Gathering Gifts

How do you build a strong and sustainable parish music program? Or, how do you strengthen and grow the one you already have, seeking out and calling forth the gifts of the people you serve?

The responsibilities and skill sets required of those who serve as directors of music ministries in our parishes go far beyond just being excellent musicians. We are musicians--but we are also event planners, administrators, liturgists, leaders of prayer, recruiters, teachers, and visioners. We work with children and adults, volunteers and professionals, at every age and level. We celebrate with families at weddings and baptisms, we mourn with them as they lay a loved one to rest. Many of us do it all in multiple languages. Most importantly, we combine all these to build healthy programs, designed to live and grow and meet the needs of the communities we serve.

The articles in this book are collected from over 25 years of the GIA Quarterly magazines, and they address the many layers of how we gather the gifts of our communities and build healthy music programs. They include articles on choir and cantor recruiting, working with children and youth, navigating bilingual liturgies, funeral choirs, wedding ministry, summer choirs, and much more.