My initial reaction was an outright no. But if you nuance your point more, I would be in agreement (not as if that’s what I should be aiming for, apparently!)
I wonder if it would be helpful to distinguish between a “church community” and a “neighborhood community”, and even then, we choose communities that we agree on the most important things. I chose my neighborhood because they all value family safety.
I choose to be Catholic and a part of my community because we agree (or ought to agree) on the most basic and important fundamentals of the faith.
Naturally we end up in communities we have disagreements with leadership, and if it’s on HOW or what to prioritize which requires prudential judgment, then that’s healthy. BUT if I’m in a community that ought to agree on the fundamentals, I wouldn’t say we need to be in those communities but that we should aim to be, like st paul said “of one mind”. So to recognize we won’t be in perfect harmony but that we should strive for it.
I don’t say this in disagreement but that I believe we should be specific about what kind of “community” and what kind of “agreement” we’re talking about.
This is important. I do find myself rebelling against some of your words, even though I know that they are true, particularly in my own experience. Christ is present in OUR circumstances, not in the PERFECT circumstances. And I do think the saints are saints because they recognized this.
As it happens, I have been a conservative unhappy with music selections. I am also a capable singer. I have made friends with music directors like this three different times. I have been a member of several choirs. I have been the cantor. In none of these cases did the director transition to more traditional programming, for any reason. If I want to have traditional worship music, the only option is to migrate to a parish that already does that.
I note even your example scenario doesn't end with getting the desired music.
Likewise I have experienced that parish loyalty in a mediocre or bad parish is a one way street as surely as corporate loyalty. Feet and wallets are often the only metric a parish administration cares about.
My initial reaction was an outright no. But if you nuance your point more, I would be in agreement (not as if that’s what I should be aiming for, apparently!)
I wonder if it would be helpful to distinguish between a “church community” and a “neighborhood community”, and even then, we choose communities that we agree on the most important things. I chose my neighborhood because they all value family safety.
I choose to be Catholic and a part of my community because we agree (or ought to agree) on the most basic and important fundamentals of the faith.
Naturally we end up in communities we have disagreements with leadership, and if it’s on HOW or what to prioritize which requires prudential judgment, then that’s healthy. BUT if I’m in a community that ought to agree on the fundamentals, I wouldn’t say we need to be in those communities but that we should aim to be, like st paul said “of one mind”. So to recognize we won’t be in perfect harmony but that we should strive for it.
I don’t say this in disagreement but that I believe we should be specific about what kind of “community” and what kind of “agreement” we’re talking about.
And that's why we need to place podcasters under my authoritah!
This is important. I do find myself rebelling against some of your words, even though I know that they are true, particularly in my own experience. Christ is present in OUR circumstances, not in the PERFECT circumstances. And I do think the saints are saints because they recognized this.
As it happens, I have been a conservative unhappy with music selections. I am also a capable singer. I have made friends with music directors like this three different times. I have been a member of several choirs. I have been the cantor. In none of these cases did the director transition to more traditional programming, for any reason. If I want to have traditional worship music, the only option is to migrate to a parish that already does that.
I note even your example scenario doesn't end with getting the desired music.
Likewise I have experienced that parish loyalty in a mediocre or bad parish is a one way street as surely as corporate loyalty. Feet and wallets are often the only metric a parish administration cares about.