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.

music that nourishes and sustains

January 28, 2016 by Paul Vasile in Congregational Song, Leadership

Music-making, especially singing within a spiritual community, is soul food. It shapes and integrates our experience and understanding of the Holy. It gives voice to our heartfelt praise and prayer. It connects us to other voices and bodies around us. It moves energy within a worship space. It engages our whole being - body, mind, breath, spirit. Words and tunes continue to sing in us even when we are not fully conscious of them.

But as I work with congregations around the country, I frequently see that the formative, generative, and enlivening potential of music is unrecognized or diminished. While congregations might be able to articulate a theology of worship (why they sing), their musical practices (how they sing) can be disconnected from, contradict, or subvert, their theology.

we are all meant to be mothers of God

December 23, 2015 by Paul Vasile in Congregational Song, Worship, Advent, Christmas

While Advent marks the beginning of the new liturgical year, I often experience it as a hinge, a transitional space that holds past and future in tension. It invites us to awareness and discernment, to notice where God is at work in our world and in our lives.

This year the tension has been especially strong. Violence and terror persist. The peace foretold by ancient prophets seems illusory in face of ongoing wars, economic instability, and political hubris. The justice that makes valleys low and rough places plain seems far off in face of oppressive, racist systems that scapegoat immigrants and devalue lives of color. And then add our personal challenges and pains, those of our families and friends. Sometimes it can be overwhelming.