I’m writing this message from Dallas, Texas, where I’ve been attending the annual conference of the Association of Anglican Musicians (AAM), the official organization for Episcopal Church musicians (and others within the Anglican Communion). I have been a member of this organization since 2011, and since then, I have attended a number of conferences across the country. And for the past three years, I have served as chair of the Professional Concerns and Development Committee of AAM. In this work, I have been reminded of the importance of healthy working relationships between musicians and clergy. You may recall that our new retreat house hosted a program retreat last fall led by the late former Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold that was attended to explore the shared mutual ministry of priest and musician. Our retreat house was also the recipient of a generous grant from AAM of $10,000 towards our retreat house. Collaborating with AAM has been one way in which Good Shepherd has expanded its connections beyond the diocese and within the national Church.
Over this past week, I have attended stunning concerts of choral and organ music, workshops, as well as liturgies in a variety of Episcopal churches in Dallas. I have been moved many times at the outstanding quality of music-making, as well as by the evident power of sacred music not only to support the liturgy, but to lift it up, as conference participants were reminded by Mother Barbara Cawthorne Crafton, an Episcopal priest who was a guest speaker at the conference. Church music is not a job for most musicians; it is a vocation. Sadly, for years, the Church has, and continues, to undervalue this vocation, and there continue to be vast disparities between pension benefits (and other benefits) for clergy and those for musicians. It is time for the Church to address this inequity. Our own bishop of Pennsylvania, the Rt. Rev. Daniel Gutiérrez, flew to Dallas for this week’s AAM conference to participate in a conversation exploring how the Church can better support musicians who are in conflict with their clergy and who are not receiving appropriate compensation and benefits from the Church for which they so lovingly labor. Bishop Gutiérrez is willing to begin to address these issues within our own diocese.
I am grateful that Good Shepherd has chosen to do the ethical and just thing in treating its employees. We are providing pension payments for our lay employees who work at least 20 hours a week (as we should), unlike some parishes who violate the national Church’s mandate to do so. And in the ongoing search for a new Director of Music, the vestry has approved offering full medical benefits (not required for 20-hour-a-week positions) as well. This is a remarkable testimony of how much we value our lay staff. Despite our significant financial challenges, we are willing to do the right thing rather than the cheap thing.
I have several takeaways from this week at the Dallas AAM conference. First, when a group of people organizes itself and intentionally utilizes the gifts in its midst with gusto, anything can happen. AAM has effectively advocated for change within the Episcopal Church and has made a significant impact upon musicians who serve the Church, and it does so as a non-profit with one paid staff member. This is a reminder to me of what Good Shepherd can do to further Gospel ministry if we put our minds to it. In short, if you are not already involved in ministry in the parish, we need your help! Good Shepherd is heading in a positive direction, but we have much left to do to reach a place of enduring health and sustainability. We need all of you to help.
Second, in the South, I have seen a different way of being the Church. The church campuses here are huge, well endowed and funded by generous giving, and the churches themselves seem to be flourishing, too. Church attendance is strong, and there is impressive financial support of parish ministry. Many parishes have multiple full-time musicians in their employ. We can’t and shouldn’t compare Good Shepherd to such churches, but we can look at other flourishing parishes to remind ourselves of what it takes to support long-lasting ministry: God’s grace, of course, and human faithfulness, but also humanpower and money. Talking about money is not opposed to the Gospel; it’s something that enables the Gospel to be spread to the ends of the earth.
Finally, I have heard consistently over the past week how music changes the lives of people: both adults and children. I have seen the communities that are fostered within sacred music programs and how such vibrant programs can bring people to Christ. And I have seen how children and youth have anchored their lives in Christ through music, too. This is no newsflash to me, but this week, talking with colleagues and experiencing the Church in another part of the country, I have been reminded of why it’s important that we at Good Shepherd continue to support sacred music, as well as expand our investment in it. I’m grateful for your willingness to do so over the years, even when the easy answer to financial challenges would have been to make music the sacrificial victim.
As a closing thought, you may want to watch a livestream from a service of Choral Evensong at the Church of the Incarnation in Dallas, part of this week’s conference. Listen to the congregational singing (especially at 1:48:33 in the video) if you have any doubt of the power of music. You will hear a room full of professional musicians singing their hearts out. Please pray for all church musicians, for our own musician, Matt Glandorf, as he prepares to begin a new phase in his career, for our incoming interim musician Jack Warren Burnam, and for our Director of Music search. May God continue to build his kingdom and spread Christ’s Gospel through the art and gift of music.
I will be away this coming Sunday, as I’m staying in Texas to visit family. Thank you to Father Tim Steeves, who will be filling in for me as celebrant this Sunday for Masses. I will look forward to seeing you when I return!
Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle