Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 30, 2017

This Saturday is the Feast of the Holy Family.

We did it! Christmas Eve Mass was a huge success! Once again, thanks to all who were able to sing, play and/or lend your technical skills. Despite some last-minute changes (new Parish Hall setup and Children's Program, anyone?), Mass flowed exceptionally well. The music was fun, energetic and beautiful, and I hope you all enjoyed making it! If you'd like to see how any of our songs turned out, check out a shared folder HERE with all the recordings.

I also wanted to pass along compliments from the 11 AM instrumentalists regarding Saturday Mass on 12/23. We had quite a few Sunday morning folks in attendance due to the Christmas Mass schedule. Nice job :-)

Songs & Updates for December 23 & 24, 2017

MERRY CHRISTMAS, ALL!

As you know, this weekend, we're covering Masses for the 4th Sunday of Advent (12/23) and Christmas Eve. Apologies for the long, messy post, but just want to make sure we're all on the same page. Please read carefully and let me know if any questions.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 16, 2017

This Saturday is the 3rd Sunday of Advent.

Thanks for bearing with my concert schedule last week! It was a fun performance, and coming to Mass in tux-like attire is always interesting :-)

We were light on musicians and rehearsal was a bit rushed (apologies for not quite having it together), but there weren't any major issues.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 9, 2017

This Saturday is the 2nd Sunday of Advent.

Thanks to everyone who was able to be at Mass last week! Even with a small group and everything that was going on, we didn't run into any issues. Special thanks to Denise (11 AM Choir) for agreeing to play on short-notice -- she and I ended up tag-teaming it, mainly due to differences in how music is lead/managed at our two Masses.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 2, 2017

This Saturday is the 1st Sunday of Advent.

Thanks for a very solid piano Mass last week! We ended up having a couple more instrumentalists out than anticipated. Things balanced out well, though, with a large group of singers and several people on the choir/guitar mics. We may also have a new person interested in singing with us.

Bev, Ginny, Lisa and I stuck around after Mass for a bite to eat and to run some Advent music. We touched on several of the new/less-familiar pieces, as well as one song for Christmas. I wouldn't mind scheduling an additional practice on 12/09 to work out a few more details.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, November 25, 2017

This Saturday is the Feast of Christ the King.

Thanks once again to Bev and Maggie for handling things in my absence! Hope everything went well. I'm looking forward to being back regularly for the remainder of the year :-)

Songs & Updates for Saturday, November 18, 2017

This Saturday is the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Nice job last week! Several of us have been in and out over the past month, so it was nice to be back at full strength. It was a busy night with the Baptism and other activities (plus a fairly large crowd), but everything went pretty smoothly.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, November 11, 2017

This Saturday is the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Thanks to everyone who was able to help out with both All Saints and regular Saturday Mass last week! We had small groups for both liturgies, but everything turned out pretty well.

Covering All Saints was a nice change in pace, and we (SCCS) also had a successful and well-received choir concert Saturday evening. I really appreciate everyone's willingness to step up and fill in/cover where needed. Things should be back to normal this week.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, November 4, 2017

This Saturday is the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Nice job last week! Our guitar section was out, but we still had a strong Mass centered around piano, violin and percussion. A few of us stuck around after Mass for a bite to eat, and had a chance to do some preliminary planning for Christmas.

Songs & Updates for Tuesday, October 31, 2017

This Tuesday is the Feast of All Saints.

As previously noted, we've been asked to lead the music for the All Saints Day liturgy on October 31st at 7 PM. The Sunday Choirs are handling the two remaining All Saints/All Souls Masses later in the week. Feel free to join them if you're able.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, October 28, 2017

This Saturday is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We had a pretty small group last week, including Bev, Tom, Maggie, Lisa, Steve, Barry, Rose and I. Thanks to everyone who stepped up to fill in the gaps!

Songs & Updates for Saturday, October 21, 2017

This Saturday is the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Nice job last week! Despite having a pretty small group, all of our songs had some great energy and harmony (a few samples here, here and here). It's easy to forget how effective a small group can be :-) Special thanks to Frances and Jonathan for joining us!

Songs & Updates for Saturday, October 14, 2017

This Saturday is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Thanks for another solid Mass last week! Everything flowed very well. Father also complimented us on vocal harmonies (apparently, this was mentioned at the other Masses as well). There were a few songs where the tempo was perhaps a bit too fast, but that's on me.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, October 7, 2017

This Saturday is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Nice job last week! We wrapped up our final (regular) Season of Creation Mass on a high note. The new Communion song, Where Two or Three Are Gathered (here), went very well for a first run. Since we took the time to learn it, I'd like to continue using this through the end of October.

Our first monthly dinner was also a success. Thanks to all who were able to bring food and hang out for a bit. I'd like to continue doing this regularly moving forward (perhaps on the last Saturday of each month?). Besides on-site pot luck, we could also explore other venue/food possibilities.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, September 30, 2017

This Saturday is the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We were back at full staff last week, and had yet another solid Mass. Thanks to all who were able to be there, especially the Davis clan for taking on the Psalm.

The wedding party didn't wrap up until about 4:15 PM, so a few of us spent a good 20 minutes cleaning up and resetting the Choir/Worship Space. Didn't cause any issues with practice, though.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, September 23, 2017

This Saturday is the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Considering we were down a few people and had a couple of more challenging songs, Mass last week was pretty solid. Thanks to all who were able to attend!

The individual who requested that we sing Amazing Grace passed along her compliments. We ended up using the GC rather than SS version, since it was in a more comfortable key. The unintended side affect was verses three and four were reversed, which caused some confusion. I should have caught that, so my apologies.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, September 16, 2017

This Saturday is the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We had another pretty solid Mass last Saturday, and for the first time in several weeks, our full compliment of instrumentalists. Thanks to all who were able to be there!

Father Baker covered for Father Charlie. This wasn't in the original plan, but didn't cause any problems. We nailed all the cues, including entrances on the Mass Parts that are normally sung, but were spoken instead. For those who didn't hear, Father said a service for one of the football teams, and got to watch the game from the sidelines.

There were a couple of issues with intros and tempo, though. Just a general note to watch and listen to each other, especially when we have more than one person playing accompaniment. When we go to start a song, I'm waiting for eyes so we can come in together.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, September 9, 2017

This Saturday is the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Nice job last week! We had a solid Mass with no issues. With a few tweaks to the arrangement, Touch the Earth Lightly went very well. We added an extra bar after each verse, and repeated the last line as an interlude. I don't think this will cause us any problems for the next several weeks.

Due to the larger-than-usual crowd, we also made it all the way through I Will Choose Christ for Communion, so Eva and Jim did a lovely rendition of How Beautiful (here) to fill the rest of the time. Moving forward, we should probably have a second song in mind just for these types of occasions.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, September 2, 2017

This Saturday is the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We had a pretty small group last week. There were some rough patches, but we made it through. Special thanks again to Tom and Frances for handling accompaniment, and Ben for taking on the Alleluia. I would say that the Psalm especially turned out well, considering it was a less-familiar tune.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, August 26, 2017

This Saturday is the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Thanks to everyone who was able to help with the Baptism last week! With everything that was going on, there were a few issues, but overall, the program went well. Having a thunderstorm in the middle of Mass definitely kept things interesting, and it was nice to have the Fricke clan back with us as well :-)

Songs & Updates for Saturday, August 19, 2017

This Saturday is the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Thanks for such a strong Mass last week! Nearly everything went smoothly, and we received compliments from several parishioners. I especially liked how You Are Mine (here) turned out, and enjoyed getting to play saxophone again (unplanned) on the Psalm (here).

The only real issue we ran into was the Communion song (here) -- we should definitely take some time to sort out that instrumental intro, and make sure we stick with a slower tempo.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, August 12, 2017

This Saturday is the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

For our first regular guitar Mass in quite a while, things went pretty well last week. There were a few minor communication issues, but I think those were mainly due to getting used to not having piano in the mix. Just a reminder to watch and listen to everyone around you so we're all on the same page.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, August 5, 2017

This Saturday is the Feast of the Transfiguration.

Everything went very well last week. Thanks to all who were able to be there! This wasn't planned, but Lift Up Your Hearts was among the first songs Tim played with us, and was also his last. It definitely made for a worthy send-off :-)

Songs & Updates for Saturday, July 29, 2017

This Saturday is the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We were down a couple of instrumentalists last week, but had a pretty solid Mass. The mix of traditional and contemporary songs really seemed to balance out well this go around. Thanks to all who were able to be there!

Songs & Updates for Saturday, July 22, 2017

This Saturday is the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Thanks to all who were able to be at Mass last week! We had a pretty small group, but didn't run into any major issues.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, July 15, 2017

This Saturday is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Nice job last week! For the first time in quite a while, nearly all of our instrumentalists were able to be there. Several people commented that they were impressed with our music, including the visiting Sister who came to speak about her missionary work.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, July 8, 2017

This Saturday is the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

Special thanks to Tom and Joe for being our sole instrumentalists last Saturday. Despite the circumstances, things went pretty well. Jim is returning this week, so our guitar section will be 'whole' again :-)

Songs & Updates for Saturday, July 1, 2017

This Saturday is the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We had another fairly solid Mass last week. Thanks to all who were able to attend! There were a few minor issues, but nothing too serious. Mass of Creation seems to be in a pretty good place, especially considering we did it 'cold'.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, June 24, 2017

This Saturday is the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Thanks to all who were able to be at Mass last week! We had a large group of singers to offset a few instrumentalists being out.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, June 17, 2017

This Saturday is the Feast of the Body & Blood of Christ.

We were a bit light on musicians, but Mass still ended up being pretty solid. Besides Tom and Maggie, Jonathan came to help us out in Tim's absence. We missed having Joe on percussion, but made it through. Both the Psalm (here) and our new Offertory song, The Play of the Godhead (here), were among our strongest pieces.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, June 10, 2017

This Saturday is Trinity Sunday.

Mass last week was one of our strongest in a while. I especially liked how well Spirit Blowing Through Creation turned out (here and here).

Special thanks to Tom's daughter Rachel for joining us on vocals. Huge thanks as well to Eva and Joe for averting a crisis with the sound system. For those who didn't hear, when I went to turn everything on, the entire rack was completely dead. It turns out that the wall outlet is fried, so they had to run an extension cord to get everything back online. Father is aware of the issue.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, June 3, 2017

This Saturday is Pentecost Sunday.

The Easter season is officially behind us, and we're just about to (re-)enter Ordinary Time.

Thanks to Eva for the coverage last week. I hope everything went well. Also, congratulations again to Lisa on the baby!

Songs & Updates for Saturday, May 27, 2017

This Saturday is the 7th Sunday of Easter.

Mass last week was pretty solid. Special thanks to Grace for cantoring, and Eva for the last-minute piano coverage. It was also nice to have Maggie back after a few weeks without a melodic instrument.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, May 20, 2017

This Saturday is the 6th Sunday of Easter.

Huge thanks to everyone who was able to come out last Saturday! Several of our instrumentalists had to call off, so Tom ended up playing lead, with Joe on percussion. It was a bit of a 'hybrid' Mass, with some songs done with accompaniment, and others a capella. Given the circumstances, everything turned out exceptionally well.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, May 13, 2017

This Saturday is the 5th Sunday of Easter.

Thanks for another solid Mass last week! Storrington Mass seems to be coming along nicely, especially the Gloria and Alleluia. We could definitely use additional harmony, but making sure everyone has the melody lines down is more critical.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, May 6, 2017

This Saturday is the 4th Sunday of Easter, as well as Good Shepherd Sunday.

Thanks to everyone who was able to be at Mass last week -- I hope things went well!

Songs & Updates for Saturday, April 29, 2017

This Saturday is the 3rd Sunday of Easter.

We had a small crew last week, but didn't run into any major issues. Special thanks to Jonathan, Eva, Joe and Tom for the instrument coverage. I would say This is the Day and Shine, Jesus, Shine were our strongest pieces of the night -- check them out here and here.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, April 22, 2017

This Saturday is the 2nd Sunday of Easter.

Thanks to all who were able to sing or play during Holy Week! From a music standpoint, I would say it was a success! Good Friday and Easter Sunday went very well, and Holy Thursday and the Easter Vigil were beautiful as always.

Songs & Updates for Holy Week 2017

Welcome to Holy Week!

Thanks to those who were able to attend rehearsal and bring food last week -- it was a nice spread! We had a chance to touch on quite a few of the more tricky songs for this week. For those of you who asked for sheet music or recordings of specific songs, everything should be below. If anything's missing, feel free to let me know.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, April 8, 2017

This Saturday is Palm Sunday.

Nice job last Saturday! We wrapped up the fifth week of Lent on a high note.

My apologies for the long post, but we still have a few details to work out before next week.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, April 1, 2017

This Saturday is the 5th Sunday of Lent.

Special thanks to Eva for the piano coverage last week! We ran into some issues with the Communion song, but Shepherd Me, O God and Deep Within turned out pretty well :-)

Songs & Updates for Saturday, March 25, 2017

This Saturday is the 4th Sunday of Lent.

Nice job last week! It was fun to pull out a few songs we don't do too often, such as Dust and Ashes and Change Our Hearts. The guitar and piano parts for Come to the Lord still aren't quite blending, but with two weeks to go, I'm not too worried about it at this point.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, March 18, 2017

This Saturday is the 3rd Sunday of Lent.

Nice job last week! Jim had something come up and wasn't able to join us, so Tim took point on piano. We also had a larger group of singers (more so than the past several weeks), and quite a few new faces in the congregation. Special thanks to Maggie, Lisa and Ginny for volunteering to cantor and sing lead from the guitar mics.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, March 11, 2017

This Saturday is the 2nd Sunday of Lent.

Special thanks to Lisa and Maggie for helping out with Ash Wednesday Mass! With the three of us in attendance, 5:30 was well-represented.

We ran into a few challenges on Saturday, but considering all the new material, it overall turned out well. Besides, we have four more weeks to work out the kinks :-)

Songs & Updates for Saturday, March 4, 2017

This Saturday is the 1st Sunday of Lent.

Mass last week was pretty solid. There were a few minor issues here and there, but nothing serious. Special thanks to Eva for the piano coverage. I'd also like to officially welcome Emiyare to the group on bass!

Songs & Updates for Saturday, February 25, 2017

This Saturday is the 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Thanks to those who were able to make the Lent music rehearsal on Friday! We ended up meeting in the Chapel since we weren't able to get the lights on in the Church (Sacristy was locked). We made it through most of Storrington Mass (sans the Gloria and Alleluia), as well as a few other songs.

Things were a bit chaotic at times, but hopefully, this gave everyone an idea of how this new Mass Setting will flow. Also, like Eva mentioned, learning the voice parts would really add quite a bit to this Setting, even if we start with the simpler pieces and work our way up. We'll start using this Setting next week, 03/04.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, February 18, 2017

This Saturday is the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Happy Valentines Day!

From the sounds of it, you guys had a small crew last week, but everything went pretty smoothly. Special thanks to Jim and Eva for heading things up.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, February 11, 2017

This Saturday is the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Thanks for another solid Mass last week!

I'm assuming most of you heard Father Charlie's Homily. The issues Father brought up have been discussed extensively at meetings, and there aren't too many easy solutions. Those of us in leadership roles don't always agree with Father's decisions, but it's easy to forget that he's in the very difficult position of running a Parish and trying to please everyone at the same time. Please keep him in your prayers this week.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, February 4, 2017

This Saturday is the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Thanks for another solid Mass last week!

As previously noted, Father is introducing a new Mass Setting for Lent entitled Storrington Mass (Marty Haugen). We'll be doing SS #151, Come to the Lord, as our Gathering song for the season, and GC3 #482, The Cross of Jesus, for Closing. Lent begins the first weekend in March. I'd like to schedule at least one rehearsal to learn the new Mass Setting, probably 02/17 if that works for everyone.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, January 28, 2017

This Saturday is the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Thanks for another very strong Mass last week!

We had a gentleman approach us afterward -- he made it a point to say how he really enjoys the 5:30 Mass, and gets so much more out of the liturgy because of the music :-)