the Roman Missal translation freely, examining how they work together and help to bring forth the sacred in some of the holiest days in our Church calendar.

Today is the last episode Ministry Monday will be airing before a two-week Holy Week and Easter hiatus. We wanted to leave you with an episode that would provide a prayerful pause as you wrap up the last rehearsals, make the last binders, and write the last “thank you” notes to your Holy Week musicians. Today we begin a conversation focusing on the sequences and hear from Fr. J. Michael Joncas. What is the history of a sequence's form? What terminology predates the sequences? How can we most effectively employ sequences in our parishes? It is a great episode from which to prepare the Sequence for Easter Sunday.

Today's episode comes as a listener request, and a very appropriate one at that. Allow me to read a portion of an email I received from a listener: Dear Ministry Monday, I hope this message finds you very well! I am writing to you today as I feel you are the perfect person to receive this idea. I wanted to suggest an inclusion of Dr. Lynn Eustis's Ministry Monday presentation about voice care somewhere in the agenda. The reason I am forwarding this request is due to the hiatus several choirs have been on after Christmas. The strain of Holy Week can be damaging if voices are not “in shape” to sing the repertoire. While I am just a volunteer musician at the Basic NPM level who joined the organization last May, I believe this topic is relevant to all. We couldn't agree with you more. Today's episode is directed to all vocalists serving in the Church today: choir members, cantors and choir directors alike. We've been using our voices differently in the past two years, and our conversation with Dr. Lynn Eustis is a great reminder to re-condition our voices with care. For more information on this topic, check out the April edition of Pastoral Music Magazine, NPM's quarterly magazine published for its members. Pastoral Music Magazine is available to all Standard and Premium members of NPM. Not a member of NPM, or are you a Basic member who would like to receive it? Check out npm.org/membership to join or upgrade your membership. Pastoral Music Magazine alone is a great reason to become a Standard or Premium member of NPM today. And now to the episode at hand!

As we look toward the spring, I can't help but stop and think about the upcoming season in pastoral music: Lent, Easter, and of course followed by, wedding season. Now, prior to being a full-time staff member at NPM, I was the Director of Music at a church for 13 years that hosted 65-70 weddings per year. And during my time there, I met with every couple, helped them plan their music, and played for all of their ceremonies. I've often heard a dreadful saying by pastoral musicians that “I'd rather play three funerals versus one wedding.” While this has always bothered me, I think the roots lie in a mutual misunderstanding of young couples being married, and the pastoral musicians who serve them. The beauty of the Sacrament of Marriage can often be eclipsed by the secular aesthetic that couples mostly worry about, from the flowers to the bridal party to, of course, the bride and groom's ensembles. But just because a couple may not fully grasp the Sacrament does not mean that they cannot enter into a paradigm of catechesis prior to their wedding day. And in fact, I think we shortchange many couples by assuming they do not grasp a general understanding of the liturgy and how it will relate to their wedding. Why not take it as an opportunity to bridge that gap of understanding, even if only to help them more deeply understand their wedding?Today on Ministry Monday we speak to Paul Radkowski, Director of Music at the Church of St. Edward the Confessor in Granville, Ohio. Paul discusses the ways that pastoral musicians can support couples as they prepare for the Sacrament of Marriage: how can they best plan their ceremony music? what if a loved one wants to sing in the wedding? What if the couple wants to include secular music in the wedding? Paul addresses these questions and more.

You voted and we listened! The most listened-to and voted-for episode was "A Historical Intervention on the Basis of Chant" with Fr. John Glasenapp. Brother John's viewpoint on chant in the Church is deeply rooted in a full historical context, which is what we're to discuss today. Why can chant be challenging to today's pastoral musicians? What are the roots from which chant was created? What are the roots of chant in the Catholic Church? How did we get here?Brother John joins me from the archabbey in Saint Meinrad, Indiana.

Before we begin our first episode of 2022, we want to take a moment and ask for your vote on the best of Ministry Monday episode in 2021. From Gregorian chant to live streaming, the Exsultet to the liturgical prayers, improvisation to the public domain and everything in between, it's been a busy year for Ministry Monday. This year we produced 47 episodes of topics on music, ministry and liturgy, and we'd love to hear your feedback. What did you like the most in last year's Ministry Monday programming?Vote for your favorite 2021 topics and/or episodes from Ministry Monday here. Deadline to vote is January 24, 2022. We will feature the “best of” episode in Ministry Monday on January 31, 2022!Well, I hope this episode finds you rested and at least partially recovered from the joy and stress of the Christmas celebrations! We find these weeks in Winter Ordinary Time to be those of restoration and recovery when it comes to pastoral music. It's a moment of breath before we pivot and, yes, start to think of Lent. But let's not begin that journey just yet! Today starts a month-long focus on continuing education opportunities. As we begin this new calendar year, it's important for us to take time for renewal, education and formation. It's at the center of who we are and what we do at NPM. This year we are committing to learning and formation opportunities, and invite you to join us! The first opportunity of learning we'll be featuring is The Essentials of Catholic Liturgy. Liturgy, Life and Discipleship, the third track of the Essentials of Catholic Liturgy, begins this month and is developed in partnership with NPM and LTP. These six weeks of courses emphasize the celebration of the Eucharist as our source and summit of Christian life, and will help pastoral ministers—musicians and liturgists, notably—discuss and break open how liturgy interacts with the modern world, evangelization, mystagogy, social justice, and spirituality. And so I sat down with Timothy Johnston to dig deeper. Until very recently, Timothy served as an Editor and Liturgical Training Consultant for Liturgy Training Publications. Timothy joins us today from the Archdiocese of Washington, DC.

The next episode in Ministry Monday's Advent series features part two of my conversation with Dr. Benjamin Cornelius-Bates, Professor of Musicianship at Duquesne University. Last week Dr. Cornelius-Bates shared some basic tips on how to improvise on traditional and contemporary Advent hymn tunes this Advent and Christmas season. If you haven't listened to it, I strongly encourage you to! This week we pick up where we left off and see how we can develop his improvisation tips into more complex ways of sparking creativity in the liturgy.

The next episode in Ministry Monday's Advent series features a conversation with Dr. Benjamin Cornelius-Bates, Professor of Musicianship at Duquesne University. Dr. Cornelius-Bates shares tips on how to improvise on traditional and contemporary Advent hymn tunes this Advent and Christmas season. Ben's tips are practical for well beyond the Advent season, but I hope that they spark some creativity during a trying time like Advent for the pastoral musician.

Ministry Monday will be celebrating the Advent season alongside you through the Advent Series of episodes. The next four weeks of episodes are designed to provide you, pastoral ministers, with added support during, quite frankly, one of the most stressful times of our year. Please also know that we are praying for you as we all journey through Advent and Christmas together!Each week in the Advent series will be centered around the psalm for that Advent weekend, and will be read at the end of the episode for reflection. The first episode in Ministry Monday's Advent series features a conversation with Fr. Jan Michael Joncas. Fr. Joncas helps us explore the liturgical texts we will be hearing in the weeks to come. How can we hear them with a sense of newness? And how can we, as pastoral musicians, be renewed in a season of Advent preparation, so often fraught with extra responsibilities and stress? How can the wisdom of the Church and its prayers guide us?

Today we offer a short reflection from Kathleen M. Basi on the nuances of praying while "working" in pastoral music. Similar to the topic we discussed with Every Sacred Sunday, pastoral musicians experience the liturgy in a different way than many others. Kathleen offers great tips and suggestions in this Key Change presentation, taken from NPM's 2021 National Convention.