we need beauty as well as bread

May 13, 2016 by Paul Vasile in Congregational Song, Music

Over the past year, I have found renewed joy, nourishment, and a profound sense of place in nature. Working in both northern and southern California has put me close to some of the country’s best national parks and I have been grateful for the resources and the time to visit several of them.

Driving and especially hiking through such varied topography – from giant redwoods to high desert, and seaside cliffs to peaks in the Sierras – has filled me with wonder. I have been humbled by the astounding variety of plants and trees, of landscapes carved from the slow movement of glaciers or the fiery power of a volcanic eruption. The expansiveness of sky and sea has inspired prayers of gratitude. The sound of an ecstatic bird chorus or the twilight gurgle of frogs has motivated me to lift my voice in praise of the Creator.

Glory to God testimonial and update

April 27, 2016 by Paul Vasile in Congregational Song, Music

In 2013, several of my pieces were published in Glory to God, the new hymnal of the Presbyterian Church (USA). It's been a pleasure to hear how one particular response, Glory to God, Whose Goodness Shines on Me, has been helping congregations around the country sing their heartfelt joy and praise.

Earlier this month, I received a particularly meaningful testimony from Dr. Mel Bringle, who served as the chair of the Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song, the group that compiled and edited the hymnal.

residency in Cincinnati

Carthage Christian Church

April 20, 2016 by Paul Vasile in Congregational Song, workshop, residency

Join me for a weekend residency in Cincinnati, Ohio from May 20-22. We'll SING sacred music from diverse cultures and traditions, EXPLORE leadership practices that encourage and animate congregational singing, and REFLECT on ways that worship can be life-giving, inclusive, and prophetic.

Holy One, we welcome you

February 25, 2016 by Paul Vasile in Congregational Song, Music

I was raised in churches where Praise and Worship was an important part of our Sunday morning service. For those who are unfamiliar with it, the congregation would spend the first part of the service singing, offering up-tempo praise choruses, hymns, and slower ballads that helped them focus their attention on God. At its best, Praise and Worship energized and united the congregation through a shared repertoire of song. Worship leaders might weave scripture and prayers throughout, giving it a relaxed, contemplative feel at times and an ecstatic, joyful quality at others.

My musical life in the church, and even my prayer life, was formed through these experiences of worship.

Mothering Christ

October 28, 2015 by Paul Vasile in Worship, Congregational Song, Church, Prayer

The writings of Julian of Norwich (c.1342– c.1416) have nourished my spiritual imagination since I first encountered them. Perhaps the best known of her words are from Showings, a series of visions that she received in the midst of a near-death experience.

“…but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.’

Like many mystics, Julian’s experiences led her to name God in new and surprising ways. Months ago, I came across these striking passages from her Revelations of Divine Love and found them both challenging and insightful.

“The Second Person of the Trinity is our mother in nature, in our substantial making. In him we are grounded and rooted, and he is our mother by mercy in our sensuality, by taking flesh.”

“Thus our mother, Christ, in whom our parts are kept unseparated, works in us in various ways. For in our mother, Christ, we profit and increase, and in mercy he reforms and restores us, and by virtue of his passion, death, and resurrection joins us to our substance.