If you build it, they will come....

It was some time in the summer of 2012 that, out of the blue, our recently-arrived parish priest asked me to start a music group to minister to our Saturday Vigil Mass; a group that, in particular, he wanted to attract young people to be involved in the life of the Church.

First, a little background information.  For about six or seven years, since moving to the area, I had been involved in the music ministry at the Sunday morning Mass at one of the two parishes in our small town.  It was very low-pressure stuff; there was already in place a very talented musician/singer/composer who planned everything and I merely turned up and added some strumming on my guitar, some vocal harmonies and, occasionally, a solo or two.  However, due to family circumstances, we started to attend the Vigil Mass at the other Church and my guitar rarely left its case for several years.  The new Parish Priest became aware of my musical inclination because I had been asked to play and sing at a couple of funerals in our parish.

It was with some trepidation that I received his invitation.  It was not uncommon for us to be away visiting friends or family at the weekends, so a regular commitment would be difficult.  Also, I had not been solely responsible for Sunday liturgical music since my University Chaplaincy days in the mid/late 80s.  And how was I to get all these young people involved?

My initial commitment was to play once a month and so, on the 1^st Sunday of Advent 2012 we began, just myself and our PP (this was in the days when we had a curate).  I arrived that evening with plans that were far too grandiose and ambitious and the PP correctly urged me to moderate these plans.  And so it continued for two or three months/Masses.  I was aware of a teenager who was involved in the music at the other parish; she played the flute but these skills were not being utilised.  So I asked whether she would like to play the flute with us and she liked the idea.  To this day she is the only member of our group that I have gone out to canvas.  Along with her came her mother and sister, both of whom started the singing section of our group along with my wife.

From that point onwards, our numbers grew so that, very soon, our PP no longer had to play with us.  But pretty much each addition to our group came to us rather than us having to go to them.  I was performing at our parish St Patrick’s Day party when a mother, clearly enjoying the evening, asked whether her son could get involved with any music in the parish.  “Well,” I said, “We only play the Irish folk music once a year, but we have a music group that plays at Mass.”  Her son joined us at the next Mass.  On other occasions people I already knew, or complete strangers, would come up and say that they enjoyed what we are doing; I would ask whether they sang or played an instrument and whether they would like to join us.  Parents would come up and say that their child would like to play or sing at Mass with us.  After two years, at full strength, we had seven musicians (of which four were from the “target” youth group) and ten singers (of which four were youth).  By this time our playing had increased to every fortnight. 

It became a common occurrence that, whilst shopping in the local TESCO (other supermarkets are available), I would be approached by someone in the parish who would say “thank you” and how much they appreciated our efforts.

So, what did I learn over those first two years?  What pearls of wisdom can I share?  

If your parish is in need of a music ministry and you feel drawn – you sense that it is your charism for the Church, then do it!  It will gain a momentum and others will join you in your endeavours.  But don’t expect to have the “finished product” straight way – be modest in your ambitions to start with and build up over time.  This is partly so that you don’t put too much pressure on yourself and/or burn out, and partly because your average Catholic parishioner is a conservative soul and will be frightened and even angry at too much change too soon.