Diocese of Evansville
Praise Mass at St. Anthony: Liturgy features contemporary music at Evansville parish
By Mary Ann Hughes (Message staff writer)
The vibrancy of youthful voices is the first thing you hear when you enter St. Anthony Church late on a Sunday afternoon. Then you see drums and guitars and lots of denim.
There’s a huge screen filling the area behind the altar, and there are seven wireless microphones for the choir.
Every visual and every sound reminds you that this is not going to be your great-grandmother’s idea of celebrating the Liturgy.
And that’s the idea. The Praise Mass at the near downtown Evansville parish is breaking down old, established ideas and building new ones, all designed to attract young adults so they can participate in the celebration of the Eucharist.
Mike Wathen, youth ministry coordinator at St. Anthony Church, said the Praise Mass came about because of an “Excellent Parishes initiative. Father Jay [Davidson, pastor,] and others visited parishes around the country, asking what makes them excellent parishes.
“They found that they have small communities that feed into the larger parish community. They also found that they minister to youth.”
Wathen said that the statistics about 15 to 25 year olds leaving the church are “alarming. If we keep loosing them, there aren’t going to be parishioners.”
The Praise Mass is a way to stem the erosion. “The whole idea is to give them a Mass they would be excited about coming to.”
Praise music is “more contemporary music,” he explains. It features guitars, bass guitars, drums and electric keyboards. “It’s more upbeat. It’s like going to a Christian concert.
“That has detractors. People say it takes away from the meaning of the Eucharist but I think if it gets kids to the Mass it’s doing its job.”
When young adults hear the phrase “praise music, they know exactly what you are talking about,” he said. “Their eyes light up.”
The first Praise Mass was held at St. Anthony in October of 2007, and it was attended by 134 people. Now, between 150 and 200 attend. During these Masses, the youth are invited to fully participate by serving, cantoring, greeting and doing the readings.
“They are doing everything in Mass,” Wathen said. “Word is getting out. They come to this because they like it.”
He believes that it’s important to “get kids looking forward to coming to Mass,” because when they do “they will feel a part of it.”
Wathen said that Father Davidson’s philosophy has been to make the young adults “feel part of the entire family. We gear toward getting them to be part of the parish family. They are just like we are.
“We don’t want to lose these kids. They are today’s Church. They are tomorrow’s Church. We are losing so many kids. They are going to other denominations or they aren’t going to church at all.”
Twenty-year old Tiffany Kuhr did one of the readings at a recent Praise Mass. She said she attends “almost every Sunday. The music, it’s all about the youth. It talks to us.”
She has attended the One Bread One Cup seminars at St. Meinrad, and was familiar with praise music. “When I heard they were doing praise music here, I was so excited.”
She said the Praise Masses are “a nice way to end the weekend.”
Rachel Sweeney is 18 years old and a senior at Mater Dei High School on Evansville’s Westside. During a recent Praise Mass, she talked about her own spiritual journey. “My parents got dressed up and went to church, but I got to the point that I didn’t want to go anymore.”
Father Jay asked, “It got boring?”
She responded with a smile, and said, “I didn’t feel anything.
“I envied people who went to church” and who had a good experience. Then she joined the Mater Dei Liturgical Ensemble. Its members have been leading the music at some of the Praise Masses. “Now I can’t imagine if I couldn’t come to church,” she said, adding, “I would miss that love of Jesus” that she has found in the Liturgy.
She said that she hopes other young adults will find the “friendship of Jesus” that comes from the celebration of the Mass. “I want people to feel good about their relationship with Jesus.”
People attending the Praise Mass aren’t limited to teenagers. The congregation is sprinkled with Catholics of every age.
Seventy-four Joyce Mills recently attended a Praise Mass at St. Anthony, and she decided that it was her Mass.
“The music and the words are so beautiful. My kind of music is classical, and no one could have told me I would have liked it. But I had to go one time and now it’s my Mass.
“The words and the music say what my heart says to God. The kids have so much enthusiasm. The most marvelous thing is to see all our young people so enthused about it.”
Paula Lattner, the director of ministry development at St. Anthony, said, “Age is not always the determining factor in how we choose to praise God. Each of use connects with God in our own unique way.”
The Praise Mass is held every Sunday at 5 p.m. at St. Anthony Church, which is located at 704 First Avenue in Evansville.
(Go to the website of the Diocese of Evansville) †