Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the Colloquium, but thanks so very, very much for posting this. I can certainly use it in the days ahead as I prepare for the Fall. God bless.

When I look at the first question on the list, I'm struck by how well people stayed away from blaming others for a lack of progress. This was by design, of course, but still I expected to see people get hung up a little more on needing money, needing talent, not having enough time, and getting the support of the Priest.

These can all be useful, of course, but the problem is that if you don't have them, you quickly get stuck.

I was overjoyed to hear people tossing out ideas about having the choir be fun, challenging, and doing great music. But notice that it's not just the music, either - what makes it fun is hanging out with people who are pretty good at what they're doing, and going in a great direction.

I'd like to hear from people who weren't able to attend the session: What brought you to volunteer to be in a choir or some other volunteer-based organization?

I didn't see "meet people and fit in upon moving to a new city where you don't know anybody," but in my experience (personal and anecdotal alike) it is a fairly common for doing volunteer stuff.

One of the questions I asked during the discussion was: What caused you to stay connected as a volunteer over a long period of time?

I can summarize the long list into these categories:

• The work: loving it, seeing the value it provides
• The people: enjoying the company, having fun
• Appreciation: getting feedback, knowing that people appreciate what you're doing
• Fulfillment: meeting an inner need that you have

In the context of a choir, there's some powerful ideas which came out of this:

• Director, clergy actually saying how important this is to the work of the Church
• Maintaining a light and supportive environment
• Providing challenge, but not so much that people lose confidence
• Understanding and attending to each individual's motivation

What other elements do you think are essential to retaining your choristers?

I've heard it said that people leave their manager, not the job - and it tends to ring true. Not 100%, but certainly the relationship with one's manager is often the critical factor in employee retention.

But we also need to be humble about this, and not make it ALL about a cult of personality. We are, after all, wanting to achieve a larger purpose: helping bring people closer to communion with God. That's why I believe one of the most important roles of the director is to keep that vision front and center.

HOW the choir achieves this miracle, of course, depends on the director and the grace of the Holy Spirit.

The best leaders I've seen, Marajoy, inspire the best from people because they can keep it positive/fun, and challenging. The directors at the Colloquium were great examples of this - we all knew we were up for a BIG challenge, but had so much fun trying to rise up and meet it.

Ultimately, the music director's expertise and character are the most important factors in attracting and retaining volunteers. If the music director is an effective teacher, s/he gives just enough challenge to the choir. The choir members will make progress and feel good about their accomplishment. If the music director has good morals, s/he knows which behavior is and isn't appropriate, avoids conflict of interest, and takes positive steps toward any hostile behavior between choir members. If the choir is musically challenging and socially healthy, volunteers will stay.

This is all good information. As Theo indicates, the director needs to set a good example and make an effort to live at least a near-Christian life. Before I retired from teaching, there was a program called, "Character Counts." It does!

As a couple of others have noted, there needs to be a sense of joy and happiness in the choir. Most people will not attend something they dread every week.

Mark, careful on those prayers. Some I have gotten are proof God enjoys messing with me. ;-)

Yes, for sure, the Lord has a sense of humor where parish musicians are concerned!