So sad

[oopsorganist]

Latest guidance - no singing at weddings - use tape recordings...... etc.
No singing?
No singing, you may be infected and kill others.......
There is something wrong here. I don't know what it is.
We believe.
But fear has gripped us.

[VML]

Oh Oops, it has been so sad, and our congregation seems to have changed completely. We have lost so many who have not returned to Mass.
We have a very big influx of newcomers to this country. It's going to take time to get them involved.
One funeral at the height of Covid, the daughter came to my house to record two hymns so that they could be played at the Mass while singing was barred.

[Southern Comfort]

But now congregations are singing again, even more strongly than before the pandemic began. This includes many from other countries who love singing even more than we do!

[alan29]

Our congregation who previously sang lustily are now all but silent. The fact that our pp has asked for mask wearing to continue hasn't helped. Neither has the fact that a whole tranche of young families have not returned or have changed to an earlier Sunday Mass to have more of the day "free." That has changed the whole feel of the Sung Mass away from being a lively Family Mass to being one that is more sombre and largely attended by the over 60s. Children's Liturgy of the Word starts again this week .... that might encourage them back.

[Southern Comfort]

One thing that kept our young families away was that the toilets were closed. Since they were reopened, the young familes have come back — not yet in the previous numbers but certainly noticeable. Liturgy of the Word for Children started again at the beginning of Advent.