ITT We Discuss Theology

[Psi U MC Vito]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Dirge-like guitars! Ack!

How is that possible? Though when I was a camp counselor our music director/guitarist managed to turn all the hymns into country songs.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Dirge-like guitars! Ack!

Originally Posted by Psi U MC Vito

How is that possible? Though when I was a camp counselor our music director/guitarist managed to turn all the hymns into country songs.

Yes, they are SOOOO slow with some songs that the congregation will probably think I have a bladder problem.

The worst part is that it seems to happen most often when the pastor's (grown) son is worship leader.

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by honeychile

Yes, they are SOOOO slow with some songs that the congregation will probably think I have a bladder problem.

When I was a kid, my local parish had the dreaded "Mark the Organist". Whenever there was a hymn in the Mass, he would play at least one, usually two or three, more verses than was necessary. For example, during the entrance, he would start to play as the altar boys, lector, and priest processed in, keep playing as the priest prepared the altar, and then KEEP playing as the priest stood there waiting. He wasn't slow, he just played too many extra verses.

This didn't sit well with my father. When I entered eighth grade, there were two Confirmation class teachers in the parish's CCD program. One of them was Mark. My father went to the head of the program and said, "Please please PLEASE don't put my daughter in Mark's class." So I was placed in the other class. The teacher was a priest and an excellent instructor.

(... And now I'm Jewish. )

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by aephi alum

When I was a kid, my local parish had the dreaded "Mark the Organist". Whenever there was a hymn in the Mass, he would play at least one, usually two or three, more verses than was necessary. For example, during the entrance, he would start to play as the altar boys, lector, and priest processed in, keep playing as the priest prepared the altar, and then KEEP playing as the priest stood there waiting. He wasn't slow, he just played too many extra verses.

See, now there's a Protestant-Catholic difference I just never could get used to. In my Protestant (more particularly Presbyterian) world, it's rare that you don't sing all of the verses. It doesn't matter if everyone has finished processing and is standing there waiting for the next thing, if there are still three verses, then you sing the remaining three verses. Sometimes you miss the whole point of the hymn if you don't sing the whole thing. The only time verses get dropped is if there's risk of the service going way too long, or if the hymn is being used for a specific purpose and only certain verses fit that purpose.

So it's always odd to me when in a Catholic Church they stop the hymn because whatever action going on was done. I feel a little cheated. But then again, it often seems that in general (there are definitely exceptions), Catholics just don't sing hymns with the same . . . fervor? . . . that Protestants traditionally do. I'm not criticizing that, but just noting what seems to be a cultural difference.