Father Ed Hislop, the pastor at Blessed Trinity Parish in Missoula and Spirit of Christ Mission in Lolo, is the 2010 recipient of the Outstanding Pastor award conferred by the National Association of Pastoral Musicians.

Selection of Father Hislop was announced last month in Detroit during the convention of the association, which fosters the art of musical liturgy. The 8,000 members of the Maryland-based association serve the Catholic Church in the United States as musicians, clergy, liturgists and other leaders of prayer. Selection criteria for the Outstanding Pastor award include the degree of collaboration between a pastor and the musicians at his church.

At Blessed Trinity, Father Hislop has a strong interest in how music supports the liturgy, said Sister Mary Jo Quinn, pastoral assistant and parish director of liturgical music. Music and liturgy are prepared together and Father Hislop expresses his support for the choir, thanking its members and sometimes attending their rehearsals, said Sister Mary Jo of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth.

Blessed Trinity nominated Father Hislop for the Outstanding Pastor award, which the National Association of Pastoral Musicians instituted last year. That nomination was supported by testimony from Helena’s St. Mary Parish, where Father Hislop served previously.

He was ordained in 1973 at St. Ann Church in his hometown of Butte. In 2001 he began serving as pastor at Pope John Paul XXIII Parish in Missoula, and in 2006 he received an additional assignment as pastor at Missoula’s Holy Family Parish. Later in 2006, the two parishes merged and became Blessed Trinity, with Father Hislop as the pastor.

He is a longtime member of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians and has addressed its members as a conference speaker. Father Hislop also is a past chairman of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions based in Washington, D.C. The Outstanding Pastor recognition includes a plaque, which is on the wall in his office.

Among the other awards at the Detroit convention was one for musical settings created to complement the new English translation of the Mass, implementation of which is expected late next year. Sister Mary Jo, a board member for the association’s Directors of Musical Ministry Division, was one of five judges who selected four finalists from among dozens of entries. Convention participants rated those finalists and gave first place to William Gokelman and David Kauffman of San Antonio, Texas.

Other award winners included Sister Kathleen Hughes and Bob Hurd, both of whom have been Diocese of Helena visitors and presenters.

Liturgical renewal advocate Sister Kathleen, a member of the Society of the Sacred Heart and formerly a faculty member and dean at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, received the Jubilate Deo award for her contributions to the worship life of Catholics in the United States. Hurd, a composer who has taught widely and is an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University in California, was honored as Pastoral Musician of the Year for his compositions that have helped U.S. Catholics pray in a variety of languages and musical styles.

Also at the convention, scholarships valued at more than $30,000 were presented to 18 women and men pursuing graduate and undergraduate study in liturgical music and related fields.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 26, No. 8, August 20, 2010.