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I've about had it about up to here with all the anti-wealth rhetoric leading up to the annual conference of the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes (CEEP) meeting in Boston this week. I am not attending this year, but I have attended a conference in the past, and I've worked for three endowed parishes in the Episcopal Church in the past twelve years.

I'm not sure what it is exactly that people assume happens at these CEEP conferences, but from some of the discussion on social media, you might assume that attendees sit around wearing cassocks and smoke cigars lit from flaming dollar bills.

Spoiler alert: this is not what goes on.

The list of CEEP member parishes (which is public) includes nineteen Episcopal cathedrals, and churches from every state except Alabama, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Vermont.

Some of what I read online is anti-endowment. This just doesn't make any sense. Every parish asks members to give. Why is it so problematic if members give a lot? What if the church, from a gift, or a series of large gifts, is able to begin an endowment? Do we really not want financial security for our churches?

Parishioners give large gifts to their parishes because they love God, and they love the places in which they have worshipped God. Eli Lilly famously endowed three churches in Indianapolis, Indiana along Meridian Street, the street that bisects not only the city but lies at the north-south axis of the whole state: Christ Church (now a cathedral), Trinity, and St. Paul's; together, they are the "Meridian Street Parishes".

My first full-time job was as the Assistant Organist and Choirmaster of Christ Church Cathedral, Indianapolis. I was elated. I had "made it" as a professional church musician, which was my goal from about age 12.

At the same time, I also realized that my thirteen-year-old Ford Crown Victoria wasn't the best choice of car for the extreme commute that I faced from Bloomington, Indiana for the foreseeable future (especially in the winter months). So, I decided it was finally time to buy a new car, and I bought a gray Honda Civic (not a Lexus, mind you). I still drive it. It turned 180,000 miles this weekend.

Given that a full-time assistant organist position was a rarity in the church (and still is) I think it's safe to say that one of the reasons the position existed was because of Christ Church's endowment. Since this endowment was begun by the pharmaceutical industrialist Eli Lilly, I enjoyed telling people that I had bought my new car with "drug money."

That's not all. I also played an organ that was purchased with "drug money." Ruth Lilly, who gave a $100 million gift to Poetry magazine in 2002, also gifted Christ Church with an organ in 1991: the gallery organ built by Taylor and Boody in 1992.

It is said that the bishop at the time, the Rt. Rev. Ted Jones, suggested that the gift would be better deployed by gifting several smaller churches in the Diocese of Indianapolis their own pipe organ rather than adding an additional organ to the Cathedral (Christ Church already had a sizeable organ by Hellmuth Wolff in the chancel).

And while there is nothing wrong with this idea, per se, it doesn't have quite the same grand vision that Ruth Lilly must have had. The presence of this additional organ greatly enriches the music and liturgy of worship in this cathedral for the whole Diocese. Furthermore, the Cathedral sits in the very center of busy downtown Indianapolis and is uniquely suited to offer music to the whole region, not just on Sundays but during the week as well. Five weekdays a month, I played the organs (both of them at every service, mind you) at Evensong. These services were also broadcast on the radio. For many years, the Cathedral was able to maintain a weekly organ recital series, in part due to the high quality of both of those instruments, particularly the Taylor and Boody.

For me, personally, I will say that the organ was a delight, and I spent every spare moment I could on this organ. I sincerely believe this organ made me a better organist early in my career, and everyone – Episcopalian or otherwise – who has heard me since is a beneficiary. I probably don't say it enough, so let me say it again now: thank you, Ruth Lilly.

Isn't it the nature of gifts that giving begets more giving?

Everything that is given to our churches – pledges, endowments, stained glass windows, organs, vestments, 30 copies of an anthem, a new clergy position, a bronze bust of someone who appears in Lesser Feasts and Fasts – all of it has the possibility to form congregations and communities as disciples of Jesus Christ.

I hope that we are not too quick to criticize the givers of these gifts, but rather we respond with immense gratefulness and go and do likewise.

to give and give, and give again,
what God hath given thee;
to spend thyself nor count the cost;
to serve right gloriously
the God who gave all worlds that are,
and all that are to be.

–Geoffrey Anketel Studdert-Kennedy (Hymnal 1982: Hymn 9)

We should be grateful for CEEP. We don't need fewer CEEP conferences or attendees. We need more.

Why? Because I think we all agree that it's important to use endowments wisely. To whom much is given, much is expected. I can't remember who said that – it was either Jesus or Gandolf the Grey.

Do these parishes mess this up sometimes? Yes, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

We should be grateful for endowed Episcopal parishes. We don't need fewer endowed Episcopal parishes. We need more.

Every church asks its members to give. We should be grateful when members actually do and when some of those members have the means to give more than the church can wisely spend in a given fiscal year.

And, frankly, we don't just need more endowed Episcopal parishes, we need more dioceses that are endowed. Nobody remembers the diocese when it comes time for an endowment, and that's a shame because a well-endowed diocese would have an opportunity to more creatively staff itself for the work of the kingdom beyond the more "required" diocesan work. (Actually, I could be totally off-base on this, but it's a thought that I've had more than once.)

I've worked in rich churches, and I've worked in poor churches. In my experience, endowed churches are still just churches. The copier still breaks down, the staff still celebrates birthdays, the undercroft still floods, the Gospel is still preached, the Eucharist is still celebrated, God is still praised.

What makes endowed churches different is that they can and should do more. They should be the best versions of themselves that they can.

Endowed parishes should be encouraged to think and act creatively, and many do. These innovative staff positions, creative projects, and new missions should be more readily shared with the wider church. Many of these projects fail. I know. I've seen them. These results should be shared too.

Finally, the whole Consortium should be willing to act boldly and creatively for the sake of the Gospel. The UCC and the Methodists have attractive, memorable national advertising campaigns. Why doesn't the Episcopal Church?

If Bishop Curry would agree to do a Super Bowl commercial, the members of CEEP could probably pick up the tab.

Labels: Christ Church Cathedral (Indianapolis), money, Taylor and Boody

This week I am excited and honored to be taking part in the Yale Congregations Project in New Haven, Connecticut 21-26 June along with my colleague Melanie and my friend Brian. We comprise the team from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia. I'm tweeting, too, using the hashtag #YaleCP.

I've heard it from more than one person: "my brain hurts". These first few days of the conference have flown by in a series of deep theological conversations. Today I, at least, plunged beneath the flood and was lost for a good while. It's nice to appreciate the keen minds that think so profoundly about the Christian faith. Said another way, it's nice to know what a group of organists talking at length about sub-semi-tones on a mean-tone Taylor & Boody organ really sound like to most people.

I think all of the Project delegates were glad to come up for air -- so to speak -- and to have a respite from official programming this morning. Many of us touched base with our home liturgical traditions. I worshipped at Christ Church, New Haven, in a very dignified (but not fussy) Rite I Eucharist in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. The very fine hymn playing was by Ian Tomesch. The very fine singing was by the congregation. There were candles; there was incense. The full offering plates were covered in green cloth in the Offertory Procession (I assume the cloth changes color with the season).

We gathered back at the Institute of Sacred Music at 4:00 p.m. for a talk from David Bartlett, Distinguished Professor Emeritus in New Testament from Columbia Theological Seminary. Here is a man full of wisdom. There was so much that I took from the talk, that I've posted all my tweets at the end of this article for you to peruse. There's a nice little picture of the chapel at the end as incentive for you to do so.

I wouldn't normally be inclined to mention a meal here, but I do need to mention that several members of the faculty joined me, Brian and Melanie for some very good discussion about our project over supper. Our delegation's plenary is in the morning.

The service this evening was a hymn festival entitled "We Sing the Story" led largely by John Ferguson on the Skinner organ, with help from Martin Jean on the Taylor and Boody, and James Abbington on the piano.

Every element of this Hymn Festival was compelling, even those hymns which were less familiar. It should also be mentioned that the already lively acoustic of this small chapel is further enhanced by a circular seating arrangement at hymn festivals. Every singer lifts up every other singer, and the whole room is filled with sound. For my colleagues who do not attend music conferences where there is such strong hymn singing, I hope that this was a very special experience to have.

There were many hymns that I was drawn to in this festival. Being Lutheran (I checked), John Ferguson seems drawn to a repertory that I don't encounter much of these days, and I was pleased to sing all of it.

The opening hymn was not familiar to me, though perhaps it should have been. "Rise, shine, you people!" words by Ronald A. Klug, and a tune by Dale Wood (WOJTKIEWIECZ). This hymn framed the stories that would follow, especially with the line "To all the world go out and tell the story / of Jesus' glory."

"Let all things now living" (THE ASH GROVE) was introduced with the help of a collective conspiratorial choral whistle. Smiles all around.

"Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" (LOBE DEN HERREN) was sung nice and high to match the pitch of the Walther chorale prelude that followed on the organ.

We made our way through the Incarnation part of the story with a beautiful story told by Tom Troeger.

One of the hymns that was a highlight for me, and would have been even without John Ferguson's devastatingly effective choral arrangement of the first three stanzas, was "On Emmaus' Journey" with the first line "Who are you who walk in sorrow / Down Emmaus' [sic] barren road". These words, by Herman Stuempfle, Jr. are set to the very familiar American HOLY MANNA. I will certainly be bringing this one back with me.

It's been years since I've studied the Troeger & Carol Doran hymn "Oh, praise the gracious power", and I don't know that I've ever sung it except by myself.

Like the other reflections were included in the festival, and Dorothy Bass's litany of all creation and Bryan Spinks's paean to the Holy Spirit both strengthened the festival immeasurably.

Martin Jean's terrific playing of Bach's "Wir Glauben" on the mean-tone organ (see, there we go again with all those funny words) was a real feat! And Glen Segger's brilliant explication that followed brought that music into sharp relief for everyone.

The festival wound to a quiet close with "Precious Lord," haloed with complementary organ bass on the final stanza, and finally "Lord of all hopefulness".

I began "at the break of day" singing this same hymn at Christ Church, a church of my own tradition where I celebrated the Eucharist. It occurred to me yesterday that our St. Gregory service did seem incomplete without the Eucharist, and it is a sadness that the Project participants and faculty cannot celebrate this sacrament together during this conference.

And yet, we can find a different kind of communion when we sing. This hymn, which I was still humming "at the noon of the day" was there for all of us this evening. I give thanks for this gift of music and song that binds us together in love.

This was a wonderful hymn festival, but -- and I don't say this to diminish anything about it -- it was only one of many occasions for Christians to come together in worship to sing our story. This simple fact of this festival's un-remarkability reminds us that we all sing our story, all through our hours, all through our days, all through our lives.

And in the process of singing our stories, we create new stories about ourselves and about our God.

David Bartlett relayed the marvelous confluence of a younger woman standing in front of two nonagenarian men singing this stanza of a well-known hymn:

What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.

And now, "at the end of the day" at last, there is peace.

Labels: church music, hymns, liturgy, Taylor and Boody, Yale Congregations Project

Stop, collaborate and listen - Episode 2: Dolce Principal

Here's the second installment in a new, potluck effort to record interesting organ stops.

Here's the same stop that I first mentioned in this post, but in a different context, and with a more representative recording (no key noise).

Featured stop: Dolce Principal 8'
Organ: Taylor and Boody, Op. 7 (1983), Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Richmond, Va.

MP3

"Adagio" from Trio Sonata No. 3 in E-Flat Major, BWV 525
J. S. Bach

Registration
Right hand: Dolce Principal 8' (Great)
Left hand: Rohrflöte 4' (Rückpositiv)
Pedal: Subbass 16' (Great coupled to pedal)
Tremulant

Recorded live from the south transept, 6 March 2011

I also heard an interesting story about this stop. Apparently Taylor & Boody had a good deal of trouble with it at first, and elected to use an existing salicional from the outgoing chancel organ of the church on a temporary basis. The story that I hear is that the stop was re-done at a later time resulting in the delightful timbre I've attempted to capture here.

If you have an idea for a stop you'd like the world to know about, or if you already have an audio sample ready to go, send me an email at dsinden@gmail.com

Labels: Bach, organ stops - recordings of, Taylor and Boody

Playing yesterday on a wonderful little Taylor & Boody organ, I was struck by the idea to record stops from different organs.

Not in any systematic way (others have attempted this, but the results are clinical and unsatisfying), but just as the mood strikes and as circumstances arise. That said, it would be fun to collect a number of them.

If others are interested, I'm thinking that it might be fun to call this effort "Stop, collaborate and listen"

Runners up: "Don't stop believin'", "Rank and file", "Don't stop 'til you get enough", or "The Organ Stop Project"

In particular, I was drawn to the Dolce Principal 8' of the organ at Bethlehem Lutheran in Richmond. It was an unusual and unexpected sound that reminded me somewhat of the Oak Principal on the Brombaugh organ in Fairchild Chapel, Oberlin, Ohio, although I've never heard a stop that sounded quite like that.

MP3

So, there's my first effort. I'm already learning. I should have my stereo digital recorder with me when I visit a new organ, and I should obviously have taken a few seconds to move it further away from the console.

What do you think of the Dolce Principal?

Have a stop you'd like to add? email me at dsinden@gmail.com

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to the "Dolce Principal" as the "Principal Dolce".

Labels: organ stops - recordings of, Taylor and Boody