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What are some good catholic areas of upstate New York? I would like to move somewhere up there one day I heard Rochester is pretty bad? Thanks for replies!
As a professional organist, when I saw this thread, I felt like I had to put my two cents in. The Syracuse Catholic Diocese is sadly in disarray. I can tell you exactly why the Syracuse Diocese died - many years ago it stopped teaching the Catholic faith, and it is replete with liturgical abuses. It is especially illiterate when it comes to church music. If a parish uses its organ, it is played at a whisper. There is an encyclical titled, I believe, Musica Sacara, written around 1950 or so that deals with church music. Nowhere in that document does it even remotely suggest playing the organ at a level in which it cannot be heard. Every time I have substituted on the organ at a Diocesean church, I have gotten shouted down at and dismissed as a heretic for playing the Mass as it OUGHT to be played. If you get a homily during the mass, consider yourself extremely lucky. Unfortunately, the priest either starts on a completely different tangent from the Gospel lesson, or if he starts on subject, he quickly goes off subject. In general, people come out of the usual Mass here feeling depressed because the Masses here have become dry, boring, and dummed down. This is why I have become Episcopal again. Every Episcopal church I've visited here in Syracuse has been a wonderful worship experience, and I come away lifted up instead of being let down. Is there any Catholic church in the area that wants a true professional for a music director? I can guarantee I can grow any parish I'm assigned to that wants an authentic Catholic worship experience with good organ music.
I can tell you exactly why the Syracuse Diocese died - many years ago it stopped teaching the Catholic faith, and it is replete with liturgical abuses.
This is why I have become Episcopal again. Every Episcopal church I've visited here in Syracuse has been a wonderful worship experience, and I come away lifted up instead of being let down. Is there any Catholic church in the area that wants a true professional for a music director? I can guarantee I can grow any parish I'm assigned to that wants an authentic Catholic worship experience with good organ music.
And it's a good thing too. The Eucharist is supposed to be the focus of Mass, not the music. That's why the altar is in front of everyone and the choir loft is behind. At least in the old churches... this practice of putting the organ/piano and choir where everyone can see is distracting.
I GET the "smells and the bells;" I do! It fills you up. I used to sing the Latin Mass every week. (And I suspect I may have even sung when you were the organist.) I am no longer a practicing Catholic so I'm not judging your choice of moving to another religion... but I am saying that if you're going to Mass for the music and employment in it, it's just as well you did switch.
For many people (perhaps not those of the Catholic faith), the presence of music is one of the key drivers of church attendence. I personally find it uplifting. I've long admired the black churches and their incorporation of gospel music. The excitement and passion in the pews is palable, even for those wathcing afar from their television sets. I feel that some churches (particuarly the mega, evangelical ones in the South may take music to the extreme). There is a non denominational church in Liverpool, I believe, that plays heavy metal style during their services. I would find that distracting and annoying, but each to their own. In my opinion, the more choices the better.
It's hard to find an area where there aren't many Catholics in NY!
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