How Many Absences Is Too Many for a Parish Music Director?
  • Hi all,

    I’m in my early twenties and currently direct a large parish choral program. I’ve been in the role for about a year, during which I’ve made significant improvements to the quality and consistency of the music. My pastor values that consistency highly and hired me specifically for my skill level and leadership.

    That said, I’m entering a season of life where many close friends are getting married (some across the country) and several have asked me to serve musically at their weddings (organ, choir, etc.). These are all weekend events. Beyond that, I also hope to travel a bit and take occasional breaks throughout the year for rest and perspective.

    I estimate needing to be away about six weekends per year, or roughly once every other month. I have good substitute options and a great ensemble of paid singers, who strengthen a few large volunteer choirs. I’m paid hourly and have PTO available, but I’d even be willing to take unpaid time off if needed. What I’m struggling with is how to approach setting expectations with my pastor. I don’t want to compromise the trust I’ve built or seem unreliable, but I also want to create a healthy rhythm of life and work.

    In your experience, what’s a reasonable number of Sundays off per year for someone in a position like mine? How have you approached this conversation with your clergy or leadership?
  • SponsaChristi
    Posts: 606
    I estimate needing to be away about six weekends per year, or roughly once every other month

    You’re essentially asking for 6 weeks of vacation time. That’s more than what most people who have worked decades for the same employer get in in a year.



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  • Are you full-time? What does your work involve outside of Sundays? Would you also be delegating music ministry on Saturdays?

    If Sunday masses are your main responsibility, and you're missing ~12.5% of them (even though you continue the background organization/preparation), that is a lot imo and I think would exact some cost on your perceived reliability, if not get refused outright. This is a job with some specific sacrifices attached, namely of free weekends.

    There's also the choir's sense of you as their leader to think about.

    I'm part time with responsibilities on Sundays and major feasts, and take 2-3 Sundays off per year. But I don't have paid section leaders or a large choir, so it's palpable when I'm not there.

    If you have weekday duties that you remain ~100% on, and the choir(s) still execute well when you're away, it might be fine. It does sound like you've created a well-oiled machine.
  • Your friends only (ideally) get married once. And the frequency of weddings will taper off as you get older. You need to go to those weddings, and a good pastor will understand.

    While you're going to all these weddings, though, you won't be able to take weekends off for me-time. So temper your expectations a little bit. While you're still relatively new, you need to focus on really cementing yourself in the job you have.

    Work-life balance is a good thing -- but it pushes up against the limitations of the ministry we have.
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,464
    ^^^^^^^

    /a good pastor-employer is hard to find/

    (Flannery O'Connor never got around to writing that short story)
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  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,210
    Most FT, salaried people seem to have (up to…) four untouchable weekends outside of a weekend close to Christmas and Easter.

    If you’re paid hourly, this is probably not FT, but… some consideration should be given for weddings, IMHO, because missing all of them is not gonna be great. (But maybe you have to decline some of them.) I think the trouble is that something like funerals or sudden illness of a close family member also eats into this. I don’t really have as much of an issue under the circumstances with you supervising the rehearsal and doing everything for the sub.

    It’s hard because the ideal time for us for weddings is probably late June and in July/early August, but no one else agrees (definitely not where I am, it’s too hot and humid), where you might have reduced musical duties or none at all, and those are where you’ll want to concentrate retreats, vacation, PD (Colloquium, CISM, etc.), while some of those might be Sunday afternoon/Monday morning to Friday/Saturday morning only so as to not miss the bulk of Sunday…

    I would add: don’t get around parish weddings at the last minute. I know someone who ran off to the Cape (Cod, but Liam knows that it’s the Cape) with two weeks’ notice, and the sub at the organ bench and the professional choristers were not up to snuff since the DM checked out.

    I'm part time with responsibilities on Sundays and major feasts, and take 2-3 Sundays off per year. But I don't have paid section leaders or a large choir, so it's palpable when I'm not there.
    the same is true here, and we don’t want to do things by committee exactly, but it’s untenable in the long long term. We’ve been made do for several years, but newborns have made our leader’s schedule a challenge, and now there are more kids doing more outside-of-the-house activities, which eats up his evenings. There will be a time when he just can’t be absent from the driving duties.

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  • FSSPmusic
    Posts: 426
    I’ve been in the role for about a year . . . I’m paid hourly and have PTO available, but I’d even be willing to take unpaid time off if needed . . . In your experience, what’s a reasonable number of Sundays off per year for someone in a position like mine?
    In my experience, the number of paid vacation days is typically regulated at the diocesan level, but the pastor can expand it unofficially/informally. Two weeks is pretty typical in the first two years of employment, but see what your diocesan personnel handbook says about holidays, holy days of obligation, and whether you're entitled to an additional day off when scheduled to work on a holiday/holy day.
    And the frequency of weddings will taper off as you get older. You need to go to those weddings, and a good pastor will understand.
    The first statement is true. I would say the second really depends on how close you are to the couple. Some college friendships endure long-term, others don't. If they're getting married out of state, how often will you see them in person from now on anyway? If you were the one getting married, would you realistically expect them to travel across the country to attend your wedding? If not, you shouldn't feel obligated to travel for theirs. Consider asking a parent, family member, or friend of the opposite sex who knows the couple in question, who may have a more objective perspective on whether the friendship is close enough to justify traveling for the wedding.
    This is a job with some specific sacrifices attached, namely of free weekends.
    Indeed it is. I worked many years without two consecutive days off most weeks, and three-day weekends were nonexistent without using PTO. I saw a recent job posting that included something like five weeks vacation and more (including Sundays) for professional development and out-of-town recitals (clearly they were wanting to hire a concert organist), but that is extraordinary for the first year of employment. I know a music director who's now able to take up to eleven paid Sundays off, not including sick leave, but that's also extraordinary.

    In my experience, priests are typically entitled to about two months paid vacation, and most of them use all of it, even those newly ordained. That is something to keep in mind. Does your choir take a break at any point? In any case, it sounds like you have competent substitutes available with minimal to no disruption. Since nobody else has mentioned it, if you're being asked to do music for weddings elsewhere, you need to make sure the couple has cleared the use of outside musicians with the resident music director. Beyond professional courtesy, this may affect their fees, so always ask and never presume. One last tip: Don't tell your choir in advance when there will be a rehearsal substitute! You might be amazed how many otherwise reliable choristers will use your absence as an opportunity to play hooky.
  • rvisser
    Posts: 81
    I think six Sundays off per year is too much. I'm 15 years in as a church musician, and would hesitate to request that much time off. The only years I have had that many weekends off are the ones I took maternity leave...which has happened six times ;) Now that I think of it, I have actually never requested a Sunday off besides maternity leave and illness/hospitalization for me or my kids. Perhaps I have a terrible work-life balance? It is what it is. Our family just does not travel on weekends. I take plenty of time off during the summer (sometimes consecutive weeks) and after Christmas, but I am always around for weekend Masses.
    That said, the many maternity leaves has made me very competent at planning for my absence. Most pastors just want to know that everything is covered when the music director is gone, and it sounds like you are in a good position in this area, so if you do make the request, I would emphasize to your pastor that everything is covered. In some cases, I made myself available by phone to take care of the last minute "how do I fix this random thing on the sound-system" panic. It's really nice to be in a situation where you can be gone on a weekend and the world doesn't fall apart, so training in staff singers and organ subs to direct once in a while is a good thing.
    Another thought - can you arrange for some of the wedding weekends to be back for Sunday morning, even if you need to make less than ideal travel plans and sacrifice some sleep?
    You mentioned occasional breaks throughout the year for rest and perspective - while it's nice to have weekends off, this can also be achieved by taking weekdays off. It's also a break for me when I cantor/play on a weekend by myself and don't need to worry about preparing choirs or cantors.
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  • GambaGamba
    Posts: 641
    weddings….are all weekend events. Beyond that, I also hope to travel a bit and take occasional breaks throughout the year for rest and perspective.


    As others have said, I think your weddings may be your travel and breaks in this season of life.

    I (FT and older than you) am glad to have four weeks of vacation each year. Legally, that’s 20 workdays off, so I could take 20 Saturday PM + Sunday AM off. But, as St. Paul said, “all things are lawful unto me, but not all things are expedient”.

    I enjoy traveling on weekdays when the roads are calmer and the hotels and restaurants are cheaper. And I try to keep to 4 weekends away, as I trust my subs, but do believe I’m the right person for my job, and want to carry on the relationships I have as much as possible.
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,210
    although I’m going to to troll a teeny bit and suggest that while being away too often does cut into weddings (at least those, as we know, are known in advance) and funerals, the expectations on DMs, even ones who mostly run it back from Saturday to Sunday at all or most Masses, or where there are few differences, are too high. I know people who do the propers and ordinary at two Masses: NO and TLM, two TLMs (one person in this thread does!), two NOs with different flavors (with music at one Mass being, in addition to the propers, more Renaissance and Baroque and into the nineteenth century, the other more medieval and early Renaissance). That’s a lot. Now, I think that this person quite likes it, but we need more low Masses with not only the DM being absent but not preparing or supervising anything at all.

    Another thought - can you arrange for some of the wedding weekends to be back for Sunday morning, even if you need to make less than ideal travel plans and sacrifice some sleep?


    Unless you can reasonably drive to all of the weddings, it gets very hard. I’m not sure if it’s harder than ten years ago, but I am the kind of person who will be flexible to make two things work, and I can’t swing these trips.

    At church weddings, you basically miss the reception (another reason to insist on morning times; evening/afternoon weddings are a big peeve of mine), and at that point, I’m not sure that it’s worth it given the hassle to get there.