“God dwells where He is praised.” – Ps 22:3
MERRILLVILLE/VALPARAISO – Music ministry is one of the most important elements of a successful praise and worship event. It can take the experience to the next level, increasing the spiritual impact on the congregation.
The goal of all music ministers, including those helping to plan the next Emmaus Conference on Aug. 22 at the Porter County Expo Center, is to provide, through beautiful music, spiritual warmth to all those who have come to seek refuge in God's house and leave wanting to make a difference in their community.
For Alison Powell, music director at St. Matthias in Crown Point, helping to create spaces where people can encounter Jesus is deeply humbling. She explained that as they prepared for the first Emmaus Conference, a significant amount of time was spent listening to one another, and most importantly, listening to the Holy Spirit. Working closely with the Office of Missionary Discipleship and Evangelization to create and bring to life the idea of uniting the diocese at a conference event, she said, was inspired by the Spirit.
“To see Him working in the hearts of the faithful who attended was incredibly powerful,” she said.
Powell shared that her vision for music ministry at any level is to bring the listener to a place of prayer and participation. She explained that throughout the day, there were opportunities to enter Mass with song, re-energize with music, and encounter Him with praise and worship in the Blessed Sacrament.
“All of those moments looked a little bit different, and hopefully reached the diverse people who were in attendance in unique ways,” she said.
From the beginning, the Emmaus Conference has been a bilingual event where the diocese collaborated with the Hispanic population of the diocese and other intercultural ministries. Powell noted that effort requires thoughtful preparation and incorporation of musical style and opportunity for cultural expression. It also required her to write Spanish translations for several songs, and inspired her now to write bilingual worship music that she is looking forward to sharing this year.
“I am working more closely with Intercultural Ministries to have even more collaboration, representation and participation of the Hispanic population to help lead in worship at this year’s conference,” she said.
Powell started singing in the choir loft when she was in third grade, and has the fondest memory of learning the Salve Regina. That early love of music and call to a vocation of serving the Church through music, she believes, has shaped her into who she is today. She has served the Diocese of Gary at parishes over the last 10 years and prays that God allows her to serve for many more.
“What I love about this diocese is that it truly feels like home and family,” Powell said. “When I have had the many opportunities to collaborate with parishes and schools, I have always felt welcomed and invited to join in proclaiming Jesus is Lord through song. I hope that music can continue to unite the diocese and accompany us on the path to the kingdom.”
David Herr, who serves as director of music at Queen of All Saints in Michigan City, has been involved in parish music ministry for 30 years. He started when he was 9 years old, one year after he started playing the piano. Later, he became the music minister at St. Michael the Archangel in Schererville from grade school through college. He became a music director in 2015 as well as an assistant to the Office of Worship that same year.
“Playing the piano, singing and directing choirs has been such a joy and honor for me,” Herr said. “I feel like the Holy Spirit is truly moving inside me every time I sit behind a piano or stand in front of a choir. It's an exhilarating feeling. I want to try to share that feeling with everyone around me, with the goal of strengthening their faith.”
Whenever the diocese organizes a conference, event or a diocesan liturgy, Herr enjoys bringing clergy, missionary discipleship colleagues, musicians, singers and lay ministry volunteers from multiple parishes together as one family to help plan and coordinate every detail.
“The teamwork and networking have been so rewarding,” he said. “We all set aside our differences for the greater glory of God. Everyone I have worked with for these conferences, events and diocesan liturgies gave 100% of their effort to bring people closer to Christ and the Holy Spirit. People in our communities are, as a result, returning to Christ and the Church in increasing numbers. That is a true benchmark of success here in the Diocese of Gary.”
Herr really appreciated both of the main English keynote speakers. He felt their talks were inspiring, and spoke directly to how people are called every day to be missionary disciples. Herr added that the level of energy generated by the speakers throughout the day showed that they had left a positive impression on all the attendees.
“I believe they all took that energy with them as they left the Porter County Expo Center that hot August day,” he said. “They were filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit.”
Herr shared that he also enjoyed the afternoon Holy Hour with Adoration, particularly the powerful praise and worship music from Powell and the SJE Praise and Worship Ensemble. Behind the scenes, he said it was a joy to work with Father Declan McNicholas and his colleagues in the Office of Missionary Discipleship and Evangelization, planning and coordinating every aspect of the conference. He stated they worked well not just as a team, but as a spiritual family.
In planning the liturgy with Powell, Herr said they considered two primary factors. They wanted to stay close to the Gospel of the Road to Emmaus and provide a mood and atmosphere of 'comfort' through the music.
For the Gospel reading, he chose to open the Conference with the hymn “Two Were Bound For Emmaus.” Along with several popular praise and worship songs like “Waymaker,” they also chose well-known old hymns like “Alleluia Sing to Jesus” and “God We Praise You,” but used newer arrangements of these hymns from Catholic Music Initiative (CMI).
“These arrangements provided a new, fresh, contemporary feel to these hymns,” Herr said. “They also had a degree of ‘smoothness’ and a ‘flowing’ nature to them, which really brought out that atmosphere of ‘comfort’ for all the attendees.”
Rather than open the Conference with a Mass, which was done in 2025, this year the Conference will open with praise and worship, and the Mass will be near the end of the Conference. In Herr’s opinion, this will allow the attendees to take everything they've absorbed from the presentations throughout the day to further pray and reflect upon them during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
“The Mass will be an opportunity for them to ask, in prayer, how God was speaking to them through the keynote talks and breakout sessions,” he said. “Hopefully this will leave them even more inspired at the end of the day to go forth and be missionary disciples.”
For more information about the Diocese of Gary’s Emmaus Conference, and to register, visit https://emmaus.dcgary.org.
