Clothed in Love

Surname	Name
Kendzia	Tom Kendzia

"What happened to all the Spirituals?'' This preacher's lament is heard in many Black congregations who long to pass on America's spiritual treasure to the next generation. ... Enter Tom Kendzia's beautifully crafted collection Clothed in Love. These compositions do several things with brilliance. First, Tom celebrates the spiritual genre. His arrangements put spirituals within the range of all assemblies, and suggest a liturgical use for less-performed spirituals. ... Second, Tom transforms the medium. By taking the revered ''Changed My Name'' and adding ''Jesus told me I have to work for justice,'' he extends the relevance of the spiritual to contemporary needs. Finally, Tom weaves new songs with old refrains. The service music for the Order of Mass ... puts musical new wine in new wineskins. I predict that ''The Eyes and Hands of Christ'' and Clothed in Love will become choral favorites. Consider the perennial problem of what to do about the Pentecost sequence solved, for Tom's setting is thrilling and captures the excitement of the Upper Room. All told, this collection of original songs, new arrangements of traditional spirituals, and a Gloria and eucharistic acclamations based on Tom's popular Lead Us to the Water will leave assemblies ''Clothed in Love."
--Rev. Msgr. Raymond East, Executive Director, Office of Black Catholics, Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.

Winner of two Unity Awards for 2003:
Liturgical Album of the Year and Liturgical Song of the Year, "The Eyes and Hands of Christ"