Here is an update on our search for a new Director of Music and Organist. Meg Winter, Joyce Summer and I are conducting the search on behalf the Staff Parish Relations Committee. In the fall, we advertised the position on the American Guild of Organists website that is widely viewed by church musicians across the country. We also advertised on music job listing sites run by the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). We also communicated with musicians and pastors we know about the opening. We are looking for someone who has a strong conducting and organ performance background, church work experience, strong communication and organizational skills and able to speak about the role of music in worship and spiritual development. This person would also need to be able to work with handbells, peal bells, youth, and children’s choirs as well as the sanctuary choir.
We received sixteen applications for the position. Some are from Maryland and others from out of state. We winnowed down the list to the top five and held initial interviews. We were particularly impressed with two of the candidates, however one informed us that he has taken a job with another church. The other person came to meet with some members of the choir last week. We were impressed and hopeful, but he withdrew his application.
We are hopeful that we can find someone re-establish a strong music program that is well known in the community and bring something new to the position as well. We do not yet have a timetable for filling the position, but we are making progress towards that end. The search committee is convinced that we did not want to hire someone simply because we needed to fill the open position. We want to find the right person who can lead the music ministry going forward.
In the meantime, I am grateful for Joyce Summers help in lining up music for our worship services and for Ann Thompson serving as the substitute organist. We will continue to hold livestream and in-person worship and add in as much music as possible as we go along.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Steve Larsen