Our Collaborative Hymn
On Sunday, September 16, 2018, at our Annual Outdoor Mass, we officially debuted our new Collaborative Hymn, a piece of music that has been faithfully and prayerfully ‘under construction’ for over a year.
And heres the rest of the story...
When John Anthony Volpe was hired by the Chelmsford Catholic Collaborative as St. Mary’s Director of Music Ministries back in September of 2016, we had been a collaborative for just over a year…. 15 months to be exact. Having never been part of a collaborative, John intently watched the inner workings of our team in order to better understand how he would fit into his new family. From his creative vision flowed a fresh perspective for the future of the collaborative, as he asked himself the question, “How can we grow participation as a collaborative, rather than as individual parishes?”
His answer came in the form of a discipline he knows all too well—music. ‘Rather than attempt to re-create an existing tradition to fit into a new way of life’ he thought, ‘we should instead start with an blank slate.’ In his opinion, “marketing a new tradition allows communities to come together on neutral ground, allowing new growth in unchartered territories.” Just what new territories are we talking? A collaborative hymn perhaps?
It was at this same time that John began giving voice lessons and solo cantor opportunities to St. John parishioner, Suzanne Beebe. As they became better acquainted, John learned of Suzanne’s gift of the pen. (Hmmmm… remember that collaborative hymn idea?) John asked Suzanne if she would be willing to create a text centered in Sacred Scripture as it pertains to the Holy Family, with the goal of bridging the gap between the families of our biblical heritage and those who make up our collaborative community. Not only did Suzanne meet the challenge—she exceeded it with the addition of a melody carefully notated in her mind.
Then pen to paper. They sat down one day at the St. John’s piano and as Suzanne sang, John notated by hand. Then, John would sing and Suzanne would listen. And this process continued until both agreed that it was complete. From here, the handwritten notations were entered into an iPad-based notation program, and it was put to bed until they could obtain the opinion and input of the soon to-be-hired St. John Director of Music Ministries. Enter Jason “Jay” Gaudette…
When shown the piece, Jay’s only input was to get this in front of his sister Andrea , a music teacher and arranger, so that she could take this spirit-inspired idea to a whole new level. The team—John, Jason and Andrea—worked together to produce a piano, guitar and choral arrangement. It is also well worth noting that this work has been submitted to Oregon Catholic Press to see it is has the potential of appearing in the Breaking Bread hymnals of tomorrow (prayerful fingers crossed).
From our ‘family’ to yours, we hope you enjoy the debut of Holy Families at today’s 4th Annual Collaborative Outdoor Mass - a labor of love dedicated to the families of the Chelmsford Catholic Collaborative.
We dare you to sing it loudly… and proudly!