First Posted: 1/27/2015
DELPHOS — Dan Schutte, well-known composer and musician, will be coming to St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church Feb. 13 and 14 to give a concert and lead a retreat titled, “Walking the Sacred Path.”
Lynn Bockey, director of music at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, said that she began working on this event a year ago and is hoping for a good turnout.
“For the concert I’d expect to see 300,” she said, “and for the retreat, I’m thinking about 75. We are so excited to have him be in Delphos and share his music and lead the retreat.”
Schutte has loved music all of his life.
“Neither of my parents were musical,” he said, “but my grandparents on both sides were. It’s probably something in my genetics that I love music so much.”
It was not until he was in seminary, though, that Schutte began to compose music himself.
“I entered the Jesuit seminary,” he said, “and it was in the years after the Second Vatican Council, and there was an openness there to try some new things.”
Schutte and his friends started writing some very simple songs and received a good response.
“With composition, you learn by doing it,” he said. “With my musical background, I sort of knew what I was doing, but I started with very simple songs. … It’s one thing to play a piece of music. It’s something completely different to put notes on a page and make music from scratch.”
From the very beginning, Schutte’s focus in composition was music for congregations to sing.
“I wasn’t writing performance music,” he said. “I loved James Taylor and Roberta Flack and the other pop singers of the time, but the music I wrote was all connected to Catholic worship and liturgical music.”
Schutte said that music for a congregation is much different than music meant for performance.
“The majority of people singing in a congregation are not musically educated,” he explained. “They are often not confident in their singing ability so the music needs to be simpler than something for solos or performances.”
Schutte spent 20 years as a Jesuit priest, and it was during this time that he gradually gained an education in composition.
“Being a Jesuit, I did a lot of ministry work. Music was a thing I did on the side or in the summers when I wasn’t in school or teaching,” he said. “It happened piecemeal. My formal education in composition was very much a gradual thing.”
When Schutte left the priesthood almost 30 years ago, one of his main reasons was to pursue his music full time. Over the years, he has written hundreds of songs.
“I have no idea the exact number,” he said.
His personal favorite is, “You Are Near,” which is based on Psalms 139. Other well-known songs he has written include, “Here I am, Lord,” “City of God,” and “Sing a New Song.”
While much of his music is concentrated within the Catholic church, it does transcend denominational lines.
“It is beyond just the Catholic church,” said Schutte. “I have some songs in Presbyterian hymnals and Lutheran hymnals.”
Schutte, who now lives in San Francisco, California, travels for events from August through June with a break during the holidays. He has event almost every weekend during the school year, he said.
Schutte does concerts, music workshops and also retreats.
“People, when they talk about faith, sometimes imagine it is just about doctrine or creed or principles,” he said. “For me, faith is about our relationship with God and is influenced by how we relate to God.”
Schutte said during his retreats he talks about prayer, things that support prayer, things that interrupt it, and also about Scripture as a foundation for a person’s prayer life.
“The other piece for me, because I love music and pray with music,” he said, “is using music in our relationship with God. The people who attend tend to think that way, too, since they know me as a singer and composer.”
While Schutte loves sharing his music and the joy of having a relationship with God through his events, he admits that the constant travel can be challenging.
“The wear and tear of travel is the hard part,” he said, “but I’m blessed to be able to come home between events.”
Despite the challenges, Schutte loves what he does.
“I enjoy sharing music with people,” he said, “and I love leading people to find and discover their relationship with God.”
Bockey is looking forward to the community hearing Schutte.
“He’s had a huge influence on Catholic liturgical music,” she said. “Every Catholic, they may not know his name, but they know his songs.
As for Schutte, he hopes that attendees come away with a fresh perspective.
“I just hope they will have experience God in a new way,” he said, “so their life of faith and prayer is given new life and inspiration.”
