{"id":29684,"date":"2015-03-24T12:55:15","date_gmt":"2015-03-24T17:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=29684"},"modified":"2015-03-24T12:55:51","modified_gmt":"2015-03-24T17:55:51","slug":"the-place-of-the-pipe-organ-in-worship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2015\/03\/24\/the-place-of-the-pipe-organ-in-worship\/","title":{"rendered":"The Place of the Pipe Organ in Worship"},"content":{"rendered":"

A friend of mine recently sent me an article from Catholic News Herald titled \u201cFewer take up pipe organ, but its place as \u2018voice of church\u2019 secure<\/a>.\u201d Despite the affirmation of church documents that the organ is to be given \u201cpride of place\u201d in liturgical celebrations, fewer people are learning how to play it. Already there appears to be a growing need for organists in the United States, even as more and more communities abandon the instrument all together.<\/p>\n

The decline in organists in the United States has lead some to call it \u201ca dying art\u201d and to lament its inevitable disuse. However, CNH reports that the future of the organ in liturgical celebration is much brighter than headlines suggest<\/p>\n

According to Paul Skevington, a past chairman of the NPM\u2019s section of organists, the organ will continue to be the cornerstone of liturgical music: “Overall, the state of organ music is positive and uplifting\u2026It’s not going anywhere; it’s simply becoming part of the bigger mosaic.” Skevington\u2019s statement should comfort those who fear the decline of organists in the American Guild of Organists and NPM. The CNH article also reports that the College Music Society has observed a 14% decline in the number of students seeking a master\u2019s degree in organ performance from 2012 to 2013.<\/p>\n

As CNH notes, the larger problem \u201cis not a shortage of organists but a dearth of full-time, well-paying church organist positions.\u201d Skevington is also right to point to the lack of proper funding for music ministry in most parishes. It seems that the decline in organ playing can be directly tied to across the board cuts in parish budgets. Foregoing an organist is just one example of attempts to keep parish budgets in the black amid declining collections.<\/p>\n

Some parishes are even intentionally building churches without an organ. CNH reports that John Romeri, the director of liturgical music for the Philadelphia Archdiocese, has noted that \u201csome new parishes are not leaving space in their building plans for the pipe organ, because the instruments are pricey and dip into strained parish budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the turmoil, Richard Parsons, president of the Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America, has \u201csaid that while fewer organs are being built nationally, the industry is doing well.\u201d<\/p>\n

As someone who enjoys organ music and believes that the organ deserves \u201cpride of place\u201d in liturgical celebrations, I hope those quoted by CNH are right when they say that the pipe organ is here to stay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite the affirmation of church documents that the organ is to be given \u201cpride of place\u201d in liturgical celebrations, fewer people are learning how to play it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"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":[],"class_list":["post-29684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-general"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Place of the Pipe Organ in Worship - 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\/2015\/03\/24\/the-place-of-the-pipe-organ-in-worship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Place of the Pipe Organ in Worship - 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