Catalina United Methodist Church Home

SANCTUARY CHOIR

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

 

REHEARSALS

1. Regular rehearsals will be held promptly at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday evenings.  Rehearsals generally last until 9:00. Prior to Christmas and Easter rehearsals will be extended to 9:30.
2. Attendance will be taken at each rehearsal.  Please turn your tag each time the choir meets.  This attendance policy will insure our accountability to each other.
3. You are asked to be faithful in attendance as much as is within your power, and to take rehearsals seriously (even though we have a lot of fun!).
4. Upon entering the music room pick up a copy of the weekly newsletter and the new music. The newsletter will have important information and reminders, and will be mailed to those choir members that are absent.
5. "I Will Be Gone" sheets are located on the bulletin board. if you know certain Sundays and Thursdays when you will be absent, please indicate this on the sheet.  This is a wonderful courtesy to the choir and to the director.  In cases of sudden illness or emergency, please call the director either at the church office or at home, or leave a message.
6. You are asked to be in your place and ready before beginning time of the rehearsal in order to have a little peace of mind.
7. You are asked to have the right folder, with the right music, a pencil, and a smile on your face.
8. You are asked to listen carefully, have a minimum of talking, and make the time worthwhile for yourself and those around you.
9. It is understood that everyone will need to miss a rehearsal at some point.  If you know a certain Sunday you will be absent, please plan on coming to rehearsal the Thursday before.  Anthems are rehearsed at least 4 weeks in advance. It is recommended that if you miss 2 consecutive rehearsals, you should probably not sing the following Sunday. (Left to discretion of the director.)
10. Each rehearsal will end with a time of sharing prayer concerns, joys, and other announcements. However, if you have something you wish to be printed in the newsletter please submit it in writing on Sunday, or call the director by Thursday morning.
11. Prior to each rehearsal your director is concentrating on the rehearsal.  For his complete attention, please save conversations with the director until following the rehearsal.

SUNDAY MORNING

1. Warm-up will begin at 10:30 a.m.
2. Upon arriving obtain your folder (with the correct music for that day, posted by robe room doors), robe, hymnal, and bulletin.
3. Bring your smile in with you! You will need it in worship!
4. Remove excessive Jewelry (your director has a strong aversion to the wearing of earrings large enough to be seen with robes), scarves, collars, and other items that would distract from the choir's uniform appearance.

DURING WORSHIP

1. Process around to the front of the sanctuary as much as you can IN ORDER. Then get ready for the processional as soon as possible, and quietly! Your sounds enter the sanctuary and distract from the music being played.
2. When processing and singing, always hold your music up. When processing quietly hold your music down at your side toward your partner. Look orderly at all times.
3. Enter the sanctuary and choir loft with a joyful, positive, reverent attitude. Anticipate God's presence. Look pleasant!
4. Generally, sing unison on the first and last stanzas of hymns; sing harmony on inner stanzas. You will be given specific instructions if there are to be deviations from this.
5. Sing harmony on responses such as Doxology and Gloria. Your attention should be focused on the altar area for these.
6. Whenever you stand, hold your folder open in the ready position. Sing hymns with your hymnal in your folder. This will give the group a uniform appearance. Always look up in order to encourage the congregation to participate. Follow your bulletin closely. Always be ready for what is next.  You are the worship leaders!

AFTER WORSHIP

1. When you return to the choir room, remove the anthem(s) for that day and place it in the "To Be Filed" box on the table by the door.  Place other materials in the appropriate slot in the robe room.
2. Be sure that your robe is hung neatly and in the correct spot!

IN GENERAL

1. Singing in a choir is a corporate effort, not a solo effort.  Please do your best at all times to be aware of your neighbors, always trying to blend and sing with them.  If you are asked to move, or to sing more softly, please do not take it personally.  We are striving for the best overall sound possible.
2. The good Lord made each of us different.  We all have different tastes, preferences, and styles when it comes to music. Our objective is to incorporate the finest music from all style periods.  The music must be well written and theologically sound. In the future we may be working on an anthem that you as an individual do not like.  However, there may be others that do like it.  To insure the personal dynamic of the group, take your mother's advice, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."  Be sensitive to others.
3. Once the year gets underway, a Sanctuary Choir roster will be printed for the members of the choir. This will include phone numbers and addresses.  A seating chart will also be printed at various times of the year.
4. It is your responsibility to keep your assigned robe clean.  Please do not wear makeup around your neck.  Makeup ruins the material and cannot be washed out.  Please do not eat or drink while wearing your robe.  The robes are machine washable.  Do not iron.  Do not wash the stole.  These are cleaned professionally.
5. Please be considerate of those around you and do not wear perfumes or cologne to rehearsals or on Sunday mornings.  Many people have allergies and it causes difficulty in trying to sing.
6. Please be supportive of the music minister, the accompanist, the music sung, and their part in the worship experience.
7. Use your right to disagree with the music minister.  This should usually be done, however, in private.
8. Your service to the choir and to the church is a commitment to God.  Remember, we are a volunteer organization.  A volunteer organization is only as good as the commitment level of its volunteers.

 
 

CHOIR IS:   .....Choir
.....family
.....using this avenue of responsibility to serve God
.....loving each other and caring for each other
.....doing the best Job we can Sunday alter Sunday,

in praise of Christ


Some new policies and procedures made necessary with our new chancel:
- the seating assignments for Sunday morning will be set at the Thursday rehearsal. 
- we ask that those not able to sing on Sunday morning sit out in the sanctuary on Thursdays when the choir moves to the chancel for rehearsal. 
- those absent for Thursday rehearsals will be asked to sit on the outer ends of their row for worship 
- it is important that you be in your place as soon as possible on Sunday morning so we don't have to do a lot of moving around at the last minute before we move to the sanctuary for worship. 
- it is important that you be ready and in your place when we are ready to leave the music room; it is important that you stay in line when you leave your seat in the music room as we enter the chancel or as we move to the rear to process. 
- if you must leave worship please be seated at the end of your row so you won't have to crawl over others and leave a vacant chair in the middle. 
- we are much more visible to the congregation now, so any unnecessary motion or movement will be distracting (any nodding off will be seen!) 
- a decision on a modesty screen will be held off until all the new furniture is in place to see if one is actually needed. Those in the front row need to keep their legs together and on the floor! 
- wear non-slippery shoes, especially until you get used to the steps
 
The advantages of our new chancel far overshadow any of the items above. Enjoy the new chairs, the new arrangement, the new resonating floor, the new heating/cooling ducts, the new view of the congregation, the new sound we will produce, the new piano, the more flexible space, the new beauty of God's house, and the fact that our offerings to God will be all the better. THANKS BE TO GOD & TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!
Here is a STATEMENT OF PURPOSE for our choir and for our other Catalina choirs:

      The purpose of our choirs at Catalina United Methodist Church is to provide a caring, Christ following community which will affect the lives of the singers through music, and by so doing, will draw them and our congregation closer to God.

      Being part of the choir encourages individual growth through singing and leading in worship.

      Let's pray that everything we do this year, as a choir family, will fit into this purpose. 

Make Your Life A Song To God!