I think it's become evident in larger parishes and existing clusters that a music director is not so much a practitioner of a craft (think of Bach composing all week, and conducting his cantatas from the organ) as s/he is a parish leader. The music director plans and schedules, more than plays or sings. The necessary skills are political, pastoral, and administrative.

The bonus is the wealth of parish talent that comes with greater numbers. In every parish, I'm convinced, there are volunteer musicians who just need that gentle invitation. The key is leadership.

Pastors will understand all of this, as their jobs have become similarly more administrative.

Not every parish is a multiplex. But many are. Some parishes could never be covered by Bach and all his kids combined. It's all about working with people, including grooming other leaders.

+2 to MA!

Randolph, ironically I didn't open this topic until this languid Saturday morning (with my wife and grandsons blithely darting about as I enjoy a bagel.) Ironic as this topic has been my literal life for the last 3.5 years, I'm a pretty good fore-seer, but like Mahrt (and we've compared notes at length) I have a ton of hindsight to match my hiney, and frankly I wish the whole schmeer was permanently in my rear view mirror at this moment in our chronicles.
My sisters-in-arms are right to look towards a brighter future premised upon everyone on-board with the clarified vision of the Church's missions encapsulated in G's famous "Save the Liturgy, save the world" motto, and from their "nurturing" perspectives and/or tendencies actual regeneration of withering vines seems reachable, doable. But there are some huge presumptions, exegencies, vagaries between conceiving a vision, exacting a plan, selling (how I loathe that part!) said plan, enacting that plan, and keeping the heart and soul of what defines a "parish" or for the PC crowd "worshipping communities (yuck)" on more than mere life-support.
The last three and half years of my 42 hovering in naves, choirs, rectories and offices have been, overall the most demoralizing chapters of my story. God leading me to CMAA and all you, my dearest regional friends, constitute the saving grace that's kept me believing that the divine and noble institution of our church will survive the chaotic deconstruction of its human foundations by the actions of ego-driven shepherds and attack sheep that virtually run amok within very small confines simply because (spoiler alert) OUR BISHOPS, with a few notable and wonderful exceptions, present a facade that evokes images of corporate CEO's before a congressional sub-committee, or a gaggle of princes surrounded and protected by their upwardly mobile sycophants who'll simultaneously shield their prince from the rabble or the lone prophet in their midst, and then crank out some seasonal memo for the diocesan paper and parish bulletins that show their guy is just like us, in fact "one of us." And by the way, couldn't we all just dig down a little deeper into the purse and SEND IT INTO THE GENERAL FUND ACCOUNT?
As you can tell, maybe it's not been good to run into this topic on a languid Saturday morning. But I've been in this trench and it's the Big Muddy for the most part. I don't think that Noel takes any joy by confessing his pessimism, but "same people, no change" fairly and quite accurately describes my experiences in our four parish cluster. And even if the pastor/administrator eschews the CEO approach to daily ministry/work and defers those to surrogates, there's absolutely no guarantee that he will increase his -actual- pastoral visibility and access to the folks. Say no more about that.
Mahrt nails it with this half of his post, which ought to be emblazoned upon every bishop's and pastor's bathroom mirror:

This position defeated three pastors in succession, before things stabilized. The scars of the consolidation are still to be felt.
A definite disadvantage is that the priests are rotated throughout the parish, and the people feel a disconnect from their clergy as a result. There are numerous Masses throughout the parish, and each has its own music group. The "Music director-liturgy director" who was hired was not well received, and eventually functioned more as a coordinator than a director. Over the years, collaboration has developed between musicians, but that is partial. The evolution of a good modus operandi has taken place, but it has taken twenty-five years, and it is not complete.

I wish nothing but good will towards all our ordained men, and don't care how un-PC it is to wish that more of them were cut from a similar cloth as that of Bruskewitz and Burke, rather than Hunthausen or Weakland. But I hope to still be alive to see men like Chaput, O'Malley, Wuerl, Vigneron, Cordileone, Soto and such actually nurture those young men MA sees and works with (FSSP and other, even diocesan seminarians) to re-orient all our attentions back to what happens at the altar on Sundays first, and then how we share that joy in the most tangible ways with the world after "Deo gratias."
Rearranging deck chairs alone as a solution? Feh.

I understand the financial and vocations crisis, not to mention demographic change, that can lead to this kind of arrangement, and feel for the isolation and loneliness that many priests must suffer who serve parishes single-handed, but care must be taken to avoid a weakening of the close link between clergy and parish. I suspect similar attention would need to be paid to any over-arching MD positions in such clusters.

The SSPX is also schismatic. Just sayin'.

Also, in the context of Boston, SSPX has a negligible presence in New England, and the EF doesn't not attract as many as might be the case in other parts of the country.

And your point, Adam, to Randolph's distinct and direct questions, is?

Dear Adam, I think you've hit on the central point, no matter what Charles says. I work in a large parish with everything from guitar Mass to FSSP. And there are some Sundays that playing the Mass in the (carpeted) Chapel, on the piano, with no kneelers, and sippy cups and cheerios, and lots of 30-somethings families, seems preferable to me to playing the (organ) and singing for the more formal Masses. Of course, there is no substitute for the Graduale Romanum. But there is holiness everywhere.

It is difficult to see how clustering squares with canon law.

nor did Charles, bless his heart.

Thank you, Adam. You can't know how much I appreciate that gift. Bless your heart!

I heard a great insight from our priest a few years ago:

"We often say, 'the least I can do is to pray for you.' In fact, if we truly understood and believed the power of prayer - invoking the help of God, our creator and all-powerful, we'd realize that praying is the MOST that we can do. There is nothing more important, nothing more powerful."

It's hard to remember that day to day, but it's absolutely true. Never forget to ask for God's help.

This past week, musicians of the Archdiocese of Boston, along with some parish office personnel, met twice with representatives of the commission responsible for reorganizing archdiocesan parishes. When the topic of severance pay began to emerge at the beginning of the first meeting, it began to soak in why so many in the large yet packed conference room seemed anxious. This is serious business and a lot of lives are about to change. Unfortunately, most of the details that will directly effect musicians have not been worked out so there were few clarifying responses to many pressing questions.

Most everyone at the meetings knew the rationale and need for the reorganization: forty per cent of the archdiocesan parishes can’t pay their bills and compared to the 346 priests active today only 185 are projected to be serving in nine years. The meetings have been useful in that they explained the criteria being used to determine why particular parish pairings are being proposed. At the reorganization website you can view this proposed restructuring. Some will combine as many as four currently independent parishes and only a few will retain their present status. (For the curious, parishes with an alignment with universities, such as St. Paul’s in Cambridge and St. Ignatius in Newton, will not be paired with other parishes.)

An interesting component of the draft reorganization plan is that salary guidelines are included. The suggested salary range for Directors of Music will be $50,000 - 65,000. I would venture that this is more than most directors currently make but the nature of their work will most likely change. As one person asked, “Will I be expected to double as a secretary?”

Much time at these meetings was devoted to polling to determine the degree of compliance or resistance to the proposals. Toward the end of the first meeting a man (whom I did not recognize) made a very eloquently worded observation that the proposed reorganization did not address the reasons for the archdiocese’s decline and that only good liturgy, preaching, and music could spark a revitalization of the faith. His remarks were followed by hearty applause. Another gentleman suggested that a musician be appointed to the commission. More applause.

Despite the idealistic goals for improved evangelization infused by the commission into their proposals, there is still an unmistakeable feel of cold corporate downsizing and I left these meetings somewhat saddened. I often play for two churches on a weekend before I travel to my primary Sunday responsibility and I’m sure this free lance work will evaporate due to altered Mass schedules. Mostly, however, I found myself struggling with change coming so quickly. Most of the free fall in the archdiocese has taken place just within the past decade and at best I’ve been barely equipped psychologically to deal with it.

I had nonetheless some positive feelings. No one questions the sincerity of members of the commission who have labored tirelessly to prepare a first draft of the reorganization plan and everyone I think appreciates their determination to involve folks at the ground level in the formation of a final plan. Having nothing but bad news come out of Boston for the past decade, and with the eyes of many troubled Catholic dioceses on us, everyone seems determined to get this right. Whether we can avoid the pitfalls described in earlier comments by Charles Culbreth and Dr. Mahrt, however, is another matter. Stay tuned.

While risking the disinterest of readers living outside of New England, I thought it timely to revisit this December, 2011 thread. Though still a few years from completion, the Boston Archdiocese parish reorganization plan has evolved to a point where those of us experiencing it can begin to assess its effectiveness. I’ve had direct involvement with three parish collaboratives and though my impressions hardly comprise a definitive evaluation, I see ominous patterns.

As Dr. Mahrt warned, interaction between priest and parishioner has diminished. In one parish the pastor arrives about two minutes before Mass begins and must depart immediately at the close of the recessional hymn. He has no opportunity for extended engagement with parishioners.

Although much has been made of a goal for each parish within a collaborative to keep its identity, the practicalities of governance suggest otherwise. The aesthetic and liturgical sensibilities of the largest parish in a collaborative, usually where the pastor resides, seems to become the model for the larger collaborative. Whether this is inevitable is not clear to me, but parishioners from the smaller churches certainly question whether “collaborative” is the right word to describe the arrangement.

Consider these examples involving music: In one parish with a long-standing reliance on the Worship III hymnal, the organist-choir director arrived one Sunday morning to find boxes of Gather hymnals ready to be distributed as a supplementary pew resource. She was not consulted, nor was there recognition that her parish’s fine congregational singing might have had something to do with its choice of hymnal. The rationale given was that the parish needed to be in alignment with its larger sister parish for shared liturgies such as first communions, confirmations, and the Easter Vigil. That’s a fair request, but one that impinges nonetheless upon local identity and autonomy. At another parish, the newly appointed pastor promised the congregation they would retain their “distinct and unique” personality but singled out the Paulist Center in downtown Boston as the liturgical model he wished to follow. (Boston area readers will immediately grasp the implications of this.) The music director, sensing her traditional SATB choir had just been thrown under the bus, shortly after submitted her resignation.

Publicly, the archdiocese puts puts a happy face on collaborative developments. I’ve heard very little discussion regarding the possible deleterious long-term impact on liturgy, or for that matter vocations (not all with a calling will have the special administrative talents the collaborative structure requires). One could of course foresee positive consequences such as a strengthening of the diaconate or greater involvement of laity. But am I grasping at straws?

I’ll report back in another three years.

Randolph, good timing. We (four parish merge, 8 years) just had a staff retreat and pastoral council meeting yesterday. I will mull over your assessment of how things have gone up they-uh, and compare how they are hee-ah, where we are the only cluster thus far in our diocese.

singled out the Paulist Center in downtown Boston as the liturgical model he wished to follow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nSKkwzwdW4

Adam, being from NYC, I'm not familiar with what the Paulist Center stands for liturgically. Could you elaborate?

So, then, what you are saying is that they are not Catholics?

Yes, the Paulist order.

Mr. Osborn,
(In my best Francis Urquhart voice) You might well think that, but I couldn't possibly comment.

If that's what the Paulist Center looks like, I am very thankful they haven't messed too much with their parish in Austin, which is (musically) well-cared for by one of our own on this forum.

Yes, the Paulist Center is notorious even among Paulists.

Last chance saloon conjures up visions of priests in Stetson hats and Eucharistic Ministers in frilly skirts and black saloon girl stockings. LOL. Party on!