VOICES


Asked how his experiences over the past year have changed him, he says, “I learned that sometimes you need to allow everything to come to a complete stop and reflect on what it is that you are doing and why you are called to do it. We can get caught up in so much of the business of what we do that we forget about the foundation.”


Lynné Gray


Chair, Forum for Cultural Diversity


Lynné Gray is a respected liturgist, composer, and


arranger, currently serving as Director of Music at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. NPM has been an important and formative part of her liturgical life—as a long-time member of NPM, she has had numerous opportunities in leadership, worship experience, and cultural expressions of her spirituality. She is also an avid fan of movies from the thirties and forties, finding that “the movies of this era had great story lines and tackled many moral issues. My favorite pastime is to see a good movie with great friends and of course, a bowl of popcorn.”


Lynné sees her new role as Forum Chair of Cultural Diversity “with eyes of new possibilities.” She believes that “our ‘Universal’ Church is a church of many faces, backgrounds, and spiritualities. It is this ‘tapestry of many threads’ that calls us to be a welcoming, faith- filled Church. As Forum Chair of Cultural Diversity, I will work to build relationships and assure that the organizational structure of NPM reflects the diversity of our Church.”


Acknowledging how different this past year has been from our accustomed way of ministry, where we spent our time “ministering with ensembles, connecting with our community of faith, singing our prayer, and all that leads us into worship,” Lynné is also grateful for how much she and those she ministers with have learned. Tough they have been separated from one


another, she says, “we find new ways to sing the same prayer. I have learned that during this pandemic what is important are our relationships with our fellow brothers and sisters, and our relationship with our faith.”


Lena Gokelman


Chair, Forum for Affiliation and Advocacy


Lena has served the University of the


Incarnate Word as Director of Music Ministries for their campus ministry program, and she is proud and delighted to serve a wonderful community of students, faculty, staff, and Incarnate Word Sisters at a place that is also her alma mater. Like all of us, this year has taught her a lot about the deepest meaning of what it is to be a “pastoral” musician, and she is grateful for being able to lean into the vital role technology will continue to play in her work as a minister. Lena loves the outdoors—which she enjoys with her husband, son, and three rescue dogs—and has said that if she were not a pastoral musician she would choose to be a forest ranger.


Lena sees her role as chair of the Forum for Affiliation and Advocacy as “being a representative of both our association and you, its members: listening to your ideas and perspectives, advocating for your ministries, and helping to bridge the gaps in communication that get in the way of productive dialogue. I have grown up with this association, attending my first convention in 1978 as a teen; over many years, I have participated in interest sections and Colloquiums, I’ve served on committees, the DMMD board, the NPM Council, and I’ve been a member of the Board of Directors. I’ve watched NPM grow, and even through difficult times, I believe in its ability to make a difference in the life of the Church. It has made a difference in mine and has been life changing and career defining for some of the students I have brought with me over the years.”


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