KEEP THE FIRE BURNING:
The Folk Mass Revolution

by Ken Canedo

When American Catholics experimented with folk music in worship, a fire was kindled and their ancient rite became relevant to modern times, inspiring a growing generation of social activists. Rocked by the upheaval of the 1960s, the Church discovered a new soundtrack in the Folk Mass. Progressive nuns, open-minded priests, and empowered lay people found solace in these weekly liturgies, swaying to the guitar-strummed spirit of the burgeoning folk music scene.

Keep the Fire Burning is the forgotten and untold story of the Folk Mass. Derided by many in the current generation of liturgists, the influence of this movement is still felt today in the Catholic liturgical industry and in Contemporary Christian Music. The book examines the place of the Folk Mass in Church history. Unfairly associated with love beads and flower children, was it a well-intentioned but failed attempt at updating worship? Or was it a genuine movement of the people, reaching back a century before Pope John XXIII even dreamed of convening the Second Vatican Council?

Filled with stories and reflections by such Folk Mass composers as Ray Repp (Allelu), Jack Miffleton (Alle, Alle), Sister Miriam Therese Winter (Joy Is Like the Rain), Carey Landry (The Spirit Is a-Movin’), John Fisher (Have You Seen Jesus, My Lord), the Dameans (Look Beyond), Sister Suzanne Toolan (I Am the Bread of Life), and many others, Keep the Fire Burning is both a detailed overview of the influences that led to the Folk Mass and a fond remembrance of a colorful era in the American Catholic Church.

KEN CANEDO is a composer of contemporary liturgical music whose songs are sung in Catholic churches around the world. While in college he worked for FEL Publications as personal assistant to Dennis Fitzpatrick, the first publisher of Folk Mass music. Ken currently serves as a youth minister and pastoral musician for parishes in Portland, Oregon. He is a writer for TODAY’S LITURGY magazine and Managing Editor for spiritandsong.com, a contemporary Catholic music website.

Keep the Fire Burning is slated for release in the summer of 2009. Stay tuned to this MySpace page for future updates.