Episode 27: The Making of a Black Catholic Hymnal with Marjorie Gabriel-Burrow

Meet Father Rivers

Eric and Emily explore a great accomplishment for Black Catholics in the US many years in the making: the Lead Me Guide Me hymnal, published by GIA Publications in 1987. After some background on the hymnal’s development, hosts introduce Marjorie Gabriel-Burrow, who chaired the committee that brought the hymnal to birth. Marjorie, an internationally acclaimed musician and composer, has served the Catholic Church as a pastoral musician since the eighth grade and since 1992 at St. Augustine-St. Monica Parish in Detroit. Marjorie tells stories of a lifetime of making music in the Church as a Black Catholic, including meeting Fr. Rivers and long-time parish use of Rivers’ Mass Dedicated to the Brotherhood of Man and the struggles and triumphs of putting together Lead Me Guide Me with collaborators Rawn Harbor and Leon C. Roberts. Hosts and guest discuss Fr. Rivers’ decision not to allow the inclusion of much of his music in the hymnal. Marjorie shares her personal remembrances of Fr. Rivers. For Episode 27 Show Notes, click here.