St. James Music Ministry - Mission Statement

The St. James Music Ministry is made up of professional and amateur musicians committed to:

• serving the community by inspiring full and joyful participation in worship through congregational singing and reflective listening.

• reiterating God’s Word in song,

• moving the congregation, through music, closer to God by helping them access their hearts and souls,

• encouraging spiritual reflection, growth, prayerfulness, thankfulness, and a sense of connectedness/community through music.

• creating an environment which draws people into a deeper experience of the mystery celebrated.

Music Ministry Vision
Our music ministry is made up of:

• A music director to guide the evolution of the ministry, by providing musical leadership at the 4:30 Saturday, 7:30, 9:00, 11:00 12:45, 6:00 Sunday liturgies - also designated holy days and special celebrations (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Holy Week - Morning Prayer, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and other Holy Days and other special services - Stations of the Cross, Penance Services, Parish Mission, etc.).
• Evaluates quality of musical groups and their ability to encourage the full participation of the community.

• Music coordinator to schedule cantors, leaders of song, substitute musicians, and rehearsal space for various groups, keep track of all musical equipment, disperse song schedules, oversee licenses for music use, oversee music budget, coordinate music for weddings, website updates, and communication via phone, email, church bulletin for all aspects of the music ministry. Also, will assist music director in monitoring all parish musical groups as well as congregational participation.
• Substitute accompanists and music technicians to provide leadership in the absence of the music director.

• Paid professional cantors to lead and inspire congregational singing, proclaim the psalm, gospel acclamation, meditative solo songs, harmonize with music director, minimally 3 Eucharistic celebrations in a given weekend, as well as on important holy days. This will provide a higher level of consistency in terms of musicality and leadership.  These cantors will provide singing for all parish weddings, many of which include the unchurched, requiring a high level of expertise to engage the congregation in full participation.  Cantors, as a part of their ministry, will volunteer their musical services at various liturgical celebrations and/or musical activities. (ex.  singing in the special occasion choir or small special occasion select group, workshop training for leaders of song, assisting with special choral rehearsals as section leaders, volunteering for a mass other than their scheduled, paid masses, etc.)

• Voluntary leaders of song to assist music director in leading the ordinary parts of the mass as well as congregational hymns. (Music director sings psalm, Gospel acclamation, meditation hymns.) Leaders of song will be scheduled at masses in which a cantor is not present.

Music Director, with Music Coordinator, will Monitor the Following groups:

• Special occasion choir to sing at designated holy days to rehearse as requested by organist/choir director. Music must reflect the tone of liturgical season - Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter

• Children’s choir/bell choir to provide music for school liturgies and children’s liturgies

• Special occasion select groups - singers and instrumentalists under the direction of music director for special liturgies, performing interesting music of all genres as dictated by the particular occasion.

ALL MUSICAL GROUPS SHARE THE MISSION OF PROMOTING AND
ENCOURAGING FULL, ACTIVE COMMUNITY SINGING AND WILL BE
EVALUATED WITH THIS AS THE MAIN CRITERIA.

• Music technician group (volunteers) to run disks, understand sound system, recording, video components. (Under direction of music coordinator)
• Volunteer music librarian to copy and file music. (Legal copies only)

Our Musical Culture will be Shaped by:

• Quarterly music meeting of music director, music coordinator, and pastor to review program, scheduling issues,  and plan (well in advance) the upcoming themes and/or liturgical seasons - music selections discussed at this time.

• An twice yearly meeting with music director, music coordinator, pastor, and a representative from each group to review all programs, issues, dialogue, etc.
• Unity and Variety - A consistent style at each mass appropriate to the particular demographics of that gathering, as well at least 2 songs from the”A” list of songs all Catholic Christians know. (”A” songs are songs everyone knows and sings well, “B” songs are somewhat familiar, but do not evoke full participation, “C” songs are not familiar and the community struggles in their participation. ) See list of “A” songs attached.

Therefore it is critical to use “A” songs when the community both joins together and prepares to leave (processional - gathering rite, and recessional - the rite of sending forth).This will reflect our sense of community with a unified voice and empower visitors and regular parishioners alike to participate with confidence.   Knowing the “A”     songs also empowers our parish community to participate well in the larger community of the Catholic Church. We will institute a *consistent process to select         and integrate new songs into the faith life of the community, moving them into the “A” song category.
These “A” songs may be done in a style consistent with the flavor of each respective mass - this ensures a level of consistency (along with stylistic variety) so that people attending something other than their usual mass can still easily participate, while experiencing the unique style of the particular mass.
*  The process for moving a “B” or “C” song into the “A” category is as follows:
1.)  The song will be sung as a meditation piece several times for the community
to hear.
2.)  The song may be played as an instrumental piece before or during mass to
familiarize the community with the melody.
3.) Initially, the congregation will be asked to join in on the refrain only, and this will
be practiced before mass.
4.)  The song will appear on the schedule for a number of weeks - after the second week, the congregation is asked to join in on the verses as well as on the refrain.

• An adult, experienced cantor or leader of song at the cantor stand to lead singing with all musical groups.
• In an attempt to stay within copyright guidelines and in order to best engage the congregation in singing, songsheets (containing only lyrics) should be used only in a limited way. We will try to utilize short, singable refrains that can be learned by rote (Taize, Thank You Lord, etc).  We will also look for  supplemental hymnals for a variety of more contemporary selections and distribute these as necessary.

• Annual Advent Evening of Scripture and Song in which all musical ministers participate.
• An expectation that all verses of entrance and recessional hymns will be sung, as suggested by church guidelines.
• Musical selections during the preparation of the gifts (offertory) function as a transitional piece, and therefore should always be limited to the amount of time it takes for the celebrant to prepare the gifts.  The celebrant should never be waiting at the altar for the offertory hymn to be completed.

• Musical selections based on the readings of the day and/or theme of the season, with plenty of repetition to encourage full, confident participation.

• Lent and Advent characterized by a more reflective anticipatory tone and mood, with a consistent entrance and closing hymn at all masses.

Our Musical Culture will be Supported by:

• Priests participating in singing whenever possible (modeling for community) and setting clear, consistent expectations for full participation, as well as affirmation for excellent efforts.  A hymnal, opened to the processional hymn, should be placed by the acolyte on the altar so that the priest can join in once in place.  Priests setting constant expectation of full singing, and affirmation for the community when that happens.

• All ministers on the altar picking up hymnals and singing (modeling for community).
• Hymnal board clearly visible to the congregation with updated hymn #s at each mass.
• Acolytes, sacristans processing in slowly and remaining in place at the close of mass for one full verse of closing hymn before processing out slowly. (This includes ushers carrying the offertory collection.)

• Hospitality ministers checking to see that hymnals are distributed as necessary.
• Rehearsing new hymns before mass with the congregation. * See consistent process.
• “St. James Sings” - CD of favorite hymns sung by the congregation.
• Ongoing recruitment of talent.
• Ongoing professional development for music director, cantors, and leaders of song.
• Music Technology Ministry - recruit music technicians to troubleshoot sound system issues, operate CD player, recording equipment, disks for organ and clavinova.

• A budget for music, paid professional cantors and substitute musicians.

Our Music Ministry Values

• Prayerfulness - all music ministers understand that they are there in prayerfulness rather than as performers.

• Commitment - members of the music ministry participate consistently and attend rehearsals and meetings reliably, responsibly, and on time.
• Preparation - all leaders of song and cantors prepare thoroughly and are musically and technically astute. Paid liturgical musicians must possess the following qualities:

1.)  Must be able to prepare new music  independently and accurately.
2.)  Must be able to read and sight-read music.
3.)  Must have former paid professional, liturgical experience.
4.)  Must have studied focused, long term (voice or their particular instrument) and
have a high level of expertise.
5.)  Must be able to harmonize and improvise with music director/organist.
Also, all music ministers must study the weekly readings ahead of time to reflect
on the connection to the song selections.  In this way they can better lead the
congregation to this connection.

• Tradition - all music ministers are familiar with the “A” songs of the Catholic church
• Respect for Equipment and Supplies - all music ministers take good care of our equipment and music, leaving it in the church in secured, designated, locked storage areas.

• An Inviting/Inspiring Presence (Charism) - all music ministers must work to invite and encourage the congregation to pray,participate, and reflect on the Word through song.