Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, March 25, 1999
The Southern Cross, Page 6
Saint Peter the Apostle School, Savannah
National Pastoral Musicians
hold workshop
Accredited!
Left: On January 5, 1999, Saint Peter the Apostle School received a certificate of accreditation from the Florida Catholic
Conference Accreditation Committee recognizing it as a fully accredited elementary school. Shown left to right with the
certificate are Sister Mary Frances Sobczak, CDP, Superintendent of Schools, Father Patrick O'Brien, pastor, Sister Virginia
Ross, CSJ, former superintendent, and Sister Assunta Desposito, RSM, principal. Plans for expansion are currently under
way at Saint Peter the Apostle School with the addition of a second pre-kindergarten class slated for the 1999-2000
school year.
Right: Seventh- and eighth-grade students from the school recently visited the retired Sisters of Mercy at Mercy Convent.
The students entertained the nuns with songs and conversations.
Saint Frances Cabrini Parish, Savannah
By Norma Shearer
Savannah
A two-day music workshop was
held March 12 and 13 under the
auspices of the National Association
of Pastoral Musicians at Saint
Frances Cabrini Church, Savannah.
The Association, a non-profit organi
zation, was founded in 1976 to foster
the art of liturgical music, and
addresses the musical needs of every
parish director, cantor, chorus mem
ber, instrumentalist, and liturgy plan
ner. Its goal is to foster ongoing
learning, improvement of skills, a
deepening spiritual life, and fellow
ship with fellow musicians.
The Savannah Chapter for the dio
cese is a temporary chapter, with the
hope of becoming a permanent chap
ter in the near future. There were
over 80 participants taking part in the
2-day workshop.
The workshop was presented by
Father James J. Chepponis, who has
a degree in music, with a major in
organ and a minor in voice. He was
ordained in 1985 for the Diocese of
Pittsburgh, and has been Director of
the Office for Music Ministry of that
diocese since 1996. He also serves as
director of the Pittsburgh chapter of
NPM.
Father Chepponis gave his work
shop from the keyboard of the piano,
with demonstrations liberally inter
spersed as he spoke. His stated ideal
is that every liturgical celebration
should have music. “A liturgy with
out music is like a day without sun
shine.”
The music sets the tone. It accents
and serves the liturgy and, as such,
should be interwoven into the liturgy
rather than just something tacked on
to fill an empty space of time.
He sees music as enshrining the
whole opening rite, with even the
random ringing of hand bells; and a
soft undertone of music underlying
the greeting and opening prayers by
the priest. For this reason, the plan
ning of liturgies should be a joint
effort by the liturgy planners, the
priest, the choir director, the cantor,
and anyone else involved in a partic
ular celebration.
The music director should be pre
sent at every meeting of the parish’s
Liturgy Committee. The purpose of
this would be to establish a “vision”
for the liturgy.
Each chapter of NPM has a leader
ship of five officers. During the
October meeting these new officers
were selected: Dolly Vail, director;
Barbara Medzie, assistant director;
Stacie O’Connor, secretary-treasurer;
Mary Zumer, coordinator for plan
ning; and Helen Beddow, animator
for koinonia.
Patrick Daniel, Stacie O'Connor, Father James J. Chep
ponis, and Father Francis J. Nelson, V.F., demonstrate
integrating music into the greeting and opening prayer of
the Mass at the workshop.