By Steve Sears

Ask Kevin McCann, recently retired Music Ministry Director of Ss. Peter & Paul Roman Catholic Parish in Great Meadows, if spiritual music is the world’s finest, and he gives you an apt answer.

“There’s a song, ‘Come, Holy Ghost.’ That song I think is played in just about every denomination. Well, somebody has said to me, ‘You know, to really get up to date and be modern, we should change it to, ‘Come, Holy Spirit.’ I did some research on the song, and that was actually written in 706. Not 1706, but 706! It shows you the context and the value of the music.” But he can’t name a favorite. “There’s ‘On Eagle’s Wings, ‘Be Not Afraid” – songs that I’ve been doing for decades. I really can’t put my finger on one song and say, ‘Okay, that’s my favorite.” It’s all the songs in the hymnal that resonate. “I’ve been blessed in that respect. I’ve been able to do spiritual music, and how many times I’ve had people come up to me and tell me how moved they were through music, because they were going through something in their lives.”

McCann initially started as a teenager at then St. Mary’s in Hackettstown, and then headed to Our Lady of the Mountain in Long Valley, where he served as Music Director of the children’s masses. He was then asked by the former pastor at his current church to do the same, and he agreed. Recently retired from the corporate world, McCann has also served as a Parish Trustee for Ss. Peter & Paul.

McCann, who has relocated to Pennsylvania to be closer to his daughter and grandchildren, speaks lovingly of his late wife, Elly, who passed away in late January, but is still very involved in his life, encouraging him to play local venues prior to his departing the Garden State. “My wife and I were very close, and of course, she’s in my head. She’s in my head constantly. She’s pushing me: ‘Go play your music. Go play your music.’ I’m just following the orders of my wife. She pushing me to go out and play my non-religious music.”

McCann, 62, plays guitar as well as piano and organ, and is also a vocalist. His pride and joy he says is the 10 a.m. Praise Group at Ss. Peter & Paul. “I use my gift to help people. I mean that’s really why he gave me that gift. You know, it’s funny: I never took piano lessons in my life. I just loved the instrument. So, over the years I’ve sat and played and learned as much as I possibly could. And again, that’s just a gift that I was given.”

McCann is sad to leave Ss. Peter & Paul, Pastor Rev. Grzegorz “Greg” Podsiadlo, and the congregation. “He’s a wonderful man. I have the deepest respect for him. He was with me when my mother passed away about six, seven years ago; he was with me and Elly through that. And, of course, with Elly just passing recently, he was with me through that, too.” He pauses, then adds, “My heart is in that parish. My heart is really with that church, after all these years. My heart is there with the people, just everything about it. It’s very bittersweet.”

And more than his heart will always be in Hackettstown. In fact, the words of a ballad he composed, “Monument,” are engraved on the Billy Yank Civil War statue in Hackettstown. 

Yes, he may be leaving Hackettstown, but a piece of him is left behind.

McCann then sums it up. “I’ve been blessed incredibly in my life. I mean, God gave me the gift, and I’ve used it to glorify Him. And in return, he’s blessed me immeasurably.”