I also work as a substitute organist.

If I had already put in work for a particular weekend (e.g., selected music, reached out to a cantor, begun practicing) or if I had turned down other subbing opportunities, I would likely mention this to the pastor and see if the parish would be willing to honor the agreement (or at least compensate for the time put in).

If the notice was far enough in advance and no work was completed on my end, I might not mention it.

However, I don't rely on subbing to pay the bills; I might have a different approach if this was a main part of my livelihood.

However, I don't rely on subbing to pay the bills; I might have a different approach if this was a main part of my livelihood.

I rely on the income from subbing. But, the music would be chosen by someone else. The now-cancelled engagement was about a month and a half from now.

Same thing happened to me years ago. "Oh, no! The new organist is starting that weekend." I HAD turned down other work for that date, so I put on the pressure... you cancelled me for one date; I have a call I can take for the sole remaining date I have to play for you. But if you pay me for the missed date, I'll come and play. If I'd respected the priest any more than I did (which is: NOT MUCH), I wouldn't have played hard ball, because it's not too Christian. I got the money, and I heard from another organist quite recently that they had the same treatment with the same priest. As I told my friend, that priest is calendrically challenged.

Feels like we are making mountains out of molehills, tbh. So one pastor is a bit scatterbrained and removed one weekend a month in advance. Unfortunate, depending on your perspective perhaps, but hardly a capital offense. Much worse are the pastors who try and change things 10 minutes before mass and try to undo all your prep.

Most gigging musicians would give their right arm (ok, so not literally :-) ) to get 6 weeks notice of a cancellation: I know people who got 60 minutes.

If you've turned down other work to do this, and there is little chance of picking up alternative work - then it would have have made sense to agree a cancellation fee policy when you were signed up. If you didn't - or if they wouldn't agree to what you asked for but you agreed to play anyway - then it's really on you.

(I've done lots of temping gigs in the non-music business world, and having your contract ended earlier than expected because a permanent person is starting earlier than expected is totally normal: it goes with temping / contracting jobs.

Diapason84, I'm not trying to be overly dismissive.

My point was that people get flighty sometimes, which isn't necessarily a cause to write off a church all together. And a month's notice is hardly unreasonable. If you are dependent on subbing income and had turned down other payed work to be there, it is well within your rights to notify the pastor of this fact, since you had mutually agreed in writing ahead of time. He should either honor your agreement or perhaps supply some sort of smaller stipend to compensate.

That said, considering the fact that you were engaged to fill in until a new permanent organist could be found, and now an organist has been procured who can start sooner than originally anticipated, I'm not convinced he's really in the wrong here either, especially given the multiple-weeks notice. The income may be just as essential to this other person who has now made a permanent commitment and is presumably changing their life all around to play for them.

Regardless, in answer to "what would you do?" I would play out the rest of the weeks as anticipated, and then my tenure would just be cut short a week. What other option do you have? Not play any just to spite them, and then put yourself in even more dire straits financially? Unless you're under true contract, you're not really "entitled" (for wont of a better way of phrasing it) to that income. This is a hazard of being a mercenary / stipend sub.

Why can’t the new organist start the following week? Or why can’t the pastor pay the stipend? It’s a matter of justice, and yeah, I don’t care about the secular music world, where there’s not even a hint of justice. But I do care about what pastors do; if mine did this, I’d be very unhappy (luckily I think that mine wouldn’t or would just cut a check anyway).

The real answer is that pastors this disorganized don’t deserve musicians.

Why can’t the new organist start the following week?

Because it's the gig world, Matthew, and we're just living in it, evidently.

I wouldn't assume any ill will or deliberate slight on the pastor's part.

sure, but the pastor can and shown own the mistake. Diapason had to tell him twice what the dates were! Yes, in this case, there may well be enough time to find extra work, but what if there is nothing left except at the last minute?

Is it? Diapason had guaranteed work. Now, no longer so, cuz the pastor screwed up his calendar. Which, frankly, it’s a constant problem, and it’s not just because the clergy are busy…it’s like they’re allergic to organization in a way that would prevent problems like this! The lay faithful get this treatment a lot, not just those of us in the music part of things.

It’s icky for the pastor to say that he won’t pay the sub, just because the organist who’s no longer needed didn’t explicitly turn down work or could get work, but for now there isn’t anyone asking for the date in question.

One more contribution from me: I had to tell a church that I would only play if there was a check prepared for me on arrival. That church had messed around with me before... is four months delay for payment acceptable? There was no check at the organ. I headed to the sacristy, with my briefcase, to let the priest know I was leaving. Oh, oh, oh. I think I have the check here. And it was. I never got called back there, but that was probably more because my friend had moved on. He had similar problems... L-O-N-G delays to get paid. As someone else has said, I will probably never substitute again, and I absolutely will not play any weddings or funerals (funerals having been ruined with the open-mic, even though there are regulations against it).

For anyone working a full time hourly job: factory, fast food, child care, cleaning staff, etc… you would be very lucky to get more than a week or two notice of your hours being cut back (or changed into mandatory overtime). I have seen an entire factory take an unplanned shut down week, the workers got unpaid vacation with the only upside being continuation of their benefits for the week. Cancellation 6 weeks out isn’t ideal, because cancellation in general isn’t ideal, but frankly 6 week notice is more notice than you would expect to get if you were being laid off from a permanent full time position. That is the reality of the world as it is…you can thank the fall I guess. It sucks.

All of that is unjust; are we not supposed to do better? Come on now.