tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7318545864976505075.post839881842532075052..comments2024-01-31T07:50:49.705-06:00Comments on Gentle Reign: What a liturgy director doesn’t doRorycooneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234523272768439816noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7318545864976505075.post-1014812289696356942013-02-12T07:46:05.647-06:002013-02-12T07:46:05.647-06:00Thanks, Todd. That's a good idea. We could als...Thanks, Todd. That's a good idea. We could also switch to the apparently preferred "Worship" from "Liturgy," with two unhappy outcomes. Outcome #1 "Rory Cooney: Worship", which looks like a line from a sitcom, where I'm playing an idolater in a golden-calf scene of the school play. Outcome #2: We are listed by office in the parish bulletin, reading thus: "Worship: Rory Cooney", which I might find an interesting idea but would send my enemies screaming to the blogosphere. :)Rorycooneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11234523272768439816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7318545864976505075.post-69444530906046171002013-02-11T22:33:56.082-06:002013-02-11T22:33:56.082-06:00Good; broad agreement with your essay here.
My p...Good; broad agreement with your essay here. <br /><br />My personal preference has been to dispense with the title. (You wouldn't believe how many pastors resist having directors, coordinators and ministers on staff.) I like my name listed, then a comma, then liturgy. It communicates who people go to in order to volunteer or serve. And it communicates I prefer to serve the community, or possibly manage. Not direct.<br /><br />ToddAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7318545864976505075.post-85336372759664857452013-02-11T09:32:18.605-06:002013-02-11T09:32:18.605-06:00Amen, brother. As I say, it's complex to me, b...Amen, brother. As I say, it's complex to me, because there are certainly cases where I actually wish, if not expect, the priest would "improvise" for the sake of clarity and prayer. But "Good morning!" is not a good opening after the singing has begun to bring the assembly together. I'd love to hear the sign of the cross, the ritual greeting, and THEN whatever the priest may feel he has to add before the penitential rite.Rorycooneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11234523272768439816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7318545864976505075.post-70763949500979183512013-02-11T09:27:40.909-06:002013-02-11T09:27:40.909-06:00All true. Nothing bears more influence over the li...All true. Nothing bears more influence over the liturgy than the demeanor of the presider. My parish is in an interesting position now, which is fast becoming the norm: our pastor serves two parishes, plus frequently travels throughout the diocese. This means half the time we have a rotating cast of guest presiders, retired priests, ordered priests, etc. Our pastor tends to follow the missal closely and lets the rite speak for itself. But many of our visiting retired priests, formed in the 1960s and 70s, tend to be free-wheeling, each with lots of variation and improvisation. As the liturgy director, charged with maintaining some kind of continuity in our worship, I never know what's coming next. <br /><br />It would be helpful if visiting priests had more consideration for the way a parish is accustomed to praying (in our case, using the actual rites in the book.) I can prepare all of the binders and presider notes in the world, but if the visiting priest is bent on going off-script, there's nothing I can do. The end result is inconsistent and confusing patterns of worship for our parishioners. One week they are encouraged to maintain prayerful silence before Mass, the next week a guest presider is warming up the crowd before Mass with jokes. One week we are chanting the dialogs, the next week we are being confused with "the Lord is with each and every one of you," um, "thank you? back atcha?" It is frustrating.Scott Pluffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15381029078008077114noreply@blogger.com