Happy Trails

On June 30, I will terminate forty-six years of parish music ministry. For me to make that move required a lot of soul searching and a lot of weighing and measuring. In all instances the outcome was consistently Yes, time to say "Enough."

My parish work is fine and the worship experiences have been fine and the music ministers are fine and the growing repertory is fine. All are fine.

But, . . . a teacher of mine impressed me strongly with the dictum, "It's better to leave five years too soon than five minutes too late." She was right. If one is to leave a job, always go when the banners are flying high, not when they've been shot down and folks ask what time the movers are coming in.

In the process of setting up a search committee and a regimen of good questions to ask a candidate, I reflect back on the past dozen committees I have sat on as a parish begins the process of finding a music minister.

From those experiences, I have found that it is not the information that is gleaned but the information that is implied from which a clear picture of the candidate emerges. In the beginning of the interview process, the committee asks the person under scrutiny if he or she has any questions.

These are some questions that are never asked by the musician seeking the job:

How large is the assembly's repertory?
What is the worship aid in the pews?
How often is a new item taught to the assembly?
Do you sing all the verses of the hymn?
Does the cantor swallow the microphone?

Instead, these are the questions that come up:

How many ranks does the organ have?
Is there a day off in the weekly schedule?
Do I have to do music at the first Mass on Sunday?
How many weddings and funerals are there?
How many ranks does the organ have?

My despair level reaches a deep level of "de profundis" when I hear those inquiries coming out of the candidate's mouth.

You have to know that I never recommend one person for a job from which I'm leaving. I recommend the job to a person whom I think could handle the position. I accumulate four prospects and the rest is in the hands of the search committee.

That provides some protection for me just in case the new musician doesn't work out and I get a hysterical call from the pastor who yells, "Who did you send to us? You didn't tell me she broke parole last week!"

After thirty-five years of post-conciliar reform that has elevated the assembly into its primary place in the liturgy, the major liturgical minister-the musician-is still worried about how big of an organ he or she will pontificate from. Gasp.

The need for good musicians who are good liturgists has never been greater, especially since the pool of good musicians who are good liturgists decreases daily. The reasons for the decline are many.

The major one is what Bob Batastini cites in the summer issue of the GIA Quarterly. A lot of us are burnt out, tired of being disillusioned about our ministry, and refuse to live at a poverty level.

Happily, however, there is still a considerable number of our colleagues who are maintaining their ministry in parishes where the assembly sings, the pastor rejoices, the organ is fine, the piano is in tune, and the singers are committed and sing well.

Those places, like Christians, are made, not reborn. Like Christians, the assembly and all those live therein need constant nourishing, but the nourishing must also include the minister. Can anyone take me to lunch now that I have a free Sunday?

Lest you think I will be unemployed, on August 1, I assume the leadership of the Office for Worship of the Greensburgh diocese. Your prayers and encouragement are expected.

You can reach Fred Moleck via email at fmoleck@earthlink.net