Parish Liturgy Committees?

[byers]

Growing up in the days when there were no “liturgy committees” I have several questions about them.
I recently met a member of a liturgy committee from another parish. As far as I know our parish does not have one.

When did lay liturgy committees start?
Is it required in the US for every parish to have one?
What exactly is the job of the liturgy committee? Surely they do not tell the priest how to say the Mass, so what do they do?

Thanks for any help with these questions.

 

[Joannm]

Liturgy committee have been around quite awhile. I remember being on the first liturgy committee in the parish I was living in when I was in college. In high school I was part of the school group that helped prepare the ltiurgies. There is a misnomer that liturgy committees plan the liturgies. Liturgy is already planned and spelled out in the liturgical books of the Church. What a committee can do is help coordinate things like lectors, EMHCs, the choirs, ushers, the decorations in the church, etc,

I have taught about forming liturgy committees as part of our diocesan course on liturgy, but the parish I work for, and am liturgy coordinator of, does not have a committee. I honesty do not think it is necessary if there is a person on staff who can coordinate it all. I have contact with all the heads of the lectors, EMHC’s, Family Mass group, enviorment. I prepare for special occasions (like today we are having a Baptism Reunion of all babies baptized in 2008). We used to have a Family Mass COmmittee but once we got the Family Mass all organized and prepared the way the pastor liked it, we didn’t need the committee anymore and I just keep in contact with the coordinator. I also meet with the priests regularly to discuss liturgical matters. I prepare all the presider books, print out all the special blessings or other things that are going to be done at a particular mass (like Feb 1, Boy Scout Sunday, we hand out their religious awards after the Prayer after Communion). During the Triduum, which is my busiest time of the year, the priests know that everything will be totally prepared and all they have to do is look over the books and show up for mass…it make this time of year so much easier for them (although a 70 hour work week for me). A committee might do all this work if they didn’t have someone on staff whose job this is.

Part of the problem with liturgy committees, and it was one of the reasons we dissolved it when I came on board as Pastoral Associate, was that they can become LiturgyNazi’s, demanding that this or that must be done because they heard it at a workshop. I have dealt with one parish where the committee even told the priest which vestments they could wear and which EP he must use. But in situations like that, I blame the pastor for giving the committee the power that they do not possess.

There are times when a committee might come in very handy. Sometimes, I gather the heads of the different liturgical ministries to discuss certain issues. Certainly with the new translations heading our way, if I am still working in this parish (we will be getting a new pastor probably in June of 2010, and, well, who knows what will happen) I will meet with all of them, priests included, to discuss and advise (not dictate) the pastor on how we should proceed with the transition to the new texts.

If your parish does have a committee, and you are asked to be on it, I would begin by totally becoming familiar with the Roman Missal and to read the liturgy documents beginning with the Constitution on the Liturgy and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. Also, if you come across any liturgical innovations at a workshop or if someone brings it up that they read it in some magazine, search out to see if it is really allowed or if it distracts from the Mass. The Mass has to be prepared well, we don’t need to add to it. Christmas time and Lent is especially a time for committees to add things that don’t belong. like gimmiks and “theme masses.” My kids school was especially fond of these (Patriotic liturgy complete with costumes was the worst).

One thing I need to end with…if your parish liturgy committee seems to be doing something wrong, as I said above, blame the pastor for allowing them to take over the liturgy. He is the chief liturgist of the parish, and sometimes, he may have no clue as to what good liturgy is, and just allows a committee to take over. It is good to arm yourself with documentation as to what should be happening in the liturgy and what should not, but, the pastor does have the final say. If he needs a committee to help prepare liturgies that is fine, but they should be doing the job well and according to liturgical norms, not innovating according to some workshop or article they read.

 

[FrDavid96]

Growing up in the days when there were no “liturgy committees” I have several questions about them.
I recently met a member of a liturgy committee from another parish. As far as I know our parish does not have one.

When did lay liturgy committees start?
Is it required in the US for every parish to have one?
What exactly is the job of the liturgy committee? Surely they do not tell the priest how to say the Mass, so what do they do?

Thanks for any help with these questions.

The purpose is to assist the priest with Liturgy preparation and to advise the priest on the decisions which he alone makes (within the Liturgical laws of the Church) about the various options in the Mass. It all comes down to a matter of “what is the priest asking?” and “what kind of advice is he seeking?” It’s his decision to make and every priest will approach that differently.

 

[Phemie]

The purpose is to assist the priest with Liturgy preparation and to advise the priest on the decisions which he alone makes (within the Liturgical laws of the Church) about the various options in the Mass. It all comes down to a matter of “what is the priest asking?” and “what kind of advice is he seeking?” It’s his decision to make and every priest will approach that differently.

Most of the liturgy committees I’ve been on have had as their primary job the ‘hands on’ stuff that needed to be done to prepare for various liturgies: making sure all the ministries are covered, making sure the Church environment is representative of the season/feast being celebrated, etc. I’ve never experienced one where we would have presumed to tell the priest what Eucharistic Prayer to use.

OTOH, I’ve run into a pastor who was not at all familiar with the document concerning the celebration of the Triduum and Easter and who didn’t know that only the Hosts consecrated on Holy Thursday may be used for Communion on Good Friday. One who didn’t know that the Altar of Repose is not to look like a tomb or give the impression of a tomb and who wanted sand in the Font in direct contradiction of the statements from Rome (and who winked at me and said ‘they’ll never know’ at his decision to do just that in the other parish where he ministered).

My best advice to anyone on a Liturgy Committee is “KNOW YOUR DOCUMENTS!” Find the GIRM, the Introduction to the Lectionary, the CSL, the Circular Letter on the Triduum & Easter, the various Rites and their introductions (you learn a lot about the celebration of Marriage in the Church when you read the Pastoral notes), etc., etc. Read them, learn them. They will allow you to know whether something you hear in a workshop is bovine excrement or true liturgical help. When, in a class on signs and symbols, 2 colleagues proudly proclaimed that in their parish the Font was dry and sand-filled during Lent and that their Exsultet! was from that ‘rejected translation’ I knew, from the documents I’d read that their pride should have been shame since both practices were illicit. Not being familiar with the documents would have had me trying to implement the same things in my own parish.

 

[John_Lilburne]

The 1970 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) had:
“73. All concerned should work together in the effective preparation of each liturgical celebration as to its rites, pastoral aspects, and music. They should work under the direction of the rector of the church and should consult the faithful.”
This was under the heading “Special Ministries”.

The 2002 GIRM has, under the heading “THE DISTRIBUTION OF DUTIES AND THE PREPARATION OF THE CELEBRATION”:
“111. Among all who are involved with regard to the rites, pastoral aspects, and music there should be harmony and diligence in the effective preparation of each liturgical celebration in accord with the Missal and other liturgical books. This should take place under the direction of the rector of the church and after the consultation with the faithful about things that directly pertain to them. The priest who presides at the celebration, however, always retains the right of arranging those things that are his own responsibility.”

 

[IrishAm]

My best advice to anyone on a Liturgy Committee is “KNOW YOUR DOCUMENTS!” Find the GIRM, the Introduction to the Lectionary, the CSL, the Circular Letter on the Triduum & Easter, the various Rites and their introductions (you learn a lot about the celebration of Marriage in the Church when you read the Pastoral notes), etc., etc. Read them, learn them.

To Phemie’s stellar advice to read them, learn them, may I add love them? Whenever I have seen or heard of liturgical practices that are suspect being brought forth by a committee or lay minister, I find, at the core, they neither respect nor appreciate the ancient traditions and theological thought that has gone into the documents we use to frame our liturgy.

 

[byers]

Wow, I had no idea how involved this all was…and how much work was involved. Thanks to all of you for so much information. I also get the idea that ‘some’ involved in the liturgical work may have their own agendas And so it is very important to know the correct rules, girm etc.

Hate to give away how old I am but i grew up in the 40’s and 50’s and truly don’t remember ever hearing of liturgy committees…I thought it was just another innovation getting the lay people more involved after Vatican II.

I guess like the financial committees they can relieve a lot of burdens from the pastor’s shoulders.

I still wonder if they are mandatory in a parish or if it is up to the pastor whether or not he has a liturgical committee or just assigns certain tasks to various pastoral associates?

Anyway…thanks for all of your detailed help and explanations.

 

[Phemie]

Wow, I had no idea how involved this all was…and how much work was involved. Thanks to all of you for so much information. I also get the idea that ‘some’ involved in the liturgical work may have their own agendas And so it is very important to know the correct rules, girm etc.

Hate to give away how old I am but i grew up in the 40’s and 50’s and truly don’t remember ever hearing of liturgy committees…I thought it was just another innovation getting the lay people more involved after Vatican II.

I guess like the financial committees they can relieve a lot of burdens from the pastor’s shoulders.

I still wonder if they are mandatory in a parish or if it is up to the pastor whether or not he has a liturgical committee or just assigns certain tasks to various pastoral associates?

Anyway…thanks for all of your detailed help and explanations.

The only thing that is mandatory in a parish is a finance council.

The diocese may want the parishes to have pastoral councils but there is nothing in Canon Law that mandates them at the parish level – when you have them they are consultative only, they can’t dictate to the pastor.

Liturgy committees are definitely not mandatory and I suspect that many a parish functions quite well without one. I found that for a while my role on the lit. com. & my work as the secretary were so intertwined as to not be sure where one started and ended and now that I’ve given up the committee I’m still doing a lot of the same work (or at least I was until the new pastor came along).

 

[benedictgal]

Serving on a parish committee is a lot like watching sausage. You enjoy the end result, but, I don’t think you would want to be at the Paula Deen sausage factory.

Phemie’s advice is sage. Read the documents and hope that the people on your team are workers. Love them and love the documents. If anyone comes up with a strange idea, gently remind them that we only do what the Church prescribes, not something that we can conjur up.

There is only one chief in the bunch, and that is the pastor. However, it is important to be familiar with the GIRM and Redemptionis Sacramentum to make sure that all the 'T’s are crossed and the I’s are dotted. Do as the Church asks not as you want.