Building Choirs

Building choirs for a congregation new to music can be very difficult at first. Many people are excited to have music added to the liturgy at all and would like to just participate from their seats for a while. It's can be an uphill climb for sure but don't be disheartened. As people become comfortable with the repertoire they will be willing to sing more.

On top of that, you never know how many people are interested in joining your musical efforts if you don't ask. There are a bunch of different ways to find willing participants but the opportunity has to be available to them.  People will probably not come to you on their own.

1. Make sure announcements are made when you want to try to bring new members in. Be honest with people and make sure they know what is expected of them when joining.

2. Have recruitment nights. Invite anyone who might be interested and just have a good time with them and the music. Share some simple songs with them and help them sing together. Give them the experience that they might have being a member of the group.

These are just a couple of ideas and there are so many more depending on the size and feel of your parish. Have patience and keep it up. People don't want to join something that isn't good already. So in the mean time, make the music the best it can possibly be and realize that people will come when they are ready.

You may also need to hire extra musicians if you can afford it. It can create a group that people will want to join.

It isn't easy, so stick with it.

Variety and Consistency

Variety, Variety, Variety.

When choosing songs for liturgy, I have but another thing for you to keep in mind today. The difference between our musical attention spans as musicians and those of the congregation. I can't count the number of times that I have second guessed song choices because I though "I've done this too many times recently, people are going to get tired of it." When in essence these songs are often the most popular and well loved songs.

Pescador De Hombres is a song used frequently in Hispanic communities but it is also a song that gets the community SINGING. When the "fishers of men" reading came up last weekend I was really worried to sing it again because I had used it for about 3 weeks in a row. But the community sings and more importantly, prays with it. I'm sure I could have found a more obscure song to fit the liturgical need but what good does it do?

We as musicians need to feel fulfilled in our ministry as well. Part of that is doing a variety of new and challenging music. But this must be balanced with consistent, meaningful, and singable music. Music that the congregation will know in the first few beats. This is why songs like "City of God", "Table of Plenty", "Find Us Ready" and the like have stayed so strong in the community masses.

Variety and Consistency

John 3:30

Getting people to sing! How do we do it? Do they want to? Do they like the music?

So many thoughts go through my mind each week as I lead music at my new parish. But I think the biggest question that I often forget to ask myself is, "Am I doing too much?".  It's hard to understand, but "doing too much" can destroy your chances of getting people to sing.  As musicians, we can't always be performing. The connotation that comes along with performing is that everyone else should just listen, and it's a privilege at that. Instead we need to stay true to our positions. We are ministers and leaders first. We are performers second. We must encourage others to join us in the praise of God.

John 3:30 says "He must increase; I must decrease."

I love that line because it sums up our role as music ministers. "I MUST DECREASE", and the congregations must see Jesus increase through us. This will bring us all closer to him. There will be time for performances, Christmas concerts, Easter Pageants, Spaghetti dinner fundraisers and open mic nights. Those are a whole other story.