This article is about Pentecostal Washington National Cathedral (hereinafter referred to as WNC; but officially known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Paul) — technically a Cathedral Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion — in the upper Northwest quadrant of the District of Columbia, the official name of the US nation’s capital, and which the locals refer to as the District. I used to live in the District at Foggy Bottom near the George Washington University campus.

I thought it was tradition for the Organist to play the Widor Toccata as the Organ Voluntary on the First Sunday of Easter (Easter Sunday) 2023. By the way, for those who don’t know the Liturgical Year, there are seven Sundays in Easter. I can hear someone say: “There are? I thought Easter was over after Easter Sunday.” Does one also think that Christmas is over on 26 December? Even though there are Twelve Days of Christmas beginning on 25 December and ending 6 January.

The Widor was not played at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue on Easter Day. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the Toccata played there. They have a very nice new pipe organ there (4 manual), when it’s not played like a Casio keyboard for the hymns. The hymn playing there these days is mostly as “dry as dust, and by the book.” Boring and monotonous, where all verses sound pretty much the same with some slight changes in registration on occasion. I do so miss the legato and glorious full organ hymn playing with High Church introductions and interludes between verses as was heard when superb organist Jeremy Bruns was Organist at Saint Thomas.

Then I remembered that (I think) it’s tradition to play the Widor on Easter Sunday at Pentecostal Washington National Cathedral. So I found their video of that day and yes, Cathedral Organist Thomas Sheehan played it. He played a rather toned-down interpretation of the Toccata. He didn’t breeze through it in the fiery way that some organists do, such as Diane Bish when she performed the piece. Yes, I know the mere mention of her name may raise eyebrows with some people. I think Diane is retired now. She played the Widor well. (Paul Jacobs of The Juilliard School invited Diane to give a master class for the organ students at Juilliard awhile back. That was nice of him). I thought Diane played most of her repertoire well. Thomas’s version of the Toccata was slower, perhaps to deal with/accommodate the acoustics of the Cathedral. I was enjoying watching Thomas play it until the camera crew apparently got bored with him and found it more important as usual to take the camera off of Thomas whilst playing and instead show floral displays/flowers and their obsession with the stained glass windows. I swear, every camera crew that films in a church is obsessed with the stained glass windows and or the ceiling of the place, or every crevice of the High Altar or statuary. Groan. Never seen anything like it! So out of disgust with the inept camera crew, I fast-forwarded and got to a place in the video where the annoying camera crew went back to Thomas. The camera should have stayed on him the entire time since the Organ Voluntary was the topic/subject at that time and not flowers or windows. Do they show flowers and windows when the priests are talking? Of course not. No, it’s only the music and musicians they enjoy disrespecting. Basura. They don’t seem to “get” that. I take it that the production crew has a short attention span for classical music. The Widor is considered a piece from the classical repertoire. Do they take the camera off that tacky praise band they now have that plays gospel/Pentecostal/Southern Baptist music and where the singer looks like she’s trying to swallow the mic with her eyes rolled back in her head like one sees all the time with pop culture singers? WNC has lost its way. I noticed that they had the clunky-sounding piano playing with the pipe organ for the hymns. That doesn’t work. It doesn’t sound right; can’t anyone hear that it doesn’t work? But it’s extremely Southern Baptist. Another problem with that is that Thomas has to keep the organ hymn playing toned-down — sigh — because the Cathedral Organ could easily overpower the piano and the praise band. Upon reflection, maybe he should try doing that! It wound better then. Overpower them all. Related: Pentecostal Washington National Cathedral.

By the way, they pretended to use incense for the First Sunday of Easter. “Incense” and gospel music? Two opposites. They dragged out the thurible but didn’t put any charcoal(s) in it. The smoke coming out of it was pale. This was also the case when I was watching them on a more regular basis. They like to give the impression they’re using incense, even when they’re not.

The only positive thing I have to say about WNC these days is that the Cathedral Choir of Men and Girls is finally seated in the Quite Area where they belong. They should have been there to begin with. But upon reflection, the only reason they were moved to the Quire area is so they could be near the praise band which is parked in front of the Quire stalls. An Anglican Cathedral with a praise band? Insanity. They don’t call it a praise band though, even though that’s what it is. They have sanitised it using newspeak by calling the praise band “The Cathedral Contemporary Ensemble” (Dahling). Bottom Line: It’s a praise band. Period. They just don’t want to call it that. You would think they would call it what it is, a praise band, since they seem to want to be as much like the Pentecostals or Southern Baptists as possible. Back to the Cathedral Choir, I never did understand why the Choir was parked out in the Sanctuary area near the free-standing altar. To those who don’t know, the Sanctuary area in an Anglican parish or Cathedral Church is not the entire room. What Southern Baptists call “the sanctuary” (the entire room) Anglicans call the Nave. Although they may be calling the Nave the “sanctuary” now at WNC in order to be as much like the Southern Baptists or Pentecostals as possible.

For those who don’t know, the praise band has been in the works for years. As I recall, it started with piano and saxophone when Organist Benjamin Straley was there. He’s a High Church guy and now an Anglican priest, so I suspect he wasn’t too hot on the idea. Then they added a gospel singer or two. I stopped watching them. If I wanted to watch Pentecostal or Southern Baptist, I would go to those denominations.

I don’t know what they’re trying to do at WNC. It looks like a sign of absolute desperation and that in their mind Pentecostal and or Southern Baptist are “in” — I’m not aware that’s true — and “hip and cool” and what they should be, rather than be themselves: Anglicans. People really have trouble being themselves these days. Or, they’re trying to come off as pop culture “hip and cool” and that means — to them — a praise band because “Anglican is not cool and hip” (in their mind). Frankly, I’ve never thought of Pentecostal or Southern Baptist as “cool and hip” but rather backward, hick and redneck. That’s what they’re striving for? I think of Anglican as more sophisticated. Although I no longer think of WNC as that. Their priorities are very misplaced. They’ve lost themselves especially under this new Dean. Regardless, it’s a mess. Why didn’t the bottom basement Low Church priests who felt this way leave and go to churches of those denominations? That would have been easier than slowly developing a praise band, no? Because they are two very drastic different styles mixed together all in the same Liturgy. So, as expected, they slowly brought in the praise band. That way the people got used to it and they slowly added the rest of the instruments to it, such as back up singers dancing in place and the drums, timpani, and guitar.

One wonders: Is the former resident congregation still there? They were referred to as “the liberals in Upper Northwest.”

WNC is a tourist church so anyone who is there as a visitor — someone visiting the District — will likely only be there for one Sunday, so why appeal to someone like that where you’re not going to have weekly access to their bank or credit union account when the offering plate is passed or for a tithe? And that’s what this is about, money.

“The power that be” seem to think that adding this shit to the Liturgy will bring in money. But who goes to an Episcopal Cathedral — of all places! — to hear gospel music?

I like that they’re reading The Gospel en español first and then in US English, but that has got to piss off somebody (the conservatives?) who can’t stand any other world language other than their precious US English.

I should also point out that some churches who have praise bands also have the traditional service. They are at two different times. The churches have the intelligence to have the praise band service at one time (such as 9AM) and the traditional service at another time (11:15 AM) rather than this mess at WNC of mixing the two styles together. It doesn’t work to thinking people. You don’t mix styles.

And I see that Michael McCarthy is still there. Groan.

I did notice how choppy the hymns were being played, or at least the recessional hymn, as opposed to grand, glorious and legato hymn playing. Nobody was singing anyway — as usual — since most people “stand and mumble” at WNC (just like they stand and mumble The Nicene Creed), so it really doesn’t matter how the hymns are played quite frankly, but legato is how most organists are trained to play hymns. And since the congregation doesn’t sing the hymns anyway, there’s no need for choppy hymn playing to keep the non-singing congregation from dragging the tempo. So play the hymns legato as you were trained.

My friend and I watched the above-mentioned moments from WNC on the First Sunday of Easter and then we clicked off, shaking our heads in disgust at what WNC has become. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing with that praise band shit. And them wearing cassocks. He said: “I’ve never seen a drummer wearing an Anglican cassock.” No, I don’t suspect you have since Anglican parishes and Cathedral Churches don’t usually have drummers. Until now, here in the Century of Insanity. They have completely lost themselves presumably trying to be “all things to all people.” And it doesn’t work. It’s a mess.

I’m not sure what they do with a Cathedral Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion that desperately wants to be Pentecostal or Southern Baptist.

My friend suggested they turn the Cathedral into a museum, close the Cathedral School, and instead buy or rent each week a large hall or arena — some large arena-style church like Southern Baptists have — and put their praise band in there and have their preferred Pentecostal or Southern Baptist “service” there. And abandon the Anglican tradition entirely and anything about it. I think that will make them much happier.

And maybe superb Thomas Sheehan can go back to Harvard where he belongs. Is he thinking to himself about now: I left my job at Harvard for this crap?