Month: March 2009

Strings & Choir

Rev. Johann Caauwe

Yesterday I attended another performance by the Bruce Nehring Consort of El Paso. This one featured Charles Gray, a violinist and conductor from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, and substitute violinist with the Minnesota Orchestra.

The concert focused on choral and orchestral works of Haydn and Mendelssohn. 2009 is the 200th anniverary of Haydn’s death and Mendelssohn’s birth.

Once again I was impressed with the Lutheran music. The concert began with a double choir Sanctus by Mendelssohn. Later on they also sang a Kyrie by Mendelssohn and Herzliebster Jesu (O Dearest Jesus) in a setting by John Ferguson.

One thing that especially struck me this time is just how much a difference good acoustics make. Professor Gray spoke about a few of the pieces—sans microphone or sound system—and you could hear him just fine. I just thought to myself how much easier it would be to preach in such a space. I know that the ideal acoustics for music are not the same as for speaking, but I regularly feel like I need to shout in order to be heard. 

Bruce Nehring, the director of this group, is a consultant in church acoustics and pipe organ design. He is apparently very concerned about the acoustics of the spaces in which they perform. He had actually received some criticism for using churches for many concerts—not only because much of the music was originally written for the church, but also because the churches were frequently spaces that enhance the sound of the music. Here is a quote from the program from yesterday:

“This belief in architectural proportions to musical sound piqued Nehring’s interest in using spaces not usually thought of as concert halls which led to his use of the Union Depot for concerts.”

The Union Depot is El Paso’s train station, built by the same architect as Washington D.C.’s Union Station.

Bulletin Covers

Rev. Johann Caauwe

At the beginning of Advent this past year our congregation stopped using the NPH bulletin covers. The covers feature full color pictures and usually have a phrase from one of the lessons for that Sunday of the church year. However, it seemed that more often than not, the featured phrase was not the part of that lesson that made a connection to the other lessons and formed the theme for the day. In some cases, the emphasis on the cover seemed to draw the emphasis away from the theme of the day. On top of that, Christian Worship Supplement has a supplementary lectionary and if we happen to substitute the lesson with the featured phrase, the cover really makes little sense.

The cost of the bulletin covers is not outrageous, but there was a savings for us in dropping the subscription. We were also starting to print out our services in the bulletins, so the cost savings from the covers has helped cover the cost of the extra printing.

So, for several months now I have had to find some kind of graphic to use on the cover to our bulletin. I have almost always been able to find something appropriate from the collection Clip Art…for the Liturgical Year. That’s my go-to clip art collection. If someone has a good suggestion for another collection with high-quality B/W art suitable for this kind of thing, leave me a comment.

But every once in a while I just can’t find something that really fits. That happened last Sunday. I just couldn’t find something that was just right. So I tried something that I had seen before, but had never found an opportunity to use it.

Wordle.net is a web application that creates a graphic visualization of a body of text, with the most frequent words in larger type. I tried it with my sermon text, the second lesson for the day—Ephesians 2:4–10. This is what I got:

I thought it turned out very well and was exactly what I needed for my bulletin cover. I’m sure that not every text works out like that, with the most frequent words as the most important words. But this is a tool I’ll probably want to check every once in a while, especially when I can’t find a bulletin cover.


Almost there

Rev. Johann CaauweLeave a comment

The landscapers came this morning and put down the rock for our front "yard." At some point we'll probably put a few plants in the front, but at least now it looks a little better than the dirt–okay, not that
much different.
The sprinkler lines and heads are in place in the back yard. I'm guessing they'll come on Monday with sod and hook up the sprinker system. Almost there

Maria Kristina

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A week ago, my brother Adrian and his wife Lia had a baby born at less than 26 weeks. She weighed 1lb. 8 oz.  Maria was received as a child of God by Holy Baptism not long after she was born.

So far things have gone as well as can be expected. This afternoon at 1:30, Maria will have surgery to take care of an air pocket in her right lung. The doctors have been watching it closely and after a CT scan yesterday, decided to go in.

You can read more about Maria and the situation on her CaringBridge site:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mariakristinacaauwe

I would just like to ask for your prayers for this little one.

Kyrie eleison – Lord, have mercy