Today is the final week of a 4-week mini-series, focusing on The Singing Priest. Last week we heard from Fr. Michael Stumpf, pastor of Mary, Queen of Peace Parish in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Today we hear from a different Michael: Michael Olbash, the Director of Sacred Music at Saint John’s Seminary, Boston, MA, and Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary, Weston, MA. It’s clear that Michael’s expertise lies well within the support, musical and liturgical education of clergy in the Church today. ...
Oct 11, 2021•Season 4Ep. 29
Today is week 3 of a 4-week mini-series, focusing on The Singing Priest. Last week we heard from Nicholas Will, a replay episode from January 2020 when he was the Director of Music for the North American Pontifical College in Rome. Today we hear from Fr. Michael Stumpf, Pastor of Mary, Queen of Peace Parish in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Fr. Stumpf speaks to us today about the relationship between clergy and music minister: how can it be strengthened, and what can it do for the liturgy? Fr. Michae...
Oct 04, 2021•Season 4Ep. 28
Last week on Ministry Monday we started a mini-series focusing on The Singing Priest. Last week we heard from Fr. Ricky Manalo on the first episode that inspired this mini-series! This week we’re hearing one more replay episode on this topic. In January 2020 I spoke to Nicholas Will, who was the Director of Music for the North American Pontifical College in Rome. Nick has great experience with developing the singing voice of clergy, and that’s where our conversation takes us today. Enjoy!...
Sep 27, 2021•Season 4Ep. 27
We hear from so many of you in the NPM national office about the things you need most in your ministry. One of the most popular requests we receive involve the relationship between a pastoral musician, a clergy member and the music itself. For example, we get questions such as: “How do I encourage my priest to sing during the Mass?” and “What can I do to foster the relationship between pastoral music and my priest/deacon?” Well, starting this week we are introducing a multi-episode series focusi...
Sep 20, 2021•Season 4Ep. 26
Today’s episode is more NPM-focused than a typical episode, but for all the right reasons: NPM’s annual Members’ Meeting is next Monday, September 20. The annual Members’ Meeting is NPM’s State of the Union, if you will, celebrating the wins of the association from the last 12 months, including celebrating NPM’s biggest awards: the Pastoral Musician of the Year Award and Jubilate Deo award. I asked to sit down with Jennifer Kluge, NPM’s Executive Director and my boss. I wanted to hear about her ...
Sep 13, 2021•Season 4Ep. 25
At this point it goes without saying, but the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to re-envision so much of what we do in ministry. While many of us are re-starting choirs to an extent and returning to the planning of normal music ministry life, the disruption of our normal habits and resources may allow a space to evaluate what our parish needs right now and for the next stage of ministry. This was the mindset from which I started our episode today. Today I sat down with Adam Bartlett, the founder ...
Sep 06, 2021•Season 4Ep. 24
Last Thursday we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Częstochowa, a venerated icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary found in the Polish town after which it was named. We thought it would be a perfect time to replay a previous episode that honored Our Lady of Częstochowa and the devotion to our Blessed Mother. We hope you enjoy this week’s replay episode, and find a moment this week to pray for the intercession of the Blessed Mother this week. Mary, Our Lady of Częstochowa, pray for us!
Aug 30, 2021•Season 4Ep. 23
It continues to be a unique time for music ministry, and that conversation continues here on Ministry Monday. As a fellow pastoral musician, I’ve noticed that the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed for a re-evaluation of many of the things we use and depend upon in music ministry. Why not take this moment of pause and re-evaluation to grow and strengthen our musical and liturgical skills? That is our focus this September. For the next two weeks you will hear about two learning and formation opportuni...
Aug 23, 2021•Season 4Ep. 22
It continues to be a unique time for music ministry, and that conversation continues here on Ministry Monday. As a fellow pastoral musician, I’ve noticed that the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed for a re-evaluation of many of the things we use and depend upon in music ministry. Why not take this moment of pause and re-evaluation to grow and strengthen our musical and liturgical skills? That is our focus this September. For the next two weeks you will hear about two learning and formation opportuni...
Aug 16, 2021•Season 4Ep. 21
The ins and outs of copyright licensing can be difficult. How do we declare what music we are using, especially across print and streaming mediums? How do we report, how often do we report, and what do we report? These were just a few of the many questions I found myself scouring the internet for as I live streamed liturgies at my parish for the first time last year. And so I called Katie Deaver. Katie is the assistant manager of ONE LICENSE and was gracious enough to sit down and answer questio...
Aug 09, 2021•Season 4Ep. 20
