Applied Liturgical Research Lab

Letters

Email from Rev Pat Coulombe (see email details here)

James,

It is good to hear from you and I am honoured to be able to speak on behalf of your liturgical training institute.

I found the presiders workshop to be valuable for several reasons:

As a person with a soft voice, I was concerned that a congregation would have trouble hearing me. However, with your emphasis towards clarity and speaking slowly, not only did this help me stay more focused on what I say, but it also helped with my voice projection. I'll never be loud but I do believe that if people understand what I am saying then it certainly increases their ability towards the reception of my voice.

When leading the liturgy or delivering a homily I make use of the tools that you gave us regarding the decision of where to place the emphasis. Having us decide and focus on where to place that emphasis, or a pause, definitely makes an impact when and where you want it to.

I am now in a small parish and I remember the importance of voice direction. It would be so easy to speak to those who are near me at the front. They are so close that I could almost reach out and touch them. However, if I speak to that distance, even though it is a small church the people at the back would probably feel a total disconnect with me. So your lessons on voice direction helps me to include all people no matter where they are sitting.

This is just an aside but I have to admit that when standing at the altar and reading one word and then counting to three, I felt totally stupid. I was praying silently, "Lord, please don't let anyone that I know walk past the chapel and see me." But now I have no regrets for doing that. I believe that this experience added greatly to my confidence in speaking in front of
people.

Thank you so much for what you taught us.

In Christ,
Pat

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From: "Pat Coulombe" <pat.coulombe@sympatico.ca>
To: <oregan@jamesoregan.com>
References: <42234F3D.14254.99DC9C@localhost>
Subject: Re: Written Reaction to EPII Workshop
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2005 15:29:18 -0500
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