They aren't going to like that music plan.

At this point, this place is not your problem. You can't reach them, you can't teach them (you can't teach anyone who knows it all and knows you are wrong.) Again, you just need to keep a roof over your head until you get the real job where you will be valued and allowed to use your expertise.

So you need to revise this plan substantially. Too much organ based stuff. Get rid of all of the chant based stuff. Keep it to one "organ based" hymn a mass.

You are doing Blest Are They, but you should also do "Christ, Be Our Light," "One Bread One Body", "Gather Us In", etc. Get rid of the "Jesus, Joy of Loving Hearts" every week.

I'm quite serious in my advice. There are people who want you out. And they have the pastor's ear. If you want to even have him continue to work with you and not be shown the door now, you need to do this (while looking to GET OUT of there.)

Remember - it's a late Easter this year and Christmas just passed. If you submit that plan, I'll bet you money that there would be discussion (or thought internally on the pastor's part) that if they let you go ASAP they might get someone in place before Easter.

I see nothing wrong with your planned music, and other than what looks to me like OCP settings - we don't use OCP materials - it is not radically different from music that I do. However...you need to get out of that toxic environment. It can't be good for your health and happiness. I don't know where you are, but maybe it is a large enough area to have many liturgical churches that would appreciate your abilities. Notice I said, 'liturgical churches.' The day is long past where I think the Catholic church is the only place to work. If I left my current position and sought another, a Catholic church would NOT be the first one to come to mind.

"Sanity" and "Church musician" are oxymoronic nouns.

am overwhelmingly RELIEVED that he is finally being direct and taking a side. It's the wrong side, but it at least gives me somewhere to start. I am going to meet with him this week and see what he has to say, smile and nod, and cry on the inside or when I get home. I'll do whatever he wants me to do for a few months, won't argue him on any choices he makes with regard to music, and let HIM see what it's like to be in the position of choosing music for this parish. They can't attack me if he has the final authority and all my decisions cross his desk. Hopefully there is a lesson to be learned by him here.

To put it simply, he's not going to notice. People are going to intensify their efforts to get you ousted every time they wanl in the church an yuou are still there which, along with your attitude of being nice and trying to get along, will all just work against you.

IF he cared about keeping you there, he would not have let all of this happen.

Change your group name NOW if it in any way relates to your actual name.

There's a $75 charge, just make the check out to THE CATHOLIC CHOIRBOOK.

Very sorry to hear of this outcome. God bless your future endeavors.

That was a toxic place and I am glad you are leaving it. Shake the dust from your sandals and recommend it to God as you leave, and let him deal with it.

Silliness. Just because one musician doesn't work out at a parish doesn't mean another can't.

I went to a parish that had 10 music directors in 10 years. Everyone warned me, but I liked the vibe I got. The result? I stayed there several years and enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Am I cynical or a realist?

Francis, I believe at CMAA we say "curmudgeon".

Yes CharlesW: Hell hath no fury like an old babushka ... except for a whole sodality of them.

I went to a parish that had 10 music directors in 10 years. Everyone warned me, but I liked the vibe I got. The result? I stayed there several years and enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Why did they go through so many?

If it's just because of money, then I can see how they could do that, and you might be able to afford to work for less.

But for every one experience like yours, there's MANY who don't go like that. A place that 10 other people couldn't deal with is not LIKELY to be a place the next guy can deal with either.

Having once been on the receiving end of a disgruntled ex-employee's subtle attempt to throw a wrench into my church's hiring process, I must respectfully but very firmly disagree with PaixGioiaAmor's suggestion that you post an "If interested, contact me first" comment or start a new thread when the position in advertised. While this behavior is not unethical per se, it will be perceived as unprofessional and petty by many who read your comment. I believe it also contradicts the forum etiquette guidelines, which state that job postings must "not attempt to bias the applicant selection process. Any additional commentary will be deleted." (Unfortunately, the forum administrators do not uniformly enforce these guidelines, but this is a digression...)

As CharlesW said, shake the dust off your feet and let God deal with it now. Once you leave, what happens at that parish is none of your business. You will naturally have hurt feelings and bitterness over what now seems to be a massive waste of your time, talents, and energy over the past years, but taking steps to discredit the parish leadership in the eyes of potential applicants is vindictive and unconstructive. Most applicants will take steps on their own to find out why there's a vacancy, and someone who needs a job badly enough simply won't care. Better to move on and let it go. Best wishes in your new position! It has been my own experience and that of many colleagues that it's often much easier to work outside of one's own denomination; conversely, I think many priests have found that non-Catholic musicians tend to be more willing just to follow directives without asserting their own liturgical or artistic ideologies (but pity the poor Protestant organist who gets his liturgical formation from some of these priests!).

No, but on the other hand, if someone knows you worked there and asks you for your impressions, it would be far more charitable to be honest about the problems, than to pretend they don't exist.

As a musician with a family, I would want to know if someone had problems with attacking sheep before I moved my family in order to take a position.

However, in the interests of prudence, such comments are best given via private message rather than public comment.

Oh, dear, no no! I don't intend to go around with a megaphone through the streets, certainly! I am not convinced this position wouldn't work for someone who is willing to move a bit more slowly and compromise a bit more than I was. It is certainly a beautiful church with a beautiful organ in a magnificent acoustic, and perhaps someone coming in with a clean slate and a better understanding of the events that have happened (as described above) might be able to make a real difference.

I am definitely planning to make a note that I held the position and am available for questions for any applicants. As I noted above, I do not think I would ENCOURAGE anyone to apply, but I would be happy to share the positive and negative aspects and let the applicant decide.