Yet another music program destroyed.
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,611
    in response to a discussion on a firing on another list:


    Noel,

    Thank you for interjecting your comments which is very helpful to me. About a month ago, I was scheduled to meet with the new (clergy) administrator who replaced the Msgr. who hired me eight years ago to form a choir. The parish had been without a choir for several years. I did build up the choir, improved the music, introduced mass settings that were singable yet well crafted, introduced chant, etc. I thought the new guy wanted to talk about the Missal and music for the new words. I was shocked to find that I was being laid off (not fired) apparently for financial reasons. In addition to me being laid off, the RCIA director was let go, the Director of Christian Ed., and the parish housekeeper. All of this was orchestrated by the parish secretary (office manager) apparently. Interestingly, everyone has been very positive about the parish music and the work I did. The music is now being run by volunteers and the choir is disbanded. In fact they walked out when I announced that I had been laid off.
    This is my first experience working in a RC church so that is what prompted my email to you to ask if the ____ procedure was RC typical. Knowing that it is, helps me to understand the way things operate in the RC church although it doesn't take away the "frustration".
    This will be the first Christmas in many years that I won't be on the organ bench. Alas, this too shall pass.
  • kevinfkevinf
    Posts: 1,190
    Very typical. And common. The economy tanks and worship is the "extra" on the cake we cannot afford anymore. C'est la vie.
  • rollingrj
    Posts: 351
    This is almost identical to my situation except the choir did not walk out.

    Or do I drop the "almost"?
  • PaixGioiaAmorPaixGioiaAmor
    Posts: 1,473
    Very sad. I hope he is able to "make it" financially, especially over the holidays.

    The ONLY semi-bright spot is that it was not done for purely ideological reasons; that would make it only slightly worse.
  • Blaise
    Posts: 439
    This is not meant to comfort anyone, but for comparative purposes, in the public schools, music and arts are often the first to go for "financial" purposes. Sometimes even the library and counseling. And not to belabor the complaints anymore, but at the college level, whereas at a community college I attended many years ago we had some good meals, my brother gets to eat out of the vending machines. You may be wondering what all this has to do with sacred music and the Church. Let me say this: Spending cuts are here to stay, folks--at all areas of life. Anything considered "extra" will be cut. The task is to convince people of our worth. In the Church and in sacred music, this needs to start in priestly seminaries--assuming there is high quality music training there to begin with. Since music training often begins in the schools, we can also make our voices heard when school music is cut. Now, as for the above situation: Do we know how many families are in the above parish? Maybe we should know what their situation is before we pounce on them. Is it possible for several parishes to band together and create some kind of circuit riding position for DoM, RCIA, DRE, etc.?
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,611
    Spending cuts are the excuse for priests who don't "LIKE" things they encounter at their parish.

    No consideration for the people they get rid of, nor those in the congregation who support them.
  • PaixGioiaAmorPaixGioiaAmor
    Posts: 1,473
    The fact that they let go three other people as well makes me speculate that maybe it really is about money - or there's more going on here.

    I love to defend DOM's whenever possible, especially ones who do good work.

    But before I pass judgment, I'm going to entertain giving the priest the benefit of the doubt. It's not as though Father came in, hung his guitar up on his coat rack, and said "This garbage belongs in a concert hall, not at mass. The community needs music that helps them CELEBRATE ..."
  • dad29
    Posts: 2,232
    Also--notice the specific "Layoff" language, which allows one to collect unemployment, as opposed to "FIRED!!!" which usually does not so allow.

    PGA has it, I think: there's no money in that parish this year.
  • Mike R
    Posts: 106
    If the parish is laying off its DRE (I assume that's what a Director of Christian Ed. is), it has to be in REALLY bad shape. I've often wondered whether it might be a good idea for dioceses to have a slightly more centralized finance system. At the very least, some parishes really do need to have their annual contribution to the diocesan funds raised. There are far too many suburban parishes where there are multiple people in religious ed. who make $75-$100k (more than most DIOCESAN employees in most places), while rural and inner-city parishes fill every position with volunteers.
  • marajoymarajoy
    Posts: 783
    Unless of course, the pastor hires new people for all these positions within a few months. (Only time will tell...)
  • Charles in CenCA
    Posts: 2,416
    This might be the one place I will not venture to discuss anything "fiscal" about the management of parishes or chanceries and dioceses.
    Caveat emptor.
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