location of the Choir

[SeekerJen]

Wow. I’ve never heard of a professionial parish choir. Our music director gets paid, as do the musicians we occasionally hire to accompany the choir at Christmas and Easter, but we in the choir only get camaradarie and a few choir parties a year.

 

[LarryM]

SeekerJen:

Wow. I’ve never heard of a professionial parish choir. Our music director gets paid, as do the musicians we occasionally hire to accompany the choir at Christmas and Easter, but we in the choir only get camaradarie and a few choir parties a year.

You guys get parties ??!!

 

[Linda_H]

loyola rambler:

Don’t put too much money on that bet. Out of over 30 parishes that I’ve belonged to, only one didn’t have professional singers or choir members who received at least $600/year in stipends and had to get 1099’s. That makes them statutory employees at the very least. Your 90% is grossly overblown. It’s probably closer to 25%.

Have you always lived in big cities or maybe your parish is the cathedral of your diocese? Even when I lived in Phila. PA. and Wilm. DE.(St.Anthony’s), we never had any paid choirs, like some of the others who have commented we did have paid muscians on occasion, but never the choir! I can understand it at the St.Patricks in NYC, and the others like it, but not in the normal everyday hometown parishes. I don’t know how many parishes there are in th USA but I am willing to guess that the 30+ that you have belong to are the exception to what is normal for the vast majority. As a matter of fact, I’ve never belonged to a parish that had the excess funds to be able pay for a professional choir.
Linda H.

 

[moedom]

For those of us who don’t get paid, just remember the retirement plan is out of this world.

 

[pnewton]

Linda H.:

As a matter of fact, I’ve never belonged to a parish that had the excess funds to be able pay for a professional choir.
Linda H.

“excess funds” “paid choirs”

I am not familiar with all this liturgical jargon. We take turns buying donuts.

 

[puzzleannie]

well, the Winter Texans are coming back, God love them, went to Mass at the parish near my old trailer park, and the lovely seniors who volunteer to sing and play guitar at the early Mass during the winter were there, I suggest relocating them to the parking lot. offer it up. offer it up. offer it up.

 

[WhiteDove]

Dear Puzzleannie,
Are you disparaging the heartfelt efforts of some of our vulnerable senor citizens??? :tsktsk: How uncharitable of you! :nope: Have you not learned anything from CAF? I’m heartily ashamed of you, you meanie!!!

 

[Mt19_26]

Linda H.:

The A.D.A. laws do not apply to churches, all wheelchair access to church buildings is voluntary. While there has been some confusion about this the laws are very clear when you read them. You can read the laws at the website www.ada.gov , at one time I thought it was mandatory too, but my friends in the P.V.A.(Paralized Veterans of America) cleared it up for me. There are exceptions of course, but ordinary daily access to the church buildings is not mandatory.

Linda H.

.

I wish my parish knew this when they recently renovated the church. They put in a wheelchair ramp to the sanctuary and I was told it was required to get construction permits to do the renovation.

 

[Mt19_26]

Our choir takes up the first 10 or so rows on the right side/section of the church. Our church is a semi-circle. I don’t particularly like it there because it could be a distraction sometimes. Especially since we recently got a new cantor that likes to dance as she sings.

 

[m134e5]

I believe the choir, organist and cantor should be in the choir loft. I do not like it when I have been the cantor and people come up to me and compliment me afterwords like I just gave a concert. I don’t want people to know it is me.

 

[brotherhrolf]

Our cathedral was remodeled in the late 60’s. They took out the choir loft. Until 1992 we sang in the front to the side of the altar. In 1992 we got rid of the old terrible sounding electronic organ and built a new pipe organ and rebuilt the choir loft. I much prefer the choir loft for two reasons. The first is acoustic. In a gothic-style vaulted cathedral the sound is carried to the front and reverberates. The second is unique from the choir"s point of view. You would not believe the number of people who fall asleep during Mass. Midnight Mass is the worst. It is very difficult to keep a straight face when you see someone fall asleep and start slipping toward their neighbor. It is even worse when you see a wife elbow her husband when he starts to snore durning the bishop’s homily.

 

[Sorbetto]

We have a choir loft. The choir sounds absolutely amazing. The organist and the voices, the bells, everything is wonderful. I also just love that the choir is up and above us. Something about hearing them and yet not seeing them adds to the effect, and their location just amplifies everything greatly.

 

[PreVatII]

The push, since Vatican II, to move the choir to the front (next to the sanctuary) is in perfect keeping with the “spirit of Vatican II” and our continuing slide towards Protestantism. This goes hand-in-hand with the worst music ever sung at Mass such as “On Eagles Wings!”

For those who would like to see what we as a people, as Catholics, as members of the One, True Faith have lost, look at www.cantius.org. Now that is a church and that is sacred music.

 

[pnewton]

I have visited a few churches with the choir in a loft in back of the church, even though my church has no loft. I have noticed that with the choir in the loft, the congregation does not sing as loud or as much as when the choir is in front. It may be that the music selection of “loft choirs” is not as conducive to participation or it may be that lack of a visual focal point is not as conducive to participation. Of course it may also be just a coincidence since I have limited experience and only visit other churches when I am out of town.