Tallahassee Vespers: At a Crossroads

Our latest Sung Sunday Vespers was indicative of the progress which we have made. The mistakes were few and far between. Everyone sang the hymn very well together. There were only a few mistakes in the psalmody. The execution of the Salve Regina at the end of the prayer was quite good.

We are now at a point where our Sunday Vespers needs to grow. The problem will be determining how best to go about doing this. So far, we have grown by word-of-mouth and by posting events on Facebook on both our "Tallahassee Liturgy of the Hours/Divine Office" page, and on the "Una Voce Tallahassee: Latin Mass Community" page. The real growth will occur once we reach out to the bulletins of the several parishes in the area (there are four in the city of Tallahassee, plus a chapel for Florida A&M).

Once we advertise in the bulletin, however, we will need to have the resources for participation for the people who come. We could either try to do a big event for which we have rehearsals (for instance, on Christ the King), with handouts for participation, perhaps trying to link Vespers with Adoration. Alternatively, we can advertise in one of the four bulletins, seeking to draw people in from a single parish.

Currently, my inclination is to do the latter. Advertising within our own parish for people who are willing to sing the parts should draw out some of the more committed who will join weekly. Once we have a good idea of how many are willing to do this, we can advertise in the other parishes. Finally, we can create a more major event, during which I would expect a larger group to attend.

Such are my plans at present. I will seek the input of my cohorts. We know that we need to grow. The question is how we do it.