Oh, I certainly agree with that, Charles!

melofluent,

It is neither snark nor snide.

It is a demand that parishes recognize that the church values this art above all others.

It is a demand that professionals be compensated for their profession.

There is not a single other profession that parishes expect so much from and are so cheap about. I bet they'd pay a plumber a just wage if all the toilets stopped working ... but why can't a little money be put aside to do at least what Adam Wood suggested ... "Here's 50 bucks. We wish we had more, but hey, its something." Instead, we get this absolute bullfart story that its supposed to be "ministry." I'm not asking people to volunteer at the homeless shelter, I'm asking trained professionals to use their talents for the parish. I'd never ask the plumber to do it for ministry, why do I have to constantly ask folks with degrees in music to do it "for ministry."

Music is the church's most treasured art.

It is time for parishes to start acting like it.

It was misunderstood (or poorly-stated, or both) if it came across as denigrating.

I'm not sure what I said ... perhaps the "If you're good at something, never do it for free" came across that way? It's an attitude I wish more volunteers would take ... just not my volunteers! But that's really the problem. It's a viscous cycle. I think that many volunteers deserve at least some pay ... but the church won't pay ... but the volunteers have good hearts ... so the church won't pay ... so they remain volunteers ... so the volunteers are forever unpaid ... etc

That's all I meant to say. I simply believe that many parishes are way too stingy on paying for the talents which are offered. Should they threaten to quit if not compensated? Would that help? I don't know. It wouldn't help around here, but I sure wish that it would. They deserve something for their time & talent.

ryand, I agree with you that talent should be paid. However there are some who feel that helping a struggling parish with music might not pay anything "in this life" but will be rewarded in the next. I live in a very small town in a very small church (150 seats max) we consistantly have 200 inside and 50 - 100 that sit outside. We need a new church but the donations do not support it because we are a very poor parish (not to many large donors). I lead the music at my one mass (for free) because I feel I have a talent and I need to give it back to the Lord. I can not afford to give a lot in the collection plate either so my talent is part of my alms giving. I also would like to have more Sacred Music in church. The pastor is starting to make changes for the better so the giving of my talents and the talents of the other volunteers who for some weird reason decide to sing with me are making a difference.
Perhaps when a new church is built, the area grows and more big donors come to town I will petition the pastor for some money for at least the organist. Then for a DM and then for cantors and finally for ringers.
FYI... I help maintain the budget for the choir and it is in the hundreds not thousands. However every year I add the cost of a DM, an organ (a real one) and maintenance cost for that organ. I also add money for licensing for other than one publisher and for a complete set of Vatican II hymnals. I put all of this in spread sheet for a 1, 3, 5, and 10 year forecast so they can start to figure out how they will pay for it in the future.

I would love to be paid, I would love for the accompanist to be paid but at this point it will not happen. All I can do is keep the pressure on and pray the congregation get better jobs.

Here's something I struggle with, so I'm wondering if anyone has a serious answer.

It wouldn't be uncommon for someone to contribute their expertise at reduced or zero cost for a worthy cause. An experienced tradesperson might contribute their time to Habitat for Humanity, just because they believe in giving benefit to others. As a professional business coach, I could offer my services to my pastor to help him run the parish more efficiently. I might perhaps "trade" that for building my reputation in the community, or I might just do it because I want to help the Church.

What's the fundamental difference between that scenario, and musicians giving their time to the Church? Is it because there's a sense of it being unappreciated?

I've known parishioner plumbers / tradesmen who have given their talents to a parish at a discount..., but I don't think anyone ever expected them to do a full day's labor for free.

If they wanted to do the job for free, it would be greatly appreciated (as it would be with a professional singer who joined the choir gratis)...

Likewise the professional singer who might regularly charge $X, might give their parish a discount.

I also think that someone who studies music so they can get a job doing music and then are expected to do it for free might not come off so well. Its the same as a carpenter or business coach. if you have studied the subject matter to be the best you can be, you go and get a job then you volunteer your extra time to the Habitat, or the church. However if you were to spend all of your time at the church so that you can not have another job, you can not donate your time and talents because you need to live on something. In this case the church should pay you a fare wage. Its the same with musicians If the church wants full time talent they will need to pay for that talent. Otherwise the musicians will be forced to find other work. They have families to feed, college bills to pay and other bills to pay.
I can volunteer to lead the choir at my church only because I have a full time job. Of course that doesn't give the church an excuse to abuse our talents but in our case I don't believe they are.
As stated earlier the music is the churches #1 art so it makes sense that it should take precedence in the billing department. However, other salaries, electric, gas, water, maintenance need to take place.
As far as ringers go, they may be important but they may be a secondary expense if there is money. Again I say if everyone in the congregation pays at least 10% of their income there would be plenty of money for ringers and even more.
Let us pray that we all start to give our fair share so we can get these musicians paid.

The 'we don't have money' argument applies only to liturgy and music. Haven't you noticed that most priests and parishes find the money for things they really want? When you hear 'there isn't money', what that means is 'we're not spending it on music'.

As I stated earlier in this post I know the budget of my particular church and the income is barely over the expenses. The pastor does get things that he needs but normally it is by begging and pleading for donations and/or saving over several years. The cost of $30k - $50k for a DM then to pay another $30k - $50k for an organist and then for ringers on top of that simply is not in the budget at this time.

If everyone gave their 10% we would at least get enough to pay to get the squeeky heater motor fixed.

Not all of us are in mega churches with huge budgets. I do get the point that if the church has the money they should pay for the talent and I agree with it. Some of us just don't have that luxury.

We employ choral scholars at my parish, where I serve as DoM. They're college students, and have a significant learning curve when it comes to chant. Still, its worth it to me, and to the pastor.
The idea is that these choral scholars can go on to become choir directors and hired singers in other parishes, thereby elevating the level of singing in churches.

Oh, and I hereby shamelessly quote Jeffrey Quick on an issue with which I'm in complete agreement-
If we want to stick with chant, we can get away with trained volunteers; that's what most parishes had through most of history. That might be the solution for parishes who can't or won't hire professionals. But if we insist on singing a repertoire written for professionals (and worse, singing repertoire from several different periods, where the professionals had very different stylistic expectations), we're going to have to hire professionals.

MaryAnn Carr Wilson: I do have conducting experience and have thought about it in the past. Currently, my wife is the DM at our church and she is the one who is actually going to be getting her Master's in Sacred Music, so I generally pass along those position openings to her, plus I ultimately don't want to go to a different church than my wife. :) Also, at least where I live now, most parishes want to only pay one person to do both jobs of organist and DM. I have however, started to try to increase my keyboard skills so that I might be able to help out my wife by providing an accompanist who is more competent than our current one. We have had to stop using our pipe organ (one of the only ones remaining in the community) due to the issues our current accompanist has (and she is from a local, well known conservatory).

All this to say, I would enjoy being a DM, and am even juggling the idea of getting my MM in choral conducting; but my wife gets the precedence in my book since she is planning to get the degree in Sacred Music.

The following is one of the most beautiful Palestrina motets that I've had the privilege to sing: at the time we had three choral scholars, and I sang tenor and directed; from February 2010. You you can do a lot with a few resources. "Tribus miraculis" (perfect for this Sunday or an of the green Sundays after Epiphany). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pqEZeiGUD8

Tribus miraculis ornatum diem sanctum colimus: hodie stella magos duxit ad praesepium, hodie vinum ex aqua factum est ad nuptias,
hodie in Jordane Christus baptizari voluit ut salvaret nos. Alleluia.

We honor this holy day, adorned with three miracles: today the star led the Magi to the manger; today water was turned into wine for the wedding; today Christ desired to be baptized in the Jordan that he might save us. Alleluia.

We have 5 paid section leaders and 4 choral scholars. We don't have "ringers" and we don't do "gigs." The wonderful volunteers in the choir really appreciate the support of the trained singers. I have noted with great joy how far even the amateur singers have grown. To quote the Holy Father, we've all been "wounded by Beauty."

Don't get too carried away with this. Whether they be "ringers" who do "gigs," or saintly musicians who are worshipping, the fact remains that you have the funds to hire them, and many DMs on the forum do not. Enjoy your good fortune, deserved or otherwise. I have to admit, however, that I have often wondered how many of those hired musicians would leave you in an instant if the church down the street offered them more money? Do some of these musicians "comprehend the value and spiritual worth of what is being done," or just take the money? Maybe some of both, I suspect. I don't criticize them for taking the money, since they probably need it.

My choir has remained roughly the same size for years, and it is a big parish. Has anyone seen an increase in volunteers due to the improvement in sound that paid ringers bring?

Improvement in volunteers will happen not due to the increase in sound, but the higher level of music-making. Since you are able to improve the repertoire because of their ability but especially because of their reliability, people come out of the pews saying, "I sang than in college/high school and I'd like to join the choir." It is not improved sound that brings them in, but improved repertoire.

With the wonderful new music by Kevin Allen backed up by the great proven music library at CPDL.org, which was a great resource for us when we created The Catholic Choirbook, no choir anywhere has to complain that they cannot get music....

But, publicity is VERY important. Notes in the diocesan paper inviting singers mentioning the repertoire. Chant will attract some, but "If Ye Love Me" will is like flies to honey.