Church Musicians Guild hold conference on joy in times of turbulence

“Public theology” entered the lexicon of Buffalo ministers as Father Edward Foley, OFM Cap., explained the need to preach outside the choir. Father Foley, retired professor of Liturgy and Music at Catholic Theological Union, was guest speaker at “Leading with Joy in Times of Turbulence,” a presentation from the Church Musicians’ Guild of Buffalo and the diocesan Office of Renewal. It is one the Diocese of Buffalo’s Year of Healing presentations. 

“Public theology is not something most of us have studied, but I think it is a very useful way to think of our worship, our music and our preaching,” Father Foley told the 50 or so people in attendance.

He told of a funeral that took place in a small New Mexico village back in 2002. The pastor said the deceased had been living in sin, lukewarm in his faith, and “the Lord vomited people like Mr. Martinez out of His mouth to Hell.” News of the service went viral, being reported by the New York Times, Washington Post and the BBC. The family sued the priest and diocese for emotional suffering.

“Contrary to the commercials for Las Vegas, what happens in our sanctuaries does not stay in our sanctuaries,” Father Foley explained. “Rather, our ritualizing and preaching has the potential to be shared with increasingly wider circles of interpreters. Sometimes that’s good news, sometimes that’s not. I am increasingly convinced that Roman Catholic worship is too often relegated to the ecclesiastical equivalence to the Department of Internal Affairs, regulated by ancient canons and microscopic regulations and an intense interest to only those with the smells and bells obsession or the self-employed members of the liturgy police.”

The term public theology was coined by Lutheran theologian Martin Marty. It is the study of God done by and for the public, dealing with public issues.

Pope Francis lives this out. During his first Holy Thursday service, he chose to wash the feet of people at a juvenile detention center rather than regular churchgoers at the archbasilica of St. John Lateran. Pope Francis has made a habit of reaching out to the general public rather than hold on to traditions or rules.

For the musicians in attendance, Father Foley said liturgical music “needs to be concerned with the soundness of civic institutions; needs to be concerned with ‘building a better world’ creating a dialogue with society.”

There is also a need to cast the liturgical nets wider to catch the attention of the unchurched and religiously unaffiliated.

“I think we need to revisit worship as an evangelizing gesture towards the non-affiliated, the spiritually skeptic, the deconverting, and even the religious critic,” he said. “I think we need to stop preaching only to the choir.”

Father Foley, a Duns Scotus professor emeritus of Spirituality at Catholic Theological Union, said the data states those who do not attend Mass have not left their faith completely, but are watching from the sides and listening. “They are showing up at the baptisms. They’re showing up at the weddings. They’re showing up at the funerals. They’re showing up at the grandmother’s 80th birthday. … I want them to know we are credible dialogue partners in the work of the world. If you read John, God has a love affair with the world, not the Church.”

He fears the Catholic Church will turn into a zombie institution that only exists for its own sake. “It seems we have to be doing this for the sake of somebody else,” he concluded. “If we exist not simply in the service of our own mission, but in the service of God’s mission to the world, it seems our praying and singing must be in mission to the same world.”

Audience member Luke Dyer enjoyed the talk. A parishioner from St. Martin de Porres, Dyer works at St. Lawrence Pantry with people of all and no faiths.

“There are a lot of lessons in what he spoke about this evening. When I talk to my volunteers at the food pantry and try to inspire them, one of the things I frequently say is, God is not a micromanager. He gives us the broad outlines and we’re supposed to figure it out,” he said.

Theresa Walker is on the Forming Disciples pillar at St. John Paul II Parish in Lake View.

“I was affirmed in some of the things he’s been saying. He said tonight that the Church is the work of Jesus, but for all people. I think we lose sight of the universality of Catholicism when we get too insulant. He spoke to a lot of the things that Pope Francis has been saying in these years of his pontificate, and how inclusive he is. I think somewhere along the line, some people have lost that,” she said.

The two-day event of prayer and discussion took place March 14-15 at Blessed Trinity Church and Villa Maria College, both in Buffalo, where Father Foley spoke on  “Chaortic Leadership” and “What is Musical Synodality.”