In this pilot episode of Meet Father Rivers, host Emily talks to Dr. Cecilia Moore, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Dayton, about how and why she arranged for Emily to meet Fr. Clarence Joseph Rivers, and why Rivers remains an obscure yet important figure in American Catholic history.

In this episode, Emily describes her first contact with Fr. Clarence Rivers, interviews her mom, Gabrielle Strand, about their experience of one of Fr. Rivers’ liturgies, and documents the notes she took on her first phone call with Fr. Clarence.

In Episode 3, Emily tells the story of Fr. Rivers’ early career and the efforts toward liturgical inculturation that eventually brought him fame. She talks to Dr. Jessie Thomas who was a child at St. Joseph school in Cincinnati when Fr. Rivers was a young priest in the late 1950s. Emily recounts an early incident of liturgical disobedience by Fr. Rivers, effectively protesting the exclusion of Black forms of music in Catholic worship. News and show contact information is shared. For Ep. 3 show notes, click here.

Host Emily Strand recounts Fr. Rivers’ death and remembers her reactions. She interviews Deacon Royce Winters, Pastoral Administrator at Church of the Resurrection in Cincinnati, Ohio and Director of the Office of African American Pastoral Ministries for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, a personal friend of Fr. Rivers. They visit Fr. Rivers’ gravesite at Gate of Heaven Catholic cemetery in Cincinnati. Lastly Emily reads the letter Fr. Rivers wrote to her, and shares podcast news and contact information. Click here for Episode 4 show notes.

Host Emily Strand turns the podcast in a new direction: to find and speak to others whose lives Fr. Rivers touched and with whom she feels a unique kind of Christian fellowship. She interviews Eric T. Styles, a liturgist, writer and Notre Dame Rector who also befriended and was mentored by Fr. Clarence at the end of his life. Together they recall the deep and lasting effects Rivers had on their young lives and discuss how they will team up to continue pursuing Fr. Rivers’ story on Meet Father Rivers. Warning: this episode contains Star Trek references.

In this episode, co-hosts Emily Strand and Eric Styles interview Bishop Fernand Cheri, auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans, Louisiana, archivist of Black Sacred Song and long-time personal friend of Fr. Clarence Rivers. Bishops shares his memories of traveling to Africa with Fr. Rivers and the liturgical insights Fr. Rivers helped instill in him. Then Emily and Eric introduce a new team member, Johnathon Kelso, and share an audio recording they made of an excerpt of one of Fr. Rivers' songs in the very space it was first recorded in 1963: the Oratory at Grailville.

Emily and Eric interview pianist, pastoral musician, liturgist, workshop presenter and composer Mr. Ronald (Rawn) Harbor. Rawn met Fr. Rivers in 1973 and became his primary accompanist and eventually a liturgist in his own right under Fr. Clarence’s careful mentorship. Rawn discusses his own approaches to composition and even shares a recording of a psalm arrangement that he’s particularly proud of: Psalm 63 “My Soul is Thirsting,” on this special, most musical episode of Meet Father Rivers to date. Click here for show notes.

In this episode, Eric and Emily continue their interview with liturgist, composer and pastoral musician Rawn Harbor, discussing Fr. Rivers as a composer who defied categorization, and the ongoing genesis of Black Catholic liturgy and liturgical music begun by Fr. Rivers. Click here for Episode 8 Show Notes. These include photos of the beautiful vestments referenced in the show.