A Mass Celebration

Organizers make the first statewide meeting of Florida's black Catholics a call for "unashamed praise."

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 1, 2000

TAMPA -- The walls of Jericho did not fall from decorous whispers, the fiery priest reminded the crowded room of black Roman Catholics.

"What the Europeans have taught us is a lie," said the Rev. George Franklin, a native of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

"Read the book," he added empathetically, holding aloft a reddish brown Bible. "From the beginning to the end, people are dancing."

His audience cheered.

In reality, they needed no encouragement to express their feelings, this 500-strong group gathered in Tampa for the first statewide meeting of Florida's black Catholics. Nowhere was their ebullience more evident than at the closing Mass, a jambalaya of calypso, reggae and Gospel music and reverent African-inspired dance.

The joyous service seemed a fitting culmination to the three-day meeting, convened with the goal of providing spiritual, cultural and social nourishment for Florida's tiny community of Catholics of African descent.

Music and dance of African, Caribbean and African-American influence played a key role in setting the mood of the three-day conference, particularly during periods of worship. That was only natural, said Clark J. Knighten, who was responsible for much of the music at the June 18 Mass.

"For a long time, the only perspective of worship that was shared was the European influence and what people in leadership positions found out is that when people had the opportunity to express their heritage, they became much more alive. They embraced the celebration much more," said Knighten, director of music ministry at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Marrero, La.

The Trinity Sunday Mass was celebratory. Worshipers pumped and waved their hands , clapped and swayed from side to side. They sang exuberantly and shouted alleluias at will. Some wept.

All of it was an expression of black worship, said Sister Christa Rowe, who lives in a convent in Palm Harbor.

"One of the characteristics of black spirituality is it's dialogical. It's not intended to be something where the person going to worship is an observer. . . . Its intention is that you are involved, that you bring your entire self," said the nun, the only African-American among the Sisters of St. Clare, an international order with just 200 members worldwide.

"If you are aware of spirituality from an Afrocentric perspective, then you wish for the congregation to be involved. That goes all the way back if you look at the early spirituals and even tracing it to Africa. The songs are dialogical, where all of the people are involved in a call and response," said Sister Christa, who once worked for the Diocese of St. Petersburg's Office for Black Catholic Ministries.

Many of the pieces sung during the historic service came from Knighten's Mass of the Caribbean Dreamer, which he finished composing in 1993.

"When I created the Mass of the Caribbean Dreamer, my desire was to create a Mass that would be singable and accessible by children," he said.

Knighten, 43, said most traditional service music "did not invite or really take into consideration the voice or the energy of children."

But the first pieces he wrote of his new composition appealed to adults as well and received a "really, really strong" response from delegates to the 1992 National Black Catholic Congress. That same year, Knighten introduced the almost-completed work to a more critical audience, the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. Leon Roberts, another composer, was so impressed, he asked Knighten to present a workshop with him.

"People were just completely overwhelmed with it," Knighten said. "I happened to bring about 50 to 60 copies of the original score with me and sold every one and had orders for about 50 more."

In 1997 the worship committee of the Archdiocese of New Orleans approved the composition as one of three Mass settings that could be used in its parishes for special celebrations. This year the lively composition, in which the Gloria is sung calypso style, got the attention of organizers of the Florida gathering.

"The Caribbean style was just a style I became fascinated with," Knighten said this week.

"One thing I believe is that the acclamations in church should be festive. They should leave you with a sense of feeling uplifted. For the Amen, I said, "What would it be like to use reggae?' "

Knighten's work also includes Gospel music, which he described as compatible with Catholic worship.

"It is soulful, emotional, adaptable, accessible, inclusive, participatory," he told those who crowded into the workshop he presented at the Tampa conference.

"One of the objectives of Catholic worship," he said later, "is that everyone in the service should be a fully active and conscious participant, which means that the entire congregation should be a part of the worship. . . . One of the things that the African American-style of music does is it invites people to become part of worship . . . through its repetition, through the simplicity of the text, the rhythmic feel and also the spirituality that comes out in the message of the text."

It was about 30 years ago that a movement was started to include more African-American music at Catholic services, Knighten said. That was due to the persistence of black Catholics such as the Rev. Clarence Rivers, Bishop James Lyke, Sister Thea Bowman and the Rev. Bede Abrams, he said.

At St. Joseph's Catholic Church in St. Petersburg, which like Knighten's church, has a congregation of both blacks and whites, a blend of traditional and Gospel music is offered, the Rev. Callist Nyambo said.

St. Joseph's Gospel choir sings at the 9 a.m. Sunday service, while the 11 a.m. Mass offers more traditional music, said Nyambo. The priest, who is from Tanzania, said he started a Gospel choir at his previous parish, St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in Tampa, the only predominantly African-American church in the diocese.

"It was in response to people's appetite, so to speak," he said, adding that many blacks who attend Catholic churches come from a tradition of Gospel music.

"It is good for them to have an opportunity to participate. . . . Gospel music must not be considered something belonging to the Baptist church," Nyambo said.

"In Africa, when people began to introduce different musical instruments like the drum, people thought that it was out of place. If you keep people blindfolded for a long time, they will think the only music they have to follow is Gregorian and the only instrument is the piano or organ. I think there is room for everything."

Three Sundays ago, though, the emphasis was on elements that emphasized the congregation's African roots. Many worshipers wore colorful ethnic clothing. Even the altar, draped with yards of brown and gold African-inspired fabric, was dressed for the occasion. The excitement was palpable.

A parade of flags honoring the ancestry of worshipers from places such as Cuba, Haiti, Trinidad, the United States and countries in Africa formed an honor guard for a woman who danced to the altar, holding a bowl of incense high.

Bishop Robert N. Lynch of the Diocese of St. Petersburg and Bishop John H. Ricard of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee soon followed.

Ricard, the state's only black bishop, told those assembled that it was good they were able to gather to proclaim the gifts of black Catholics.

Blacks make up only an estimated 30,000 of the state's 2-million Catholics. Nationally there are about 2.3-million blacks among the country's 62-million Catholics.

The group's minority status was not lost on Franklin, who rallied the gathering the day before the closing Mass.

"We have to know what gifts we bring to the church," Franklin said.

"Our church is lacking in passion. . . . Even if you are the only black person, you shout. Let them call the police and throw you out. . . . Whatever instrument you find, bring it into the church," he said.

"We need to bring to the Catholic church unashamed praise. Please, when you go home, bring back this spirit of praise. Bring back the freedom to be yourself."

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