I'm just responding to the article I just read on your webzine.

Let me just contextualize where I'm coming from so you understand my possible biasness. I am an ex-Methodist, having converted to Catholicism 10 years ago (I am now 32). I was a choir member and then a choir master at my parish at Holy Family Church. After that I part of the founding group called New Praise Generation which was a ministry aimed at promoting Contemporary Christian Music (but not in a liturgical context).

As a choir master I had the most awful time trying to even get my choir members to loosen up and clap whenever they sang a joyful entrance hymn. It often just went into this mechanical lifeless and hardly inspirational drone. As a choir, I saw our task as that of helping to uplift the Lord through song and music and of course in other parts of the liturgy, encouraging a prayerful spirit. However, it was hard for them to accept that anything other than 1950s styled hymns had a place in the mass.

I feel therefore that your article has done a disservice in helping those trying to encourage a more effective music and praise ministry at Mass. Yes, I understand different people have different music taste but consider how more and more kids think that the Catholic Church is this dinosaur that has lost it's relevance and lost touch of the issues and people of today. I have no qualms if people prefer certain parishes to others based on musical styles as long as there is a place for them. But I think it is wrong to dictate that all parishes must have only one musical style to suit a musical PREFERENCE instead of something that is objective.

Don't get me wrong, there have been instances when I've had choirs whack out a super-pop thanksgiving performace of a hymn one moment and then 2 minutes later go into a prayerful latin Ave Maria next. Totally disastrous.

The Church needs to move and grow with its people. St Paul writes that we need to be "all things to all men." The mass needs to reach out to the people where they are rather than have this "take it or leave it" attitude to all aspects of the mass. We need to understand the cultural and personal preferences from the other aspects of the mass that cannot be compromised.

Don't blame microphones, blame churches who think that turning on a mic is all you need. Where is the attention to detail? Is it all in the fancy architecture and the horrible echo-ey acoustics it encourages? No one is monitoring sound levels or balance. Why aren't we as a community putting effort into all these aspects on Sunday when we are doing much much more outside of Church? Is it precisely because it is Mass and therefore we don't bring our talents into it? Because nothing should change?

Consider how the Protestant churches do praise and worship and consider how some of these music ministries are just as effective in getting people to celebrate God's love as they are in getting the congregation to be in a prayerful or sombre mood. We have lots to learn from them especially when more and more younger Catholics I know are leaving the Catholic church because the mass is dead for them.

I think the Catholic Church in Singapore needs to hold a mirror to itself because judging the people who leave it. As someone who was brought up in a Protestant background, it pains me to see how the Catholic Church is really wasting its potential simply because of its resistance to change as if change is wrong. The Pope himself celebrated mass and World Youth Day with the likes of DC TALK, and if it's good enough for him, can't it work here at least in some contexts?

Thanks for reading. I just really think that the Catholic Church has enough inertia for there not to be more articles like these promoting it. How about a more balanced view? Talk to the kids - find out what they are not getting in Church. Find out why Sunday is such a routine. Find out why they are leaving the Church. Talk to them as I have and you will see a different picture. These are real people with real problems. The mass to them is not real. What can we do about it?

God bless you.

Edmund Tan
Holy Family Parish
Singapore

Dear Edmund,

Thank you very much for your response.

I don’t think the writer article encourages inertia and is against change. He is not slamming praise and worship. The writer is also not saying that “all parishes must have only one musical style to suit a musical PREFERENCE instead of something that is objective.”

I think the writer’s 2 main points are: musical incompetence (for example, karaoke soloist singing which drowns out the congregation) and lack of appreciation of the whole of the Catholic liturgical tradition. This is NOT to be confused with a hyper-conservative position which says: bring back the Latin Mass and make it compulsory. This is NOT the writer’s position.

Also, the writer is speaking about the context of your average Singaporean parish, not World Youth Day gatherings and not episcopal ordinations. Let us ask one basic question: is the average Singaporean parish choir able to create any semblance of an atmosphere of solemnity, the sense of being moved to contemplate heavenly realities? Just as Catholics leave the Church because they never really understood it in the first place, Catholics think so-called church music is boring because they have never really heard it.

My personal opinion—not the writer’s—is that every Catholic should know a few basic Latin tunes (like Salve Regina, Veni Creator Spiritus etc.). Especially on big occasions and on pilgrimage the whole congregation should be able to sing it by heart. You cited the Pope as an example of openness. The writer of the article has no problem about the Church being all things to all men and using contemporary styles of music. But Latin is still being sung at the Vatican. For some reason Singapore is focussing a lot on music which is neither here nor there—and doing it badly at that.

The repertoire is weird also. For example, the song ‘The Pilgrim Song’—what is that about? Just read the lyrics and think for a moment. It is neither a powerful charismatic song nor is it a beautiful traditional hymn. No mention of the saving grace of the Jesus. How did that get in our hymnals?

On the other hand, take the hymn ‘Lead, Kindly Light’ by John Henry Cardinal Newman, an important hymn by an important man. But I’ve never heard it sung before in Singapore. I don’t even know what it sounds like. Could somebody tell me why this hymn is gone from our repertoire, but I'm singing about the Spring season in a tropical climate in ‘Pass It On’? I try to pray the Liturgy of the Hours and am flabbergasted that I have never been taught 95% of the hymns printed there.

So, I think you actually have a bit in common with the writer of the article. You state: “Don't blame microphones, blame churches who think that turning on a mic is all you need. Where is the attention to detail?” I think we all agree on that point. I would also add that liturgical training is necessary and I hope something will be set up soon to provide proper guidelines and input for all our parishes. Liturgy is important and bad music can kill what should be the highlight of our week.

About The youth. To me, that’s a separate issue. But since you brought it up...Just because a church uses electric guitars and drums does not necessarily mean it will attract more youth. You will be surprised—many youth also hunger to be taught your basic Catholic hymns. We must not underestimate the youth, thinking they can only understand pop and rock. I dare say that myself and all the contributors of the Prompt are quite young, and we can all appreciate the beauty of a well-done ‘Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow’ or ‘Holy God We Praise Thy Name’. And as the writer pointed out in his article, elements of Gregorian chant were used in dance music very recently. And what about Taizé chant? Taizé prayer appeals primarily to the youth (I went to the Philippines for WYD 95; the youth were crazy about it). But which parish uses Taizé chant on a regular basis? If the Church wants to be all things to all men, shouldn’t they also cater to these youth as well?

The moral of the story, perhaps: Bad music and music done badly doesn’t work with any age group, and good music and music done well will be effective with any age group.

Once again, Edmund, thank you for your response. God bless.

Anthony Tan
Editor, The Prompt