We were forging a musical consensus to invite the congregation in. Fourteen other people were counting on our consensus to hold and encourage their voices. Michael and I were balancing. St. Gregory's congregation sings without accompaniment. Some congregations include an organ or other instruments in their voice.
Instruments bring additional gifts and challenges to nurturing the congregation's best voice.
I recall visiting a church with a large, beautiful pipe organ and an excellent organist who, unfortunately, did not play as a singer. Organists tell me that the best church organists often sing quietly as they play to phrase music for the natural breath of untrained singers. This organist was certainly not doing that. His good musical ideas made solo musical sense for his instrument, but not for human voices. He was not remembering that the congregation's voice is a creature of people breathing together.