First thing that comes to mind: were I not full time, I would be bogged down with admin and have little time to practice organ/singing.

I think it depends on the musician, his talents and virtues, including his faith, his pastoral sense and personal leadership. A musician is a more risky hire than a priest, for regardless of the faults of the priest, he can at least be expected to celebrate the Sacraments validly, whereas a bad (in every sense of the word) musician might be a complete detraction to the community.

While success depends largely on the musician himself, it also depends on the other musicians, and on the community's cooperation and appreciation.

I think the question might perhaps be better phrased: what can a good musician do with more time to dedicate to his ministry.

To show ROI to a business person, you would have to correlate the quality of the music to the collection numbers. I have noticed that in the 2 years since I started my current position (part-time, by the way), the weekend mass attendance and collection numbers have gone steadily up. We would have to survey a good sample of attendees to make a correlation between those increases and the quality of the music I provide. At least anecdotally I can say that reports are positive about the music.

People don't necessarily come to a particular parish because of the music (although some do), but I know from experience that there are certainly a good many who would go elsewhere if they did not like the music.

It might be interesting to see what would happen to the collection if I left the parish - but I hope I won't have to test that any time soon! If I were raised to full-time, it would be interesting to see if there would be any change in the numbers.

Unfortunately, the long-term growth effects of high quality liturgy and music (which I believe would be very strong) are mitigated by the short term departure and complaint (flight and fight) effects of swiftly moving away from the Habitual Music of the Roman Rite.

I read reports all the time that traditionalist Masses - whether solemnly vernaculared or Extraordinarily formed - are tending to draw young families of the devout (who, I suspect, are more likely to tithe a full tithe).

Assume an average parish with a couple-few Masses on the weekend doing conventional music. A full timer with a traditionalist bent and flexible mindset would have the time and energy to keep the status quo (at least at first) with the previously scheduled programming while adding a new "traditional" Mass to the schedule. A full timer would further have the time and energy to do a little recruiting at the local schools (college, High, home, private, charter...).

Assuming (and this is a big assumption) that the MDs time and enthusiasm weren't being sapped by pointless staff meetings, ridiculous requests, liturgy committee planning sessions, drama, conflict... assuming that could be minimized, eliminated, or kept at bay, a full time MD with the desire to promote his/her program would be an asset for evangelism (= growth = more money), and not just a "cost of doing business" for the celebration of obligatory liturgies.

Our city has about fifteen Catholic parishes, and my husband is the only full-time music director/organist. The others are part-time or volunteer. Our parish is the only one where you are guaranteed to have music at a weekday funeral. Most musicians around here have day jobs, and my husband is frequently called out to other parishes for funerals and weddings, but sometimes has to refuse because of scheduling conflicts. People give more generous donations to the parish for funerals that have decent music, despite the fact that they have also paid the musician's stipend.

I agree, Gavin. Country churches should never, ever, have an educated church musician to direct choirs, build the music program and honor the Mass with great music.

If those people wanted better music, they'd move to the city and live around the corner from the Cathedral. Makes perfect sense to me.

Dumb @ss peasants. The Mass, its liturgy and music, is not for them.

And it's time to have a separate seminary for country priests - let's say online studies and then a two week residence at a seminary and then let them loose on the people!

Having just seeded a couple of acres, come in the house with blood on one arm from a tussle with a barbed-wire fence and covered with dust, I resemble those dumb @ss country people. Did I mention smelling like exhaust from a 1958 Massey Ferguson tractor that needs a TUNE UP?

Who knew that @ss triggers an html color!

@illy, no?

I'll bite.

I've worked at a small rural parish before. And I did damn good music there, and it was expertly performed by myself and my small volunteer choir. So you are (predictably) way out of line for suggesting my view is that they deserve anything less.

(By the way, some amazingly beautiful music can be done by nothing more than a volunteer with a Graduale Romanum. And it is done every Sunday by some guy I heard of named Jeff Tucker. For what that's worth.)

The AGO has a worksheet for figuring out the hourly requirements of a position. Let's go through it, shall we? http://www.agohq.org/profession/time.html

I had 2 Masses and one choir. There was an attached school, but as I didn't have a degree at the time, I couldn't have done any duties there. Let's be generous of my time needs:

(2 hours in service) + (4 hours in rehearsal) + (4+ hours of practice) + (4 hours of selection) + (1 hour preparation for special services) + (1 hour maintenance of library) + (2 hours of administrative duties - though this is an exaggeration) + (no meetings to speak of) + (no educational opportunities) + (nothing else) = 22 hours/week.

I don't mind telling everyone that my job was (more accurately) categorized as 1/4 time, and that I was paid within AGO recommendations for this job.

Now tell everyone, Noel: what did this parish need that I needed to do another 18 hours of work for? Nearly the equivalent of doing that whole job over again every week. Tell us. Ok, I should have practiced more (I still should practice more! I should practice instead of blowing my time here!). Maybe 20 hours a week more? Or should I have also picked up the Saturday folk Mass - a move that would be extremely pastorally harmful for the church? Even if that required all of my above duties, that only gets me to 30 hours. Should I have started three more choirs, to get me to 40 hours? Sure we only have 2 Masses - so why not have four choirs? In a parish with average attendance under 200!

Sarcasm aside, I have demonstrated that not every parish needs a full-time musician! Now, if a musician IS working full-time, they MUST be paid accordingly. To that end, I ONLY accept work for which I am fairly compensated. Can others say the same? Many parishes DO require full-time direction. I propose that any parish with two or more active choirs should pay a full-time salary. I have also proposed that the Mass ONLY requires a man and a book. Is that an ideal model for a parish? Not entirely. Most parishes may need more. So they need to pay.

But first they need to make an accurate and honest accounting of their needs. And pay accordingly.

I agree with Gavin.

Additionally (and I've said this before)...
Lots of parishes could have excellent traditional sacred music programs for free, if only they had a little imagination and didn't treat people so poorly. How many qualified musicians do you know who have non-church day jobs (whether musical or in another field), who would be capable of conducting a small schola singing Graduale or simple vernacular propers and selecting one or two traditional hymns, motets, or other devotional songs? How many of them would volunteer to do that every Sunday (with even maybe a mid-week rehearsal) if they were sure they didn't have to put up with all the crap that usually attends being involved with church ministry (complaints, meetings, paperwork, mandatory diocesan sensitivity training...)?

There is absolutely no excuse for a parish with 6 Masses on the weekend not to employ, and pay well, a full-time Director of Music. But there really is no reason that a parish with one or two Masses on a weekend needs to. And in either case, a serious, high-quality sacred music program is possible.

The problem isn't money. Even when there is legitimately no money to be had (which usually isn't the case, but is sometimes), the lack of money is never the actual problem.

"Lots of parishes could have excellent traditional sacred music programs for free, if only they had a little imagination and didn't treat people so poorly."

While I accept (and have proposed) the accuracy of this statement, I find it a highly undesirable situation. I'll even admit it: I don't like that Jeff Tucker does excellent chant and other sacred music for free. But I'm not going to walk into his church during the Kyrie, and scream out "STOP!!! STOP!!! YOU MUST NOT HAVE MUSIC UNTIL JEFF TUCKER IS PAID A FULL-TIME SALARY!!!!!" And then blow air horns during the Mass until he gets a big fat check. Whatever I may think of such an arrangement, it doesn't even go on in my state, so I remain content with my own pay arrangements. I do, however, invite Noel to go do this, if he really believes in the principles he has here embraced.

"there really is no reason that a parish with one or two Masses on a weekend needs to [hire a full-time musician.]"

This I can agree with. And if the converse of that is to hire a part-time musician, I agree.

Where I part ways is engaging volunteers in leadership roles. The Mass, at a basic level, only requires a man (in the man/woman sense) and a Graduale. And that's wonderful. But... many parishes aren't ready for a full-Gregorian Mass. For them, I think they need someone to play organ, direct a choir, etc. And that level of time commitment requires pay - both because of the efforts of the employee, AND (more importantly) to guarantee the quality and dependability of the musician.

A volunteer can flake out any day. A professional is less likely to do so. I propose this is the ultimate benefit to churches hiring and paying properly.

There is ALWAYS enough money for a musician. Every single church has enough. It's just a matter of whether they want to spend it. (and if they have enough money to pay for EVERYTHING in their budget...)

I'm so DONE with platitudes. I know this doesn't advance the thread, but what in this thread is worth advancing?
Do well what you CHOOSE to do, for as long as you're able and willing. Enough postulating.