Why St. Andre Bessette for a Choir Festival?

Several people 

have asked

why would I choose

St. Andre Bessette

(formally, St. Francis Xavier)

as the place

to hold this Choir Festival.

The reasons are many!

First and foremost,

I grew up there.

I made my First Communion there.

All three of my sons were baptized there.

My father’s funeral,

my grandmother’s funeral,

and my Uncle Roy’s funeral

were all  held there.

The church building

and the parish community

hold many dear memories for me.

Also,

it was the first parish

where I served as musician and choir director.

But even more. . .

... did you read that blog post I wrote

about the song “The Lord Is Risen?”

The first song I ever accompanied at a mass

was when I was in the sixth grade

and in the children’s choir. ..

. . .at St. Francis Xavier,

which, now, through the clustering process,

is the new parish St. Andre Bessette.

What better place to celebrate 30 years in music ministry

than the place where my ministry began?

But I have always loved the Parish Center building.

In all honesty,

it’s one of the very best church social halls

I have ever seen.

It’s large and very open.

Plus,

it also has small rooms

where choirs/ musicians

can tune up and warm-up

before they perform,

without disturbing the goings on

in the main hall.

The kitchen is large and wonderful.

And the parking lot

is huge and open,

with another small lot located in front.

Plus,

St. Andre Bessette is very easy to find.

It’s located on Outer Drive

at W. Jefferson,

right where Outer Driver ends.

Anyhow,

I really do love St. Andre Bessette

and I’m certain

you’ll have a great time at the Choir Festival!

Bring your maracas and your tambourine

and do plan on joining in

on the music making!!!!!

And remember,

children are welcome!

The children’s choir I currently direct

will be among those performing for this event,

so let the children come!

And if you have that tambourine,

do bring it with you
and let a child enjoy the music ministry!

Saturday, Oct. 27th.

The event starts at noon and will last about 2 1/2 hours,
followed by a coffee social.

The Choir Festival will take place
at St. Andre Bessette Parish
(formally, St. Francis Xavier).
4250 W. Jefferson
Ecorse, MI  48192

There will be no charge for this event
but a freewill offering will be accepted
 to help defray the cost of hosting this event.

The Lord Is Risen To Life

“The Lord is Risen to Life.
The Lord is Risen to life. . .”

I’ve been singing this song a lot
these past few days.
It’s an older song
and I don’t even remember who wrote it.
I couldn’t even remember all of the verses,
so I looked it up on youtube
hoping I would find it.
And sure enough, I did!

But this song is just on my mind. . . .

Anyone who knows me well
knows that I often cite a statistic.
I remember the statistic very well,
though I can’t remember
who said it
or where it came from,
who did the study to get said info.

Once upon a time,
a very long time ago,
I was a pastoral musician newbie.
My pastor at the time
sent me to an NPM conference
(National Association of Pastoral Musicians).
One of the speakers at that event
gave the following statistic:
“Eighty percent of people
who sing in choirs as adults
sang in a choir as a child.”

I was floored.
That lone little statement
was probably the only real, tangible thing
I took home from that conference
and I can’t even remember who said it.
Since then,
I have tried to make working with children
a top priority.

But
what does this have to do with
the song “The Lord Is Risen to Life???”

I am living proof of that statistic.
I sang in the choir,
the children’s choir more specifically,
at St. Francis Xavier Parish.
When I was in the sixth grade,
the music director at the time
even let me play the organ.
What song did I play?
“The Lord is Risen to life.
The Lord is Risen to life.
The Lord has conquered sin and death. .. .”

And so,
I'm organizing a choir festival
to celebrate my 30 years in the music ministry.
But the fact of the matter is,
the seed was planted many years before that,
many years before I officially became
a pastoral musician, choir director,
parish music director.

And,
if I am perfectly honest with myself,
the seed was planted
long before that sixth grader
sat behind the organ.
You see,
in order to be able to sit behind that organ
numerous music lessons had to take place.
Yeah,
we never know when
that little seed is being planted.

“Eighty percent of people
who sing in choirs as adults
sang in a choir as a child.”

.. .and one of those children
might just end up
as your parish music director!


I don't know the people in this video.
I just looked it up on youtube.
But, nonetheless,
this is the actual song
a sixth grader got to play on the church organ
a very long time ago!!!