Ray Repp

Ray Repp has been called "the person most responsible for introducing folk music and the guitar into Christian Churches." Since 1965, when he brought guitar into the liturgy with his Mass for Young Americans, Ray has composed and recorded 11 collections of songs, some of which have been translated into as many as 28 languages. Both his early and more recent compositions reflect his concern for peace and social justice issues.

Ray is originally from St. Louis, where most of his family still resides. He was educated in seminaries in St. Louis and in Ottawa, Canada, and has studied languages and music in Europe. He worked as liturgical music consultant at Cornell University and taught and directed the Head Start programs of Tompkins County, New York. He now resides in Vermont.

In addition to composing and recording, Ray spends considerable time speaking and giving workshops and concerts around the U.S. and abroad. He has presented at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, the Catechetical Congress of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, the East Coast Religious Education Conference and the National Catholic Student Coalition Conference.

Ray's particular interest is showing the relationship between honest, authentic worship and social justice. Ray believes it is impossible to have one without the other, unless we have a misunderstanding of one or the other. This interest is particularly evident in his more recent recordings.