Layman's music inspired faith for three decades
By Gabija Steponenaite
When 16-year-old Philip Runge came to Notre Dame de Chicago Church for the first time, he had no idea parish life would intertwine with his for the next 27 years. His introduction to Notre Dame came about because his sister Judy, a parishioner who sang in the church’s choir, volunteered her brother to play the organ at Christmas Midnight Mass.
“I felt like I was part of a family immediately,” said Runge,
remembering that festive occasion in 1980.
Since that night, Runge shared his musical talent with the Notre Dame community for almost three decades, until last May when he moved west after his job was relocated to California.
The parish was experiencing difficult times when the young and enthusiastic musician decided to join. In the early 1980s Notre Dame had only 250 registered families, and the upper church had been badly damaged by lightning in 1978 and was closed due to fire and water damage. The church also had no permanent musical director, so priests and parishioners had to ask volunteer musicians to play at Sunday Mass or on special occasions.
“For the first five years I would come to play only on Christmas and Easter Masses, and I was always willing to do it because I enjoyed it very much,” Runge said. Impressed with his volunteer efforts, the church hired him as permanent musical director, a post he held while continuing to work as an insurance marketing executive.
When preparing for a service Runge aimed for a balanced mix of musical pieces. He neither avoided contemporary composers' liturgical works nor ignored traditional ones. “I guess people could say that I was an eclectic musician," Runge explained. "But I liked presenting a variety of works. Something for everyone.”
No secular music
He always remained faithful to his own principle of not playing secular music in church. Runge strongly believes liturgical music’s purpose is to help people contemplate their faith and pray, while secular music has a different purpose and should not be performed in a place of worship.
“My main goal was to bring together parishioners through music,” said Runge. He added that his most rewarding moments came whenever a person approached him to thank him for the music because “I knew that I was able to reach to a person’s soul and helped him or her to worship better.”
The Rev. Steven M. Lanza of St. Julie Billart’s Parish in Orland Park, IL, worked with Runge for more than eight years in the late 1990s when Fr. Lanza was Notre Dame's pastor. He noted that Runge "brought great musical talent, musical experience, and an exemplary commitment to the parish. Every Mass he played was very energetic, inspiring, and moving. Without his talent a liturgy would have been less exciting.”
Fr. Lanza believes Runge’s skill in selecting musical works helped the church appeal to a wider audience: the older generation liked more traditional liturgical music, while the younger generation enjoyed contemporary works.
He also appreciated Runge’s reliability and dedication. “There were a couple of instances when I would forget to mention to him to be prepared for the special rituals or celebrations at Sunday Mass, and I would run to him 20 minutes before the service and frantically ask him to save the situation," Fr. Lanza recalled. "Phil would always be able to find a solution and perform the liturgy without anyone noticing any problems."
A musical family
Music always has been an important part of Runge’s life. He was born in Chicago to salesman Fred and housekeeper Dorothy Runge, who raised nine children. “My parents and all my siblings are very musical," Philip Runge said. "My mother sang and danced, and my father dabbled with different instruments; he could play organ, harmonica, and others.”
Runge started playing the organ when he was only eight years old. When he turned ten, he already was playing during the Sunday Mass at St. Pius X Church in Lombard, IL, where he performed until his high school years. When he became a student at De Paul University in Chicago he was determined to acquire degrees in business administration and marketing as well as organ performance, but after two years in college he had to drop music studies because of the huge workload. Runge chose to graduate from the De Paul’s College of Commerce.
For Runge, music brings a sense of peace and happiness, and he continues to share and enrich his family life with it. His wife, English teacher Gigi Runge, who also comes from a music-loving family, recalled that “My future husband brought me to Notre Dame Parish, and when he became a musical minister I joined the chorus.”
Phil and Gigi met in high school, where they both loved acting in plays, singing, and attending chorus concerts together. The couple married at Notre Dame Church, and their son Philip and daughter Julie were baptized there.
Their children joined in parish activities when they reached high school, their son accompanying his father on the bass while mother and daughter sang in the chorus. Young Philip now is majoring in music performance; and daughter Julie continues to sing in the chorus.
The family loves attending concerts and plays, and they regularly go to musicals. “We are great Andrew Lloyd Webber fans," Gigi explained. “Music is just a part of everything that our family does.”
