Over the years in my role as a church music director, I have responded to many questions and comments by parishioners, which have led me to the realization that the average person in the pew doesn’t really know what my work entails. They only experience the end result on a Sunday morning. Therefore, this month’s column is an invitation into my world.
For me, being a church music director is akin to being a tightrope walker. It involves experience, balance, and treading a fine line, especially when it comes to meeting the needs of the congregation. Also, I prefer to think of myself as music minister because what I do encompasses so much more than leading hymn singing and directing the choir.
Firstly, I have been blessed with an extensive music education, was married to a priest, and have worked in many churches. This has been extremely beneficial because it has afforded me the opportunity to become well-versed in a wide range of church music styles and to understand how liturgy works within the various service formats. Most importantly, I have learned that relationships and teamwork are the keys to a successful music ministry. Knowing the congregation’s music preferences and worship style, as well as having a good relationship with the incumbent or priest-in-charge are crucial. The priest and music director must work together so that the music and the liturgy complement one another. Also, they are part of a larger team that shapes and delivers each worship service. This includes the parish secretary and one or two others. Regarding the priest’s involvement in the music selection, it varies from parish to parish. Some are keen to be involved in every step of the process while others are less so. Either way, communication is extremely important.
Planning service music is probably the most time consuming task that I have. It takes many hours. I usually plan by season of up to eight weeks in advance. This includes hymns, sung parts of the liturgy, and choir pieces. With direction from the priest, who may or may not attend the planning sessions, I work with a partner who sings in the choir. His input has been invaluable to me due to his 30+ years’ membership in the congregation. He knows their musical history; I only came to the parish just over two years ago. He keeps me balanced on the musical tightrope that I walk when it comes to selecting congregational favourites and introducing new hymns. This ensures that it is not just my taste and preferences that are being imposed on the congregation. With regard to the planning process there are many things we consider: the season of the church year, its themes and symbols, feast days and other observances, and the readings. Each of us reads all of the scriptures for the upcoming weeks and writes down our hymn ideas, which we draw from the various hymn books and other resources. Following this, we meet to share our ideas in order to draw up a hymn schedule. This meeting usually takes a few hours. The schedule is then vetted by the priest before going to the parish secretary and members of the choir.
Other tasks that come with my work include communicating with our pianist and rehearsing with the choir on a weekly basis, leading choral warm-ups before services, preparing a rehearsal agenda for each rehearsal, ordering special music, transposing hymns into lower keys as needed, writing music for any sung responses and acclamations, practicing piano and playing for the choir when our pianist is away, teaching new music to the congregation, preparing the hymn texts for the worship leaflet, reporting the copyrighted hymn texts to our license provider, and writing an annual report.
Indeed, being a music director/minister takes a lot of work, but the rewards are great. I love it when people make note of the connection between the music and the liturgy, and it gives me even greater joy when they tell me that the music has contributed to a meaningful and memorable worship experience.
