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 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 :-)