Hi everyone,

I’m in my first year as a parish music director and would really appreciate some guidance from those with more experience.

Over the past year, I’ve made a couple of structural changes that I believed were necessary:
We moved music to the loft (partly out of necessity with parish choirs being formed, partly to support the formation of clearer understanding of the role of musicians in the liturgy).

I introduced a seasonal rotation of generally well-known Mass settings, since previously it was essentially a free-for-all depending on who was playing.

Since then, we’ve experienced some turnover:
One set of musicians left, largely due to the move to the loft and not being visible.

One of our accompanists passed away, and her daughters (who also sang) have understandably not returned.

Another accompanist recently stepped down due to workload.

Several remaining musicians prefer to serve only about once a month.

We didn’t have a lot of musicians to begin with (especially accompanists). Now, we are stretched very thin trying to cover three weekend Masses, and I am personally taking on as much as I can while also feeling increasingly overwhelmed.

I’m also running into challenges with the seasonal Mass setting rotation. Some musicians are uncomfortable learning multiple settings and aren’t willing to take the time/ don’t have the ability to learn more than the one singular setting they picked and have stuck with from the get-go. I’ve been trying to be flexible by allowing that while gradually introducing the others, but I worry about pushing too hard and losing more people. I don’t want to go back on the effort to have seasonal rotation, but maybe I should??

At the same time, I know I need to begin preparing the parish musicians for a longer-term transition from OCP to Source and Summit (targeting Advent 2028). That will require:
Ongoing formation in the purpose of sacred music

A clearer understanding of liturgical appropriateness

Gradual exposure to new materials (antiphons, different repertoire, etc.)

I’ve started introducing some of this in small ways, and the move to the loft helped frame the conversation, but I’m very hesitant to add more right now when people are already stretched thin.

I feel caught between:
Not wanting to overwhelm or lose more musicians

Knowing that I still need to lead, form, and move things forward

Have any of you navigated a similar situation?
How did you balance necessary change with limited volunteer capacity?
How did you introduce new musical or liturgical expectations without causing burnout?
What would you prioritize in a situation like this: stability, formation, or gradual change?
I would really appreciate any practical advice or perspective. Thank you.