Children in grades 3-7 are invited to join the Collaborative Children’s Choir to sing at the 4:00pm Mass at St. Paul Church on Christmas Eve. We will be holding a special rehearsal on Saturday, December 21 at 9:30am at St. Paul Church.
But why wait – start singing at the Family Mass now!
The Collaborative Children’s Choir sings the 9:00am Family Mass weekly…
Each year at this time we invite you to donate toward Christmas Music and/or Christmas Flowers at your parish in memory or honor of a loved one.
You may use the Flower and Music envelopes included with your offertory envelopes and drop them in the collection at Mass, or you may mail or drop your donation to either Parish Office. Please be sure to include the name(s) of those you want remembered in this special way, and please print clearly.
You can also donate online at sjspwellesley.org…
All are invited to attend a service of Lessons and Carols for Advent and Christmas featuring readings from scripture telling of the coming and birth of Christ paired with music sung by the combined choirs of St. John and St. Paul. This year’s concert will be held at St. Paul Church at 2:00pm on Sunday, December 8.
Lessons and Carols is a service of Scripture and song that dates to the late 19th century. Through poignant readings from the Old and New Testaments, interspersed with beautiful music sung by the combined choirs of St. John and St. Paul, the congregation is invited to reflect on the birth of Jesus in the context of its significance in salvation history…
No matter how long we’ve been out of school, the beginning of September always feels like the start of something new, and this year is no exception. I am particularly excited this year about the launch of the choral season at the Collaborative, under the direction of William Endicott, our new Director of Music. Over the summer, William announced the debut of a new Collaborative Children’s Choir, open to children in grades 3-7 (with some flexibility, just ask!) The choir will be singing the 9:00am Family Mass each week during the school year, as well as Family Masses on Christmas Eve and Easter Sunday…
At this time, it is important to acknowledge and thank Maria Wardwell, who has served for more than 20 years as the Director of Christmas & Easter Youth Choirs for St. John the Evangelist Parish, and in recent years for the Collaborative. Beginning as the cantor for the St. John Family Mass more than 20 years ago, she continued in that role after we moved to our Collaborative Family Mass program…
Please join us on Sunday, September 22 at 10:30am on the St. Paul Lawn for our annual Collaborative Outdoor Mass and fellowship event!
NEW THIS YEAR! Our SJSP Society of St. Vincent de Paul chapter is sponsoring a cookout after Mass, providing hotdogs, hamburgers, and veggie burgers for all! Please plan to bring a side dish/salad to share if you are able!
So that as many members of our community as possible can join together for this special liturgy and fellowship event, there will be a reduced Mass schedule at the parishes on the weekend of September 21-22…
We are delighted to begin our choral season at the Collaborative, and we are especially thrilled about the debut of the Collaborative Children’s Choir. The Children’s Choir will sing the 9:00am Family Mass weekly during the school year. Its repertoire will be broad and will aim to introduce the singers (and congregation) to music from different parts of the Church’s history up to and including the music of today.
The Children’s Choir is open to grades 3-7 (with some flexibility, just ask!) and meets at 8:15am before the 9:00am Sunday Mass. There are no prerequisites, just an enthusiastic attitude and the desire to sing beautifully.
The goals of this choir are to give the children an opportunity to participate more fully in the liturgy…
We are overjoyed to welcome back choristers from the summer break to the choirs in the Collaborative.
If you are interested in singing, no matter your level of experience or skill, we would love to have you in our ranks.
All choirs will be back in action on the weekend of September 7-8.
There are many opportunities to sing each week:
Saturday 5:00pm Vigil Mass at St. John – Sung by the St. John Parish Choir
Sunday 9:00am Family Mass (Rotating) – Sung by the NEW SJSP Children’s Choir
Sunday 11:00am Mass at St. Paul – Sung by the St. Paul Parish Choir
Sunday 5:00pm Youth Mass (Rotating) – Sung by the Sunday 5pm Youth Music Group
As we announced back in February when we began the search process, the new role of Collaborative Director of Music replaces our past structure of separate parish music directors. As Collaborative Director of Music, William has responsibility for and oversight over all facets of music ministry within the Collaborative, including the music of every Mass as well as our adult, teen, and children’s choirs. He looks forward to familiarizing himself with the musical traditions of our unique parishes while also looking for opportunities to deepen our collaboration.
New! A Weekly Music and Worship Aid!
One area where William brings significant musicology is the regular use of a worship aid…
Last Sunday we celebrated Mary Lee Cirella, our St. Paul Music Director and Organist for over 30 years!
After the 9:00am Mass a large crowd of friends, family, and parishioners old and new joined Fr. Jim and the St. Paul Choir in the Parish Hall to congratulate Mary Lee on her considerable legacy of Music Ministry to St. Paul Parish and to wish her well!
Please visit the Collaborative Photo Albums page for more photos from this wonderful event!
It is with great joy we introduce our new Collaborative Director of Music Ministries, William Endicott. William has been serving as Music Director and Organist of Holy Name Parish in West Roxbury and the Director of Music and Conductor of the Harvard Catholic Center. He holds three music degrees including Bachelor of Voice Performance, Master of Music in Choral Conducting and Master of Sacred Music in Organ Performance…
William will begin his new role on the weekend of July 6-7. Please join us in warmly welcoming him…