Minnesota Compline Choir Sings

the Spirit into the Evening

by Julie Price (3/21/2007 http://minnesotaumc.org/ )

The gathered congregants wait in hushed expectation as the choir enters silently. Twenty men, dressed in black robes, form a double semicircle and all listen as the sound of the organ breaks the stillness with an absorbing, contemplative prelude. Then the opening sentences are reverently chanted by the Minnesota Compline Choir: "The Lord Almighty grant us a quiet night and peace at the last. Amen. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to your name, O Most High; to herald your love in the morning, your truth at the close of the day."

So begins the 25 minute service of compline, prayer at the close of the day, each Sunday at 8:30 p.m. at Hamline United Methodist Church in Saint Paul. The Minnesota Compline Choir is the heart of the service. Directed by Charles Parsons, music director at Hamline UMC, the choir consists of a diverse group of volunteers who allow the music and worship to bind them together like brothers. One member of the choir, Shawn Mai, describes the choir as "a worshiping community—it feels like an order. We share a devotion each week, we share a spiritual life."

The compline service is an ancient office from the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which derived from the Jewish practice of reciting certain prayers at set times of day, and relates to the Muslim tradition of prayer five times daily. Compline completes the liturgical day and in preparing the participant for sleep, also prepares the soul for passage to eternal life. The service includes an examination of conscience (confession), lessons from Scripture, and the chanted liturgy, which has remained nearly the same for hundreds of years.

Rick Prescott, the choir's technical producer as well as a singer, works as a church musician during the week.

The demands of this position make the weekly compline service particularly sweet for him, he said. "It's my centering for the week. It helps you get back to being grounded—the music and the scripture—the whole experience."

Mai adds, "Compline is different from traditional worship. There's no preaching. I think it provides 'thin places.' The music and scripture touch the heart, making the veil between the worlds thin," he said, citing a Celtic Christian concept. "Music is powerful in ways that the spoken word isn't."

Midway through the service, the choir delivers a flawless and inspiring performance of "There is a Balm in Gilead," arranged by L.L. Fleming. It is difficult to suppress the desire to burst into applause at the end. When the choir then recites the Lord's Prayer in fluid unison, the congregation is hesitant to join in and break the choir's perfect stride. It seems more fitting to simply listen to the choir's masterful execution of Jesus' words.

The Minnesota Compline Choir was formed in 1992 at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, where Parsons was then employed. An important part of the choir's work at Central was outreach through weekly radio broadcasts on WCAL. Because the radio program provided most of their listening audience, live services tended to be sparsely attended. After the sale of WCAL to Minnesota Public Radio in 2005, the choir moved to Hamline UMC when Parsons began working there. They began broadcasting on KKMS, 980 AM. The regular attendees at the Hamline service provide some needed interaction with the listening public that radio broadcasts don't provide.

"I get so touched in live performances when I look into the faces of people and see a tear sliding down someone's cheek," says Ron Heil, president of the choir. "It demonstrates that we're touching people with music that may be 600 years old. We can still connect to that tradition. It's so powerful that I often can't quite finish the phrase."

Offerings from worshipers also help cover the choir's expenses. Although each member of the choir donates his time and sometimes travel expenses when needed, the purchase of music and maintenance of technical equipment have required the group to incorporate as a non-profit organization and raise their own funds. A collection plate, placed outside the worship service, gives worshipers the opportunity to donate. CD sales provide another source of income.

As the service ends, the choir sings the evening blessing while processing to the rear of the sanctuary. For the first time, the worshiper can hear individual voices as each choir member passes. The seamless unison sound, so difficult to achieve in a choral setting, is a hallmark of this group and evidence of their professionalism.

"Everybody's very professional. We've been singing together a long time," says Andrew Heintz, choir treasurer and "tenor extraordinaire" (as described by a colleague) since 1998. "There are not a lot of chant men's groups out there."

"Most of the men who leave the choir do so only because they move out of state," says Parsons. "We need to audition only every year or two.

"There are a lot of gifted musicians in the group," he adds. "It's a nice safety net for me—it keeps me on my toes. They are a lot of fun to work with."

To hear the choir, tune to AM 980 on Saturdays at 8 p.m. (when the previous week's recording is aired), or visit the choir's web site at http://www.minnesotcompline.org and listen to a podcast.

Of course, the best way to appreciate fully this choir's gifts is to participate in worship on Sundays at 8:30 p.m.

Hamline UMC, 1514 Englewood Ave., Saint Paul. http://hamlinechurch.org

reformatted for hamlinechurch.org from http://minnesotaumc.org/