Songs & Updates for Saturday, January 20, 2018

This Saturday is the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Thanks for another solid Mass last week! We were down a few people, but didn't really run into any issues. As always, I appreciate everyone's willingness to step up and fill in the gaps. I'm also glad the weather decided to cooperate -- having to come up with a contingency plan would have made things a bit...interesting.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, January 13, 2018

This Saturday is the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Thanks for another solid Mass last week! I especially liked how Lord, Every Nation (here) turned out. We've had trouble integrating piano in the past, but everything seemed to blend together well this go around. Here I Am, Lord (here) also had some great harmony -- we'll be revisiting this song later in the month.

With Epiphany behind us, the Christmas Season has officially come to an end (I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday!). This week, we return to Ordinary Time until the start of Lent in mid-February.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, January 6, 2018

This Saturday is the Feast of the Epiphany.

Thanks for another great year of music! We've had our fair share of challenges and changes over the past 12 months, but I think we're steadily moving in the right direction. I'm looking forward to seeing what 2018 holds. Again, if you have any thoughts on things you'd like to see us do, please let me know.

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, 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 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, 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 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, October 8, 2016

This Saturday is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Huge shout-out to Eva for being our sole instrumentalist last Saturday! Special thanks as well to the folks who stepped up to cantor the Psalm, Alleluia, and the first part of the Communion song!

Despite being short on musicians and a compressed rehearsal, we had a nice-sized group of singers and Mass ended up going pretty well.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, October 1, 2016

This Saturday is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Mass last week was pretty solid. Thanks to everyone who was able to be there, especially Jonathan for helping us out on bass and Frances for joining us for the first time on flute!

Songs & Updates for Saturday, September 3, 2016

This Saturday is the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We were very short on musicians last week, but didn't run into any major issues. Special thanks to Eva for covering piano, Ben for helping me out with the Psalm and to everyone else who was able to be there! It was also great to see so many of you at the Group Therapy concert to support Jim, Jonathan and Maggie in their new musical endeavor!

Songs & Updates for Saturday, August 27, 2016

This Saturday is the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Thanks to everyone who was able to be at Mass last week! Jim had something come up and wasn't able to be there, so Maggie and Joe made up our instrument compliment for the night.

I'm not usually a fan of pulling off largely a capella Masses without advanced planning, but most of our tunes turned out pretty well. Adding in harmony helped to fill in the gaps, while Joe's percussion minimized tempo issues.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, August 20, 2016

This Saturday is the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Once again, very nice work last week! Mass was pretty strong and everything went smoothly even with a visiting priest. Special thanks to Jonathan for dropping by to help us out!