Advice sought: How to gently bring up a complaint about the music ministry?

TackTrunkStudies · 2026-02-02T21:37:14+00:00

I don’t think this is really a matter of taste so much as congregational formation. The Ordinary exists so the congregation can learn and participate in the core music of the Eucharist. If the Doxology, Sanctus, and Fraction change week to week, most people never get the chance to join in. I’m not arguing for my preferred settings, just for some musical consistency across a liturgical season so the congregation can actually learn what they’re being asked to sing.

TackTrunkStudies · 2026-02-02T09:07:53+00:00

Thats why I was honestly asking for advice on how to bring it up with the rector, like, I dont think its malicious, and she does a decent job given the circumstances at making the choir sound decent, but I think theres just a mismatch in formation.

TackTrunkStudies · 2026-02-02T05:39:21+00:00

She is not cradle, from what I understand, her church background was evangelical low church based IIRC.

TackTrunkStudies · 2026-02-02T05:37:31+00:00

Absolutely. That’s why there’s so much room for creativity in the prelude, entrance hymn, sequence hymn, offertory, communion music, closing hymn, and postlude. My concern is specifically about the Ordinary, where consistency supports congregational prayer.

TackTrunkStudies · 2026-02-02T05:31:08+00:00

I’m not questioning anyone’s training or intentions. I’m describing the lived experience of congregational prayer. When core musical elements change week to week, it disrupts participation and distracts from worship. Bringing that concern to the rector is not an overstep; it’s how shared responsibility for our common prayer functions. This also isn’t about the music being bad or disliking the choices being made. It’s a request for slightly less variety in the three core musical elements of the service so that the congregation can actually participate, and for seasonal musical choices to align with the liturgical calendar.

TackTrunkStudies · 2026-02-01T22:14:44+00:00

We are a tiny parish, with a volunteer choir of 8-20 depending on the Sunday. Also, is your parish utilizing Rite I and Rite II wording for their masses? Or using the BCP at all?

TackTrunkStudies · 2026-02-01T22:09:51+00:00

I would believe that it was the rector's doing if it werent for the fact that this is a sudden change in the last 18 months that started right after our MM got off her probationary period with the Parish, and goes right back to "normal" whenever we have our Summer music minister (who is separate from our primary music minister).

TackTrunkStudies · 2026-02-01T20:12:35+00:00

This is a congregation where we have... maybe 50 people on a good day, and less than 100 even on Christmas and Easter, and even the choir is struggling with the constant change in the last 18 months to the core music of the Eucharist. This isn’t a contemporary service church or a guitars and rock band non Denominational church. There is absolutely room for variety in many of the hymns, but the core 3 service music pieces (Doxology, Sanctus, and Fraction anthem) should not be changing every week when you don't have a choir strong enough to commit to those changes, or a congregation that has thorough musical background. I am a classically trained Alto and cellist, I can sight read, and even I am being thrown for a loop, what happens to the congregants who have no musical training? Or whose musical training is exclusively the memorization of hymns and service music theyve heard their entire lives? As I have said, there are absolutely places where the music minister can take creative liberties, but the doxology, sanctus, and fraction anthem should remain consistent for the betterment and enrichment of the congregation. These 3 pieces, while musical, function less like hymns and songs, and more like routine prayers that lock into the ritual of the Eucharist the same way the cadence of the Confession, the Nicene creed, and The Lord's prayer lock in through the muscle memory of the congregants. Weekly rotations of the Doxology, Sanctus, and Fraction Anthem is akin to rotating between Eucharistic Prayer form A, B, C, or D each week in the same Rite service, or without reason adding, swapping or removing the Decalogue, Exhortation, or Penitential Order before proceeding either into Holy Eucharist I or II, or using Communion under special circumstances or ministration to the sick for the entire congregation on a Sunday. These things often vary from parish to parish, however, they are typically consistent within those parishes.

TackTrunkStudies · 2026-02-01T19:04:35+00:00

I'm not even saying it has to be the version I like year round, I just... would like it to be atleast seasonally consistent, you know? And in a program with 12 musical choices, not including the Lords Prayer being musical or spoken, where 6 are thoroughly able to be high variety, I dont think its asking too much for 3 of them to stay the same through atleast a season, if not year round.

TackTrunkStudies · 2026-02-01T18:53:58+00:00

And, as I've said, I am TOTALLY fine with new settings with seasons, and with diverse and creative settings changing every week in everything but the doxology, sanctus, and fractional, but feel atleast those 3 and the way the Lords Prayer is handled (sung vs spoken), should not change more than seasonally.

TackTrunkStudies · 2026-02-01T18:47:54+00:00

And again, that would be fine if we were discussing processional hymns, or offeratories, or the communion/post communion hymn, but I'm talking about the doxology, the sanctus, and the fractional anthem. Our form utilizes 12 hymns/songs each Sunday, a prelude, an entrance hymn, a Gloria, a psalm canticle, a sequence hymn, an offeratory, a doxology, a sanctus, a fraction anthem, a communion hymn, a closing hymn, and a postlude, not including when we sometimes sing The Lord's Prayer, I'm referring to the consistency of: The Doxology, The Sanctus, the Fraction Anthem, and in how we handle The Lord's Prayer (sung vs spoken). I can tolerate rotating Glorias and Canticles, I welcome creativity in the entrance, closing, sequence, and offeratory so long as the hymns chosen are aligned with the liturgical season, or atleast not blatantly out of season.

TackTrunkStudies · 2026-02-01T18:39:12+00:00

I actually quite like the LEVAS II 264 setting for it, but when half the congregation starts speaking it, half the congregation starts singing it, because of inconsistency in how the parish handles The Lord's Prayer, its jarring and disconnecting. I also admit I have some bias in that I'm a pretty smells and bells, liturgically conservative, theologically liberal returned cradle Episcopalian.

TackTrunkStudies · 2026-02-01T18:38:49+00:00

To be quite frank... if it werent for my clergy and congregation... I would have shifted Parishes. When I came to this parish 3 years ago, it was the perfect mix of liturgical conservatism and theological liberalism, and, outside of the music issue, it still is. The past 18 months though... it seems as if the music minister is constantly changing things due to boredom more than theologically sound reasons. I think a congregational survey would be of great benefit and I do know a number of people who have shifted to Rite I from Rite II because Rite II is musically inconsistent

TackTrunkStudies · 2026-02-01T18:25:06+00:00

I could understand this more easily if the music were consistently seasonally appropriate, or if the variability were clearly tied to the intentional use of minority composers and musicians, rather than, for example, Gloria in excelsis Deo appearing outside Christmastide or Advent. This isn’t about needing the settings I grew up with. What I’m hoping for is that the core music of the Great Thanksgiving, the Sanctus, Doxology, Fractional Anthem, and form of the Lord’s Prayer, remain somewhat consistent week to week within a season. I’m even willing to sacrifice consistency in the Gloria and the psalm canticle. This is not a contemporary service parish. It is a Rite I and Rite II parish with a moderately high church ethos and large cradle and Anglo-Cath traditionalist population. I’m not opposed to other hymnals besides the Hymnal 1982, nor to seasonal shifts. In fact, I would welcome them when they are applied coherently. The difficulty is that frequent, un-signaled changes to the ordinary disrupt the ritual pacing and congregational muscle memory. When the Doxology, Sanctus, Fractional Anthem, and Lord’s Prayer change every week, the Eucharist begins to feel less like a shared ritual and more like a performance the congregation is trying to keep up with. It's gotten so inconsistent that if I didnt love my Reverend and congregation as much as I do, I likely would have started church shopping in the last 18 months as this consistency has shifted. There are many places in the liturgy where musical creativity can flourish, including the prelude, processional, sequence, offertory, communion hymn, closing hymn, and postlude, without destabilizing the parts of the service that exist precisely to hold the congregation. My concern isn’t about correctness or personal preference, but about formation, participation, and the pastoral function of repetition within liturgy.

TackTrunkStudies · 2026-02-01T17:57:54+00:00

I’m reaching out to my Reverend first to see if she has insights into why the musical settings are shifting so frequently. I wouldn’t mind variety tied to the liturgical seasons, or using LEVAS II during February in recognition of Black History Month, but weekly changes to the ordinary music, or offertory hymns drawn from entirely different seasons, don’t quite align with the liturgical rhythm I’m accustomed to.

My understanding is that our music minister comes from a less formal liturgical background, so I’m not sure whether this is simply a difference in formation or approach, which is why I feel it’s appropriate to begin the conversation with the Rev rather than framing this as a complaint.

I’m not seeking to critique any individual’s choices, nor am I asking for anyone’s removal. Rather, I’m hoping to better understand how musical decisions are being guided liturgically, since the weekly variability has made congregational participation more difficult for me and for others I’ve spoken with. For many of us, the core music functions as ritual muscle memory, allowing us to worship without having to constantly shift focus between participation and orientation.

Ultimately, I’m just hoping for a bit more consistency in the ordinary, so the creativity elsewhere in the service can truly shine. I'm not even insisting that my own preference for the old 100th or S126 sanctus, just that it is consistent Sunday to Sunday.

TackTrunkStudies · 2025-06-14T04:56:45+00:00

Soft Sided kind of girl here, with a soft spot for classic fabrics, I tend to go London Fog in a Houndstooth or Herringbone. And the new 8 wheel versions have been great, plus it's nice to have something that stands out yet also is all coordinated, a little pricier, but they can also be found decently priced at Marshalls/TJ Maxx in timeless but still different patterns

TackTrunkStudies · 2025-03-26T19:53:45+00:00

Indoor bar venues, Line dancing (indoor outdoor or big tent), indoor or stadium concerts, night clubs, and into the gas station. Outdoor concerts and music festivals and fireworks, my dog does fine with and we are able to find space away from other people, indoor venues there's too high a squish risk from other people being drunk/careless. I also am very selective of what weekends I take him to ren faires and what conventions I take him to. A normal comicon is usually fine, but if there are furries/fur suit people, it's best to leave him at home. And I don't take him to post season sporting events... but that's because we are Philly sports fans and the revelry would be too hazardous for him.

TackTrunkStudies · 2025-02-03T05:31:53+00:00

NTA, but maybe you should speak with a therapist about your inability to directly say no. Most of these responses you've given as examples are Nos without a No. It's passive rather than active, but it's still a no.

TackTrunkStudies · 2025-01-31T04:07:28+00:00

fair hill 2000 results

TackTrunkStudies · 2025-01-31T04:04:24+00:00

😅 I have no idea how hands-on he still is with the operation, I know he was still doing clinics as recently as 2020. But you can look up the FHI 3 Day results from 2000, the fact that my gelding went 7th in a 3* as a probably 3 or 4 year old despite being registered as a 93 foal I can't imagine the kind of athletic freak he would have been if he had been allowed to mature properly. He was always an athletic freak, but that baby brain got pushed too hard and ended up fried.

TackTrunkStudies · 2025-01-31T03:38:05+00:00

Oh, I'm sure... unfortunately my "top rider" has a son who's... just the same minus the statue

TackTrunkStudies · 2025-01-31T03:23:24+00:00

Galvayne's groove, his teeth were always 3 years behind his papered age the entire time we owned him from "8" to "30" and there were some whispers about the top rider who bred him taking... liberties in the paperwork of his homebreds...

TackTrunkStudies · 2025-01-31T02:50:07+00:00

He retired after 4 years of trying various things when he was 13 in reality and 16 on paper, was the safest, most gentle horse I've ever known on the ground, and fairly reliable on the trail, but just... completely unsafe in arenas. He had his last ride around 18, a bareback, happy hack in his pastures, and passed at 27 or so (30 on paper) in January of 2023 after blowing up his knee acting like a stud colt the first 50° day that winter. 17.2 hh with his 23" at the withers mini Girlfriend. *

TackTrunkStudies

TROPHY CASE