I like a through-composed Gloria, that is, one without a refrain. I intensely dislike refrains; it just seems like a very cheesy, overt, trying-too-hard way to get everyone to “participate.”
I couldn’t care less whether there is congregational participation or not. Congregational participation is nice, but then we get stuck into that “participate-a-thon” mode where it becomes practically anathema to have occasional or semi-regular difficult Renaissance polyphonic settings, which I immensely enjoy, and which of course only the choir is usually trained well enough to sing.
Mass becomes too much like a school field day when we are expected to do everything at all times. I certainly think that congregational participation should be fostered in a reasonable and understandable way, but to always sacrifice musical beauty in the name of participation is a kick in the teeth. That is not to say that simpler settings cannot be beautiful, but nothing quite beats an occasional polyphonic setting; some diehard “participation promoters” shudder at that, I find, because it necessitates the majority of the people remaining quiet.
In short, I think balance is key. There is nothing wrong with congregational participation, and I won’t argue against it, but when it becomes the kind of shove-it-down-your-throat “PARTICIPATION PARTICIPATION PARTICIPATION” environment, it’s cheesy and tends to make many people not want to participate in anything at all.
On a related note, I think we Catholics in the recent past have almost turned congregational participation at Mass into a God in and of itself to be worshiped, and I think we have to get out of that theme.
That’s my two cents.
Matter of fact, the choir director admitted that she had no idea what that section of the new hymnal was about. She didn’t bother to look at it.