Ian Mitchell on Viewpoint
Diocesan Press Service. January 6, 1967 [50-4]
Folk music, music that comes out of a person's experiences, belongs in church, says the Rev. Ian Douglas Mitchell and judging from reactions across the country to his American Folk Mass, people agree.
Father Mitchell, assistant vicar at St. Christopher's Mission to the Navajo in Bluff, Utah, and Director of the Frontier Corps, recently described his views on liturgical music on a Viewpoint program to be broadcast over the Mutual Radio Network April 1.
He believes that both the words of the service and the music must speak to people, to their experiences.
Asked whether there was any updating going on, Father Mitchell stated "The Roman Catholics are trying very hard and we in the Episcopal Church, if we don't watch our step, are going to be aced out of the whole liturgical thing."
Father Mitchell began his American Folk Mass "as an experiment in musical composition while in seminary, feeling that Folk Song and Plain Song, ancient church music, had a strong kinship.
When asked to define what he meant by Folk Music, Father Mitchell said it is music is "something that comes from one's life experience." It was originally composed by persons who were not professional musicians, to express their feelings about an important event or a strong feeling.
While playing his Folk Mass in various parts of the country, Father Mitchell was surprised by the reactions of various age groups. He noted that "the teen-agers - as a group - are more reactionary." It was not from them, but from those above 25 that he found most enthusiasm which astounded him.
Through demonstrating the folk mass, however, Father Mitchell has been able to show some of these teenagers that you can use contemporary music to worship, that there need not be any strictly "sacred"' or strictly "secular" music.
As part of the program, Father Mitchell played the Gloria in Excelsis from his Folk Mass. Music during the ten year old interview program has been played rarely - in fact, on only three programs.
The interview with Father Mitchell is also scheduled for broadcast on local stations which normally carry Viewpoint on April 23. For exact time and station, check local papers.