Just so everyone notices, this position is at my own parish, where I am the Director of Music.

I think this is a great position. Were the “harvest” of skilled part-time organists more abundant, I think we would fill it within a month; things being how they are, though, I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Felipe, this is a good opportunity to try out the classifieds.

Dear Jeffrey,

That was where I looked first, but it wanted me to create a separate login/password.

Hi Felipe.

Sorry, I did read too much into that. But still, I believe in, and sort of specialize in, liturgical music. I do not "perform" on the organ, nor do I feel there is any need for that in Catholic liturgical music. I occasionally pull out one of the Bach "Little P & F" pieces. Other than that, I have no earthly use for Bach. All of your professional qualifications require repertoire, and I find no place for any of it in Catholic Liturgy, especially on a weekly basis.

I have just looked up the 1/4 time AGO amount, which seems be a maximum of $20,000/year for the lowest level of competency. That might be nice for a typical Catholic position, and even above average for the Archdiocese. But it is definitely not enough to live on. Hence, the head of a family would need at least one good-paying full-time job just to survive. Right now I make that much playing for 1 TLM per weekend; Holy Day TLMs; and 2-3 weekends of substituting for my DoM. And I also provide the printed worship aids for each Latin Mass I play for. And I don't even have a volunteer choir - it's just me singing and playing.

As to the Houston area, we sent our eldest son to the most Catholic school in the area for all 13 years - St. Thomas Episcopal. My youngest had 2 years at Great Pines (now Cardinal Newman) School. That is as close to Catholic Diocesan Parochial as I was willing to go. Joshua is now a professional bagpiper (among other things) and a graduate of the Corps of Cadets at The Citadel. He played on rented bagpipes throughout his St. Thomas years. Andrew is still in HS and plays clarinet at Cy-Falls. He has made All-State every year, and is going to Northwester University for their summer music institute this year. That's roughly $4,000 right there! Cy-Fair is a great public school system, and one of the finest music programs in the area. It is the main reason we moved out to that area - outside of the fact that we could not afford to live any closer to downtown. But the band student expenses end up over $1,000 every year, and he has a used professional clarinet. Boy Scouts is especially expensive, and all 3 of my sons spent some years in that activity, though none of them was interested enough to make Eagle Scout. They had all developed other interests by that time.

I'm sure you have built up a fine music program. I think the Houston metro area has been one of the slowest to throw off the worst of the 1970s. And while parts of Houston might be really nice to live and work in, I am in no way a "suburbanite". Outside of parish life, the area you are in offers me NOTHING intellectually. I do hope you find some one!

Steve: I currently hold a position which required a bachelor degree. And now I'm leaving it to get one. I think there are more churches that hire based on experience than those that hire on education. If you have the experience and skill of one with a bachelor's degree, I'm sure you're safe in applying for Felipe's job.

However, there are benefits to having a musician with a degree. Part of the reason I decided to go back to college is because my boss wanted to start a liturgical music class at the school with me as the teacher, which was an immediate non-starter since in my state (I don't know about others or if this is a national rule) one must have a bachelor's degree to teach on a regular basis. At any rate, it does make you more employable to have a degree. No, that's not fair, and I'm more than inclined to agree with you that a college education is a waste of time and money these days. But that's how things are. In the mean time, I'm not discouraged by a job posting requiring a bachelor degree, and you certainly shouldn't be!

Gavin.
Why, O why should a Catholic Church class fall under the rigid guidelines of the secular school system? It is absurd! If it is a Diocesan rule, or even a USCCB rule, then it shows to what length and depth the "corporate" mentality of our bishops has grown.

I would love to see a system in place, similar to the one NPM has, where CMAA membership, attendance at Colloquium, and various other course work, possibly on-line, could lead to a Sacred Music Certificate. I might even consider something like that. But it would need an institution to back it credibility. Are you aware that the AGO Certification Program was originally written up in the State of New York, and has some sort of connection with SUNY? (At least that's what I was told.)

Steve: short answer, because a lack of educated musicians is what led to the preconciliar mess of a bunch of left-foot Lucys (my term for old female piano teachers who play organ poorly) playing sappy hymnody with the Missa De Angelis.

Long answer, because one learns things and accumulates experience in a broader college education that would not typically be learned or experienced in the context of a narrow certification process.

Now, I am not saying that you as an individual are incompetent or narrowly educated. You have repeatedly proved otherwise both with your job experience and postings here and other places. But as for the first point, I speak from experience. All of the parishes in my area (farmland) are staffed by old ladies who have been playing since about Vatican I. Our bishop, in his "pastoral wisdom", puts many young, orthodox priests into these parishes. The priests want good music and turn to the organists for chant and get obstinacy combined with "I don't know anything about chant, so I won't do it." And I can tell you that an organist who got by without training for 60 years is not going to suddenly go out and learn chant. You may say "just fire her and hire someone who has experience!" But even the best priests from the best seminaries know NOTHING about music. He can't tell Steve Collins with an extensive career in Sacred Music from Old Martha who played at 2nd Baptist for 50 years. Again, you may cry for certification (something that we will never see from CMAA in our lifetimes because of the logistics of it) but again what does a priest know NPM certification from AGO from CMAA? Even in the best conditions, a priest NEEDS to look to a degree a guaranteer of excellence.

As for the usefulness of a college education, I'm the first one to bash the system (likely because I'm young... 3 years ago I thought the 21 drinking age was unfair) Colleges are day cares for teens who party, could care less about their discipline, and accept brainwashing from their profs. And don't get me started on that "liberal arts" nonsense. BUT the knowledge that one CAN gain from a 4-10 year period of intense study can be very helpful. After 3 years of college, I wound up with barely 2 years worth of credits. Yet even that cursory education gave me a lot that helps me in my job. My theory education enables me to accompany chant on sight reading. My music history education gives me the knowledge about the literature that I do at church and the influences of it. My history class further explains to me the various forces shaping the arts in a given period. Conducting... well, you get the idea. I even took courses in Lutheran liturgy and worship theology, which while not directly applicable in Catholic work gives me the contrast of "in the protestant viewpoint, this is done because of that." Further, those things that Lutheranism agrees with the Church on gave me a different way of approaching the Church's traditions.

Compare this with a supposed CMAA certification: Maybe you'll learn a cursory survey of music history from AD 33 to 1600 (Western music only, of course). But Baroque period onward I'm sure would be neglected - how can we talk of the music of the Renaissance without knowing what it developed into? How can we see the development of polyphony and then say "it stopped with Pallestrina; sicut erat in principium..."? I question how much music theory would be taught outside of diatonic solfege and ancient (not modern!) modality. I even question that organ skills development would even be a part of this! One would be left with the music of Bruckner or Michael Lawrence being "modern trash" which the certified would be unable to appreciate or even conduct!

Again, you, Steve Collins have proven yourself a well-rounded competent musician. I know many musicians in your shoes of having no formal education and yet excelling at the musical arts, and I have no less respect for them than I do a man with a doctorate. But this is not the norm of uneducated church musicians. Hey, if Felipe wants musicians with experience but no education, I can round some up at the local folk Masses all over my county. Felipe would of course know better than to hire someone who came in with his guitar and said "I can play On Eagle's Wings and Though the Mountains May Fall". But a priest may not. A degree is a much better guaranteer of excellence than experience or certification from a 500-member organization. The value isn't in the paper, it's in the work one puts in to get that paper. You have plainly done that same work, but without a degree you don't have a way of PROVING it to a prospective employer, and that is the issue when one is searching for a job.

Felipe,
In neither your ad or the church website was I able to find any information about the organ in your parish. This is significant information for organists considering the position. Can you elaborate?

My sincerest thanks to the above commenters, for the reminder of why I moved from Lower to Upper Michigan.

Across town the new pastor here of the largest and wealthiest parish in this diocese (about 1200 households) has recently proposed, amongst budget cuts, cutting the musician's job entirely from the parish budget. "All she has to do is choose four hymns every week. I can do that." So much ignorance still to be dispelled. Prayers would be appreciated.