Agnus Dei Ministry
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Agnus Dei Ministry Presents
"Saved by Grace through Faith"Saved by Grace Through Faith is a Lenten program from Agnus Dei Ministry featuring inspiring music, readings, and meditations on God’s gift of Grace. This program is a time of praise, prayer, and reflection that will draw participants into a greater appreciation for how the gift of grace is offered and our call to respond.
Like previous programs by Agnus Dei Ministry, Saved by Grace Through Faith incorporates a variety of musical styles. This year's program includes some songs that are well known, such as a new arrangement of the traditional spiritual "Were You There?", selections like "Who Am I?" and "Great Are You Lord" by Casting Crowns, "Here at This Table" and "Holy is He" by David Clydesdale and a moving arrangement of the Palm Sunday Psalm, "My God, My God, Why Have You Abandoned Me?" by an up and coming new Catholic composer, Francesca LaRosa.2024 Schedule
Sunday, February 25. 3:00pm.
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. 106 Iowa St. S, Fairbank.
Sunday, March 3. 6:30pm.
Queen of Peace Catholic Church. 320 Mulberry St., Waterloo.
Friday, March 8. 7:00pm.
First Presbyterian Church. 505 Franklin St., Waterloo.
Sunday, March 17. 4:00pm.
St. Patrick Catholic Church. 705 Main St., Cedar Falls.
Sunday, March 24. 6:00pm.
Sacred Heart Catholic Church. 627 W. 4th St., Waterloo
Sunday, April 7. 2:30pm.
St. Raphael Cathedral. 231 Bluff St., Dubuque.Agnus Dei Ministry programs are free and open to the public.
About Agnus Dei Ministry
Agnus Dei Ministry is an ensemble of musicians from Catholic parishes in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area, including Blessed Sacrament, Sacred Heart and St. Edward Parishes in Waterloo; Immaculate Conception Parish in Gilbertville; and St. John Parish in Independence. We are a multigenerational group of musicians with an age range of 10 years old through age 73, with every decade in between represented.
David Berns, the founder of Agnus Dei Ministry and its musical director explains the origin and history of the Ministry:
I started Agnus Dei Ministry in 2009. Between 2009 and 2016 we presented a program called Lenten Lessons and Prayers--A Musical Journey with Christ which included a combination of inspirational music and Scripture depicting the life, Passion, and death of Jesus. We believed this program would be a one season event when we presented this program seven times during Lent of 2010. It was very well received and as word spread, we received many requests to come to additional parishes in subsequent years. We ended up presenting this program or a variation of it 66 times all around northeastern Iowa between 2010 and 2016. Besides all of the Catholic parishes in Waterloo and Cedar Falls we had presentations in Dubuque, Dyersville, Cedar Rapids/Marion, Mount Vernon, Marshalltown, Mason City, New Hampton, Ankeny, Des Moines, Oelwein, Traer, Jesup, and at other parishes in our Archdiocese. We visited 24 parishes in our Archdiocese and several other Christian Churches during this time.In 2017 we were asked by the Waterloo area deanery to create a new program titled Journey of Mercy to culminate the Church's Year of Mercy. This musical prayer experience focused on different aspects of God's Mercy. We shared Journey of Mercy at five more parishes in 2018. Since 2018 we have served as music ministers at special Masses in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area such as Confirmation Masses and the Iowa Irish Fest Mass each year. We also did a concert in 2019. Annual presentations were suspended in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic which made public assembly unsafe.
Saved by Grace Through Faith, introduced in 2023, was the Ministry's first production since 2019. The inspiration really came from people who have seen our previous presentations and who have asked us if we were starting up again after Covid. We felt perhaps now more than ever, people seem to be hungering for reconnection with their faith. Over the last year and a half I started searching for music that might potentially be included in a new program. One day I stumbled across the song "See Him Face to Face" and part of the lyrics were "tell the story Saved by Grace." When I heard those words, they spoke to me and I began to build this new program around this theme.
For information about Agnus Dei Ministry contact:
Dave Berns • Email: dkberns2@gmail.com
[Last Update: 01.28.24]