Perhaps you are taking too long for warm-ups. You might consider devoting, say, 5 minutes to warming up, and dedicating yourself to getting right to work. More pointers of how I run rehearsal (although I admit I'm young and mostly go on what I've seen work for others) :

- PLAN THE REHEARSAL OUT! Know what you're going to do, and have the order you'll do it in. In fact, plan 2 or 3 at a time. If you have long term goals, figure out when you'll teach what.
- As for the order, start with warm-ups of course. But in the body of the rehearsal, begin and end with music that the choir already knows (or is incredibly easy). This will help confidence. I also liked to alternate easy things with difficult, or different challenges. For example, with my last choir I might have something difficult in English followed by a Latin chant followed by a difficult English metrical piece followed by an easy Latin metrical piece, etc.
- If you are still having trouble with getting things done, I would recommend setting strict time limits. For example, you might schedule 5 minutes for warmups, 5 for Sunday's communion, 10 for the offertory for a few weeks away, 10 for Sunday's Introit, 15 for the next Introit, 5 to take a look at the following week's communion, and then use the time left to sing through again Sunday's Introit. And be strict about cutting things off, and tell yourself that if you can't get it rehearsed in the time allowed, it won't happen. It will help discipline you to get things done in less time.
- Don't just do all the same warm-ups. Think ahead: what do you need your group to do? Do they need to sing high? Do they need to master consonants? Good vowels? Fast singing? There's no point in warming them up to an A when the highest note they'll sing all night is a D!
- Minimize chatter. Particularly non-parish scholas can get sidetracked with arguments over baroque vestments, treatment of the salicus, or other silly things. Keep the energy up and keep it moving!

Gavin, that's excellent advice. I for one do get stuck on the same warmups. Gotta vary them.

Since I have men and women at the same rehearsal (until I find someone to work with the ladies), I will send the guys off for 15 minutes to work on some things (led by my best chanter) while I work with the women.

I always end with the Marian antiphon of the season. They sing it well and leave happy.

Don't worry, though. If you are dealing with non-professional singers, it will take time to get chants learned and then polished. We don't even consider a weekly service for that reason. My folks sound pretty good when they do a Vespers or a Mass, but we practice a lot for them. The guys are getting quite good at sight-reading chants, since they are mostly good singers to begin with.

We did one hour for years until we all realized that it frazzled us. We needed and wanted more time. We expanded to 1.5. Huge difference! No more panic and rush and frenzy. Just the right amount of time.

Ours is 90 minutes as well.

We rehearse for about 90 minutes. After a bit of bodywork and breathing, I work on tone, legato, whatever is driving me nuts as the warm-up - and I always take a phrase or pattern from something we are or will be working on that evening with the text removed. I alternate new pieces with older ones, polyphony with chant, and am very aware of when I'm moving into "diminishing returns" on a given chant. Because I don't have to crank out propers for a Sunday Mass, I can set the pacing to suit my singers. I am also aware that I'm not working with professional musicians.

We never sit during rehearsal - it's all done standing. As a matter of fact, no chairs are available. I do have a written plan for the rehearsal and try to stay with it. (This can, of course, be thrown off entirely if a particular singer is missing.) I watch how I run my mouth and also work hard to prevent side bar conversations where singers exchange misinformation with each other. I want the wrong answers to come from me! Heck, I'm the director.

Does all this work? Sometimes. I like the idea of finishing with the Marian antiphon. Think I'll add that next week.

Ideally, we would rehearse every day. Even better, 4 times a day!

You know, someone should come up with a plan for systematically singing all of the psalms and canticles every week, while at the same time covering all the important hymns throughout the year. That would really keep up on our toes.

I find only skill-oriented and problem-solving warm-ups to be useful. The type of scale and diction warm-ups that many choirs use promote apathy and bad technique more than they contribute to healthy, musically-engaged singing. If your warm-ups are the same all year, you're wasting valuable time! I find that in most circumstances, singers need (1) aural rather than strictly vocal warm-ups and (2) a way to focus mentally. From this perspective, the college and community choirs I've been associated with have typically wasted a lot of time. Directors and teachers often teach in the same ways as they were taught, even if they don't know precisely why. We owe it to ourselves, our singers, and our churches to know the purpose of every minute of our rehearsals.

I think it's noels - I found it right on this website . . .

Thank you everyone for sharing your wonderful and helpful comments! They are all so interesting and I hope to make some improvements in our situation. Thanks again!