Thursday, February 28, 2008

Chump Change

Have a look at this advert for a Parish Musician position. This comes courtesy of the Anglican-Music listserv. Now, don't everyone all apply at once!
1. Responsible for coordinating performance music during weekly Sunday worship. Fifty-two (52) weeks. (Including choir, small groups from choir, guest musicians, etc.).

2. Lead the choir during church service. Forty (40) performances in a 12 month time period. Schedule determined by liturgical calendar and in consultation with pastor, choir and Worship Committee.

3. Selects music in consultation with the pastor, choir and Worship Committee.

4. Weekly rehearsal (40) with choir, arranging time and accompanist if necessary.

5. Coordinate the schedule of regular Sunday musicians (organists, pianists).

6. Responsible for maintenance of music files.

7. Responsible for music budget.

8. Compensation is $5,700 for 12 months.

Qualifications:

1. Musical education
2. Experience conducting

Desirable:

1. Plays a musical instrument
2. Experience with Bell Choir

References:

1. From two sources directly connected to the candidate's musical experience.

Selection:

1. Interview
2. Audition with the choir to demonstrate conducting style.
3. Audition singing voice.
Now, considering all the work this church wants the candidate to do, I would believe it if they happened to have left off a zero ($57,000, IMHO would be quite reasonable for this position, especially given the list of tasks they want the candidate to do, and if it's a full-time, 40 h/week position). But $5700??? Who are they trying to kid? Not even a college student would be stupid enough to apply for what would essentially be church-sponsored slavery!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hahaha. Very funny. But that's how such organizations work. My town council has similar ideas concerning our community centre.

Scelata said...

The thing is, drastic numbers of parishes think that all of that amounts to a part time job -- they see only the hour and a half on Sunday morning, the hour and a half on Thursday night, and the, what? maybe five minute is takes to write down a list of four hymns.
So look, less than four hours of work a week!

See? it's a munificent sum, for something you should be glad to do as a volunteer anyway!

The odd thing is that priests and ministers connive in this fiction, despite being themselves the victims of the canard that their job consists only of a few hours of work on the weekends.

(Save the Liturgy, Save the World)