Director of Sacred Music

Job Description

LOCATION: Church of St. Joseph, Waite Park, Minnesota

POSITION TYPE: Part-time employment at-will

CLASSIFICATION: Non-exempt

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 15, 2023

REPORTS TO: Pastor

PROVIDES WORK DIRECTION TO: Parish choir members and musicians.

SCHEDULE: 12 months, part-time. Average 10-15 hours per week.

BENEFITS ELIGIBLE: No

TO INQUIRE/APPLY: Send email to Fr. Brady Keller at pastor@churchofstmichael.net, subject "Director of Sacred Music."

Qualifications:

-Practicing Catholic who lives in a manner congruent with Catholic moral teaching (required)
-Bachelor's degree in music or its equivalent in experience.
-Musical leadership with skills in keyboard, voice, conducting, and sound system use. Experience on the organ is desirable.
-Flexibility in work schedule based on the time of the liturgical year.
-Knowledge of the history and repertoire of Catholic sacred music.
-Willingness to participate in continuing education to maintain and further musical expertise.

Duties:

-Coordinate the music for parish liturgies and occasional extra-liturgical events. This includes, but is not limited to, the weekly 7:30am Sunday Mass, music rehearsals, funerals, and other seasonal devotions.
-Provide liturgical guidance in sensitive pastoral situations on occasion (e.g., funeral preparation with families).
-Make creative choices of sacred music that demonstrate both beauty in musicality and soundness in theological import. As part of the National Eucharistic Revival efforts in the parish, this includes the use of quality antiphons, hymns, and chant and occasional use of basic Latin, securing proper copyrights for all printed materials used for liturgies.
-Recruit, train, and direct, choirs, instrumentalists, and cantors.
-Secure other musicians as needed for special celebrations (e.g., Christmas, Easter, Confirmation, etc.).
-Prepare assembly for liturgies by instructions or rehearsals prior to liturgies.
-Prepare and manage a music budget for the parish worship program, making recommendations for the purchase of instruments, sound equipment, literature, and church supplies.
-Collaborate with parish staff for parish functions, occasionally including collaboration with musicians from the parish's weekly Extraordinary Form (Latin) Mass and Spanish Mass as well as musicians from the Church of St. Michael and two other parishes in the Area Catholic Community.
-Nurture his or her own faith in order to nurture the faith of others.
-Other duties as assigned by the pastor.

Work Environment:

-This position requires engagement with a medium-sized Catholic parish of about 500 families in the Diocese of St. Cloud. The Church of Saint Joseph is clustered with the Church of Saint Michael. Both parishes are also part of the Together as One (TAO) Area Catholic Community (ACC) with two additional nearby parishes. At present, Saint Joseph has a very small volunteer choir and a couple instrumentalists and cantors.
-Employee must be able to ascend and descend stairs.
-Dress requirements: employee-provided casual business clothing outside of liturgies; employee-provided semi-formal to formal clothing for liturgies.

About the Employer

The Church of St. Michael and the Church of St. Joseph exist to serve the spiritual needs of the People of God in NW St. Cloud, MN and Waite Park, MN. Our mission is to glorify God through liturgy, sacraments, and the sanctification and salvation of the world through prayer and works of mercy.