{"id":26161,"date":"2014-06-04T10:22:37","date_gmt":"2014-06-04T15:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=26161"},"modified":"2014-06-04T22:21:14","modified_gmt":"2014-06-05T03:21:14","slug":"thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on the Liturgical Ministry of Cantors (and Presiders)"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Father Paul Nienaber, SJ<\/em><\/p>\n

These reflections on the spirituality of liturgical ministry were shared last year in the comment thread of a post by Rita Ferrone: \u201cWhat Cantors Need Most.\u201d They are reprinted here with Fr. Nienaber\u2019s kind permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Margaret
Margaret Brown, Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle. Washington, D.C.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Much of what I learned about being cantor \u2014 and, mutatis mutandis, about presiding at liturgy \u2014 I learned from another NPM Master Cantor Teacher, James Hansen. In an emailed conversation with him a few years ago, I offered ten points for cantors; FWIW:<\/p>\n

1) All authentic ministry starts with the minister\u2019s internal spiritual life. One hopes that this life is a richly nurtured and fruitful reality, but there must at least be something there. As I remember Lucien Deiss saying, \u201cHow can we be women of prayer and men of praise on Sunday morning if nothing happens during the week?\u201d<\/p>\n

2) Technique must be solid and dependable. This is true for vocal technique, of course, but also for communication (verbal and not). If I sing, \u201cMay Christ Jesus, Word made flesh, graciously smile upon us,\u201d and my face and body are broadcasting on all wavelengths, \u201cI\u2019m thinking about something else\u201d or \u201cGet me out of here!\u201d, the message is lost. I have to be able to rise above my imperfect voice, arthritic knees, or dysphoric affect, and at least appear that I want Jesus to smile upon us. I still remember in this regard your advice about gestures moving outward from the center, and being inviting rather than directing. I hope I\u2019ve practiced that long enough that it\u2019s in my spinal cord.<\/p>\n

3) In most situations, technique should be vernacular. I have encountered cantors who think they\u2019re the next Bocelli, and affect these pear-shaped tones: \u201cO Gahd, yeoo ah maee Gahd, for yeoo Ahee lahng\u2026\u201d as if English weren\u2019t their native language. (Always reminds me of the quip: I have a British accent, so I\u2019m smarter than you are.)<\/p>\n

4) The minister\u2019s education, experience, and imaginative resources have to be broad-ranging enough to be able to have at least some referent for the situation being addressed. If I want to tell the story, \u201cI called to the Lord, my cry was heard\u201d and have no memory-event of God hearing me upon which I can draw, how can I tell that story? There are things, to be sure, for which I do not (e.g., what does it feel like when your first child is born?) or cannot (what\u2019s it like to feel an unborn child move in your abdomen?) have a referent; hopefully my imagination can extrapolate.<\/p>\n

5) Ministry is presence, and more. There are things that I do (e.g., visiting folks in the hospital) that are mostly about showing up. But I think the reason I find presiding well so taxing is that I have to not just be there, but pay attention \u2013 watch, listen, consider, respond. My exhaustion may have much to do with my wonted introversion, but I think the best ministers pay careful and thoughtful attention to the assembly gathered.<\/p>\n

6) Ministry has a performative dimension. Like it or not, ready or not, in the mood or not, come Sunday morning, I\u2019m on. This is not all that ministry is about, but as my presiding teacher responded to a student who complained about the artificiality of presiding, \u201cIf you can\u2019t stand being on stage, take off the costume!\u201d<\/p>\n

7) Ministry should have a certain transparency. If the assembly\u2019s experience-trajectory ends on me, then I\u2019ve failed \u2013 it must point beyond me, to God.<\/p>\n

8) Ministry should be enjoyable. One memorable comment I received from an elderly woman as she exited after mass: \u201cOh, Father, it\u2019s wonderful watching you preside; you always look like you\u2019re having such a good time up there!\u201d<\/p>\n

9) Ministry makes you open, and that can mean being vulnerable. I still get nervous when I stand at the ambo after the Gospel; is this the time I completely screw it up?<\/p>\n

10) Ministry is not about the minister. My ministry attempts, however haltingly, to name the grace of God present in this particular assembly. It\u2019s about God\u2019s people, and about God.<\/p>\n

Paul Nienaber SJ is a Jesuit priest and physics educator; he is Associate Professor and Chair of Physics at Saint Mary’s University in Winona, MN.\u00a0 He spends summers and school breaks working in neutrino physics at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in west suburban Chicago, residing and celebrating liturgy at his “home” parish of Saint Scholastica in Woodridge IL. His first collection of hymn texts, “Arise, O Church,” is being published by World Library.<\/em><\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Thomas Stehle, music director.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Much of what I learned about being cantor \u2014 and, mutatis mutandis, about presiding at liturgy \u2014 I learned from another NPM Master Cantor Teacher, James Hansen. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[2793],"class_list":["post-26161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-general","tag-paul-nienaber"],"yoast_head":"\nThoughts on the Liturgical Ministry of Cantors (and Presiders) - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thoughts on the Liturgical Ministry of Cantors (and Presiders) - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Much of what I learned about being cantor \u2014 and, mutatis mutandis, about presiding at liturgy \u2014 I learned from another NPM Master Cantor Teacher, James Hansen.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-04T15:22:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-06-05T03:21:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/photo1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Other Voices\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Other Voices\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/04\\\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/04\\\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Other Voices\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4eec536020900714d992552a4e06f913\"},\"headline\":\"Thoughts on the Liturgical Ministry of Cantors (and Presiders)\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-04T15:22:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-05T03:21:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/04\\\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":805,\"commentCount\":12,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/04\\\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/photo1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Paul Nienaber\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Music: General\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/04\\\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/04\\\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/04\\\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\\\/\",\"name\":\"Thoughts on the Liturgical Ministry of Cantors (and Presiders) - Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/04\\\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/04\\\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/photo1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-04T15:22:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-05T03:21:14+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/04\\\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/04\\\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/04\\\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/photo1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/photo1.jpg\",\"width\":1296,\"height\":968,\"caption\":\"Margaret Brown, Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle. Washington, D.C.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/04\\\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Thoughts on the Liturgical Ministry of Cantors (and Presiders)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Home\",\"description\":\"Worship, Wit & Wisdom\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Home\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg\",\"width\":1340,\"height\":209,\"caption\":\"Home\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4eec536020900714d992552a4e06f913\",\"name\":\"Other Voices\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/othervoices\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Thoughts on the Liturgical Ministry of Cantors (and Presiders) - Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Thoughts on the Liturgical Ministry of Cantors (and Presiders) - Home","og_description":"Much of what I learned about being cantor \u2014 and, mutatis mutandis, about presiding at liturgy \u2014 I learned from another NPM Master Cantor Teacher, James Hansen.","og_url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/","og_site_name":"Home","article_published_time":"2014-06-04T15:22:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-06-05T03:21:14+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/photo1.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Other Voices","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Other Voices","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/"},"author":{"name":"Other Voices","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4eec536020900714d992552a4e06f913"},"headline":"Thoughts on the Liturgical Ministry of Cantors (and Presiders)","datePublished":"2014-06-04T15:22:37+00:00","dateModified":"2014-06-05T03:21:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/"},"wordCount":805,"commentCount":12,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/photo1.jpg","keywords":["Paul Nienaber"],"articleSection":["Music: General"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/","name":"Thoughts on the Liturgical Ministry of Cantors (and Presiders) - Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/photo1.jpg","datePublished":"2014-06-04T15:22:37+00:00","dateModified":"2014-06-05T03:21:14+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/photo1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/photo1.jpg","width":1296,"height":968,"caption":"Margaret Brown, Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle. Washington, D.C."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/04\/thoughts-on-the-liturgical-ministry-of-cantors-and-presiders\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Thoughts on the Liturgical Ministry of Cantors (and Presiders)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/","name":"Home","description":"Worship, Wit & Wisdom","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization","name":"Home","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg","width":1340,"height":209,"caption":"Home"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4eec536020900714d992552a4e06f913","name":"Other Voices","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/author\/othervoices\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26161"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26202,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26161\/revisions\/26202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}