Music by Protestant Composers

[johnmann]

Cat, that’s interesting. Even Matt Maher has to use Protestant musicians to play for him. There just aren’t enough Catholic pop artists. At least not in English. It seems Protestant communities create space for pop art and allow it to flourish to its full potential. Those opportunities are very hard to come by in Catholic settings.

 

[janeway529]

Yes, it’s a youth prayer group that takes place on Friday nights.

Now, about the “plenty of Catholic music…”
Our prayer group is bilingual, Spanish/English, and I have found that there are plenty of good Spanish Catholic singers/bands as opposed to English speaking artists.

Of course, we can throw out the Protestant music and learn the Catholic music; but that would take A LOT of time!
Right now we have around 60+ songs, and about 80% of them are by Protestant composers.

My coordinator asked to please play Catholic music.
I want to be obedient, but I’m wondering, is it really that big of a deal?

Since there isn’t as much Catholic artists in English as opposed to other languages, have you considered using more non-English Catholic artists, like those from Brazil and Spain. for example? Simple Taize chants or even Gregorian Chants are great too, to mix it up, unless it’s mostly a praise type of setting. From the African-American Catholic Community, Gospel songs, frequently used in Catholic Masses, are another option. While you don’t want to limit yourself to Christian Pop/Rock, don’t forget that most of the hymns we’ve adopted for Mass are of Protestant origin.

Some Catholic Artists:
Jacob and Matthew Band
Jesse Manibusan
Matt Maher
Danielle Rose
Trevor Thompson
Pedro Rubalcava (Spanish)
Fr. Liam Lawton (Celtic)

 

[Lilla321]

Matt Maher is a Catholic whose songs are featured on Christian raido. He sang his hit “Lord I Need You” during Adoration at World Youth Day. danielle Rose is another Catholic singer who is geared to younger prople.

Also, check out Audrey Assad. From what I understand she is Catholic.

 

[Sarabande]

Cat, that’s interesting. Even Matt Maher has to use Protestant musicians to play for him. There just aren’t enough Catholic pop artists. At least not in English. It seems Protestant communities create space for pop art and allow it to flourish to its full potential. Those opportunities are very hard to come by in Catholic settings.

Yes, very true. I think it is a systemic problem with today’s Catholic music and musicians, in general. There aren’t even enough good Catholic classically-trained instrumentalists and singers, especially when they are often poo-pooed as showing off (even when they aren’t). Even if you can’t play this kind of music for liturgy, I see no problem in encouraging it outside of mass… pop, folk, classical, etc.

 

[SMHW]

By discussing extra-liturgical music we may be going into Popular Media Forum territory but in contemplating this I think there is a connection to music used in worship services (if not expressly liturgical music). We do seem to be wandering away from the topic of protestant composers.

When you look at where a lot of musical artists, both Christian and secular, got their starts, it was in Church music. A lot of rock and pop artists started out singing and playing gospel and praise music in the local church. Singing and playing in a church environment was good training for being in front of a live concert audience. It would also be a way for would-be composers and/or arrangers to see what kinds of music could be sung by non-musicians.

Unless a would-be Catholic pop music artist belongs to a parish where pop-style music is used at Mass, he/she is not as likely to get a specifically Catholic introduction to playing music. Now obviously we shouldn’t chose our music for Mass because we wish to provide job training for future Catholic musical artists and composers. I’m just saying that you are probably more likely to see Christian contemporary artists come from backgrounds where they grew up playing and singing contemporary Christian music.

 

[SMHW]

EXCELLENT! These thoughts should be a blog on this website and in Catholic magazines and newspapers all over the United States. Thank you, SMHW!! Keep saying this, because it’s absolutely true.

Thank you Cat. I’m not sure exactly what I said that caught your attention. But again, thank you.

 

[15Lk_clu]

I think it’s a song-by-song basis. Some, I would avoid, like, “Mary, Did You Know?” (Yes, she did, shut up). Others, I think are fantastic, like “All of Creation” by MercyMe, for example.

 

[drafdog]

I sing bass with the Schola. We sing a variety of liturgical music including Gregorian chant and polyphonic works as well as selections from the hymnal. When preparing a motet, I concentrate on getting the music and the pronunciation of the text correct. It never occurs to me to look up the religious background of the composer. It just isn’t important. What is important is to lull the congregation into a meditative state so that they can listen to that still small voice.

Reb Levi

 

[robwar]

Some years back, perhaps in a youth group setting, I heard a very uplifting song based on the 23rd Psalm by the late Keith Green. I loved the song and wanted to hear more of his music so I ordered his album. When the album arrived, I was shocked to find anti-Catholic tracts from Keith’s pet organization Last Days Ministries included with the album.

It appears that non-Catholic groups not only benefit financially from Christian music sold to Catholics but in some cases deliberately use Christian music as a hook to try to pull Catholics out of the Catholic Church.

I remember Keith Green. He made himself to be a self styled prophet of sorts. He took aim at a number of groups, not just Catholic but did produce a number of very anti-Catholic booklets before he was killed in that plane crash which kinda brought that whole ministry to and end, even though his wife did try to carry it on for a while. I think he was more of an anomoliy in terms of Christian muscians since he used his ministry to try to make himself a prophet of sorts. I think most of the big name artists just become self absorbed and make bad choices for themselves like Sandy Patti and Amy Grant. Getting back to Keith Green, I knew a number of people that were really into him and were shocked by his death. The funny thing is my husband, a cradle Catholic just liked his music and still has a couple of albums by him.

 

[otjm]

Hello,

I’ve been battling with this in my head for a couple days now and it’s getting frustrating to get different answers from different people.

The issue is this:
Is it okay to sing non-Catholic Christian music in a youth group?

The music is composed by different non-Catholic people, and although the lyrics are just about praising God and don’t include anything contrary to the Catholic faith, they are still composed by Evangelical protestants, and some non-denominational Christians.

Then what is your point? Do you have the feeling that God does not listen to Protestants praising Him? If you had a praise song presented to you that was good music and did not have any theological problems, would you refuse to use it unless you could confirm that it was done by a Catholic musician? Would it make a difference if you found out it was by a
catholic musician who did not attend Mass on a regular basis? Or was engaged in some other habitual sin? What exactly is the issue here, a feeling that if Catholic youth sing a song by a Protestant, that they are then going to leave the Church?
They night; but it won’t be because of that.

CON Arguments:
-Since they are composed by Evangelicals and other protestant authors, some of them might carry the Protestant theology.

Easy answer - be selective. Not a reason to avoid all.

If the teens listen to the songs played at a Protestant service they’ll think it’ll be okay to stay there; since the music is the same, they won’t see anything wrong with it. (I actually know a couple teens that left the Catholic Church because of this.)

a) you just changed the subject, from singing some Protestant songs, to attending a service. b) I can just about guarantee that the kids who left, did so for a multitude of reasons, the primary of which was lack of catechesis. Again, it is changing the subject.

-There is plenty of good Catholic music, you don’t need to look outside the Church.

Assuming the minimum that there is no theological reason to reject a Protestant song, then the decision should be on how good the music is on its own, and variety.

What should I do? I am the youth group coordinator btw, and I play in the choir as well.
I thought about asking my Priest, but I’m afraid he’s just gonna say “Oh it’s okay, I don’t see anything wrong with that, go ahead!”

Sounds like you already have your mind made up. Then why ask the question?

You are over-thinking the whole issue. I have no problem avoiding theological problems; the rest of it makes no sense. If it is good praise music and not theologically problematic, then who wrote it is irrelevant.

 

[agapewolf]

I disagree with Cat’s opinion about Matt Maher (and I usually agree with Cat).

I’ve played with Matt a few times…once at 6 flags, once at Steubenville youth conference. The teens sing. Loud.

While I would say some of it isn’t suitable for singing along, a decent amount is-- look back to his first few albums, especially. The first one was intentionally liturgical.

 

[Cat]

Cat, that’s interesting. Even Matt Maher has to use Protestant musicians to play for him. There just aren’t enough Catholic pop artists. At least not in English. It seems Protestant communities create space for pop art and allow it to flourish to its full potential. Those opportunities are very hard to come by in Catholic settings.

That’s right. When I told my husband about this thread, his first question was, “Where would Catholic pop artists play? Most churches won’t allow them in the nave, and most Catholic churches don’t have any kind of auditorium (other than the school gym).”

I think many Catholics still believe that Christian pop music is a “Protestant thing,” and that Catholics don’t need “pop music.” So they listen to secular pop and rock music.

I know that some Catholics listen to Gregorian chant, and even some teenagers listen to this. But I think this is rare. I think most Catholic teenagers listen to pop music just like all other teenagers, and if there is no good Catholic pop music, they’ll listen to secular. Just lovely–many hours a day of being pounded with music about sex, violence, sexual violence, and more sex, and pro-gay, pro-abortion, pro-socialistic economy, etc…and we wonder why so many Catholics fall away, and why so many Catholic marriages end in divorce.

We become what we listen to.

We should be encouraging and promoting the rise of Catholic pop music, and encouraging our children and teenagers to form “garage bands” and begin writing Catholic pop music and performing in our homes and churches. That’s where a lot of pop performers get their start.

 

[robwar]

That’s right. When I told my husband about this thread, his first question was, “Where would Catholic pop artists play? Most churches won’t allow them in the nave, and most Catholic churches don’t have any kind of auditorium (other than the school gym).”

I think many Catholics still believe that Christian pop music is a “Protestant thing,” and that Catholics don’t need “pop music.” So they listen to secular pop and rock music.

I know that some Catholics listen to Gregorian chant, and even some teenagers listen to this. But I think this is rare. I think most Catholic teenagers listen to pop music just like all other teenagers, and if there is no good Catholic pop music, they’ll listen to secular. Just lovely–many hours a day of being pounded with music about sex, violence, sexual violence, and more sex, and pro-gay, pro-abortion, pro-socialistic economy, etc…and we wonder why so many Catholics fall away, and why so many Catholic marriages end in divorce.

We become what we listen to.

We should be encouraging and promoting the rise of Catholic pop music, and encouraging our children and teenagers to form “garage bands” and begin writing Catholic pop music and performing in our homes and churches. That’s where a lot of pop performers get their start.

agree!

 

[EIF5A]

I’m not sure if this has been mentioned before or not, but Protestant music gets popularized with use during worship services. Catholics do not use contemporary music during Mass, so there’s less opportunity for being exposed to contemporary Catholic music.

Plus, there seems to be a general aversion towards loud music amongst Catholics. Maybe it’s just here on CAF. I don’t know…

 

[Joannm]

I disagree with Cat’s opinion about Matt Maher (and I usually agree with Cat).

I’ve played with Matt a few times…once at 6 flags, once at Steubenville youth conference. The teens sing. Loud.

While I would say some of it isn’t suitable for singing along, a decent amount is-- look back to his first few albums, especially. The first one was intentionally liturgical.

I can easily sing along with most of the contemporary Christian songs. We use a lot of that kind of music in our prayer group and we all sing.

 

[Sarabande]

Plus, there seems to be a general aversion towards loud music amongst Catholics. Maybe it’s just here on CAF. I don’t know…

Honestly, I think it might be a Catholic thing. I always hear people in real life complain about how they think the organists, pianists, choirs, cantors, etc. are too loud. People even complain if the people sitting around them in the congregation sing too loudly. It’s no wonder “Catholics can’t sing.”

 

[Mathias64]

I am curious. How many of you use the “Spirit & Song” and/or “Choose Christ” OCP books? The “Choose Christ” book has many non-Catholic songs that have arrangements that make them easily singable by choirs - with harmonies. We use these books almost exclusively in our contemporary mass, which has piano, 2 guitars, a bass, a flute, a violin, hand percussion, and usually 3-part harmony.

Specifically, Matt Maher’s “Lord I Need You” is a perfect song for preparation of the gifts, and we use it often. His “Remembrance” just could be the perfect first communion song while Tom Booth’s “Sacred Silence” just may be the best 2nd communion song. The people in the pews have started singing these and other great songs because we (the contempoary choir) have introduced them and practiced the choruses for about 15 min before mass (except during Lent). We have binders with words that people pick up on their way into the church.

The way I see it, Catholics are not accustomed to outwardly participating very much in the Mass, and they certainly have never been introduced to the huge treasure of well-written, spiritually sound and liturgically correct music that is available. So you have to ENGAGE them, and it works. Not for all of course, then ours is a contemporary mass.

And we pack em in too. We have large numbers of people standing at every mass, and there are 4 other English language masses they could have chosen. I could argue all day about why they come to our mass, because we certainly do not show off. We play with conviction and sing with joy, but we break no liturgical rules. We play well, and if they like us, then we are blessed. And yes, sometimes they applaude a little bit.

BTW, a good way limit the clapping is to have the pianist or organist continue on for a little while after the singing stops. That throws them and they usually don’t clap. But really, isn’t that a silly thing to do?

You know it just dawned on me that I wrote this post as if you were all in music ministry. I am sorry about that.

 

[agapewolf]

The term “non- catholic song” doesn’t make sense.

Unless it has bad theology

And by the way Matt maher and tom booth are both catholic.

 

[UbiCaritas15]

If the song itself is not contradicting any Catholic beliefs I don’t see the problem with it. It’s art. Non-Catholic architects have designed some beautiful Catholic Churches. I think any work of art that doesn’t contradict goodness or truth and is appropriate for the occasion is to be enjoyed and welcomed.

Just as I am is one of my all time favorite hymns.

 

[Mathias64]

The term “non- catholic song” doesn’t make sense.

Unless it has bad theology

And by the way Matt maher and tom booth are both catholic.

What I meant was songs written by Non-Catholics (since that seemed to be an issue for some), some of the most notable (and talented) being: Chris Tomlin, Darlene Zschech, Ruben Morgan, Jared Anderson, Mark Hall (Casting Crowns), Matt & Beth Redman & Kathryn Scott.

Something really coll is the fact that now, folks like Tom Booth and Matt Maher are colaborating with many of these non-Catholic artists to break down the walls and correct the appearance of Catholic smugness.