We are writing with an update from the Music Ministry Transition Team filled with gratitude, an invitation to consider joining the Open House Choirs this month, and an update on the Interim/Acting Music Director search process.
Gratitude
First, thank you to Garrett Bond who stepped into the temporary Music Director role! He has done a wonderful job with the summer pick-up choir and is now leading the Open House Choir Rehearsal Opportunities in the early fall. You are invited to check it out, if you think you might enjoy participating. For now, we have Two Choir Open House opportunities, and both meet in our Main Street Sanctuary on Thursday evenings: The All Come Community Choir (former and current choir members know it as Grace and Amity) from 5:30 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. and The Sight Reading Advanced Choir (former and current choir members know it as Radiance and Harmony) from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. To get the door code, email Garrett gbond@firstunitarianportland.org.
**The ultimate number of choirs and configurations of choirs is yet to be set for the whole year. Our music ministry is in transition, yet this is a good time to experience singing in the community.
Second, thank you to Joe O’Donnell, Signe Lusk, Ellie Hodder, and all the singers and ringers who participated in the summer choirs – you helped make our worship more beautiful.
Third, we want to thank everyone who answered our survey questions over the summer about how you hope to be involved this coming year. This was helpful for us to set up early fall programming and will also be helpful for the new Acting/Interim Music Director when they begin.
Fourth, thank you in advance for participating in upcoming opportunities to share your perspectives on the future of our music ministry later in the year. Right now, we’re focused on the Acting/Interim Music Director Search.
Acting/Interim Music Director Search
Our senior minister and executive team chose to have a more inclusive Acting/Interim Music Director search this time around. In 2016, the senior minister and associate minister searched for, selected, and hired this position on their own. This time we decided to include the leadership of lay members from the beginning of the transition. The Music Ministry Transition Team started meeting on July 7. The members of the team include lay leaders: Theo Harper (chair), Ameena Amdahl-Mason, Michael Murray, Rich Scher, Holly Stern, Henriëtt Fourie Thompson and ministers: Rev. Alison Miller and Rev. Tom Disrud.
We created job postings and a job description for the Acting/Interim position and received 16 applications. We then narrowed down the candidates and held Zoom interviews, and now we are looking forward to in-person interviews with our finalists later this month. You can view the posting and job description here: https://www.firstunitarianportland.org/jobs
We Want Your Input
You are invited to join us for a Zoom meeting to share your hopes and thoughts about the qualities and skills and experiences you hope we will find in the person hired for this position. We’ll take notes at the meeting. Or, you can also choose to write an email to the Music Ministry Transition Team with your thoughts at musictransition@firstunitarianportland.org.
This will help us to frame questions and to reflect on what answers we hope to hear from our finalists. Some have asked why we aren’t going to introduce the candidates to all of the choirs. This is because of the need to preserve confidentiality for our candidates who are music professionals with current responsibilities.
Two Zoom Meetings to give the Search Team your input:
#1 - Thursday, September 19 at noon:
Meeting ID: 856 3508 8226
Passcode: 195836
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85635088226?pwd=G6zYD2FCm46pwfkaArbYVTZv1rwRjl.1
#2 - Sunday, September 22 at 5:00 p.m.:
Meeting ID: 830 7122 9945
Passcode: 901207
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83071229945?pwd=8hG980GGPZSTisz6GfdDm7cbxorAhW.1
Finally, we are aware that there is a range of feelings amongst the people who have participated in our music program and who hope to participate in the future. We want to thank all of you who have shown up in ways that promote discernment and health as we navigate this time of change. Among other resources, we’d like to invite you to watch Rev. Alison’s sermon, “Restoring Communication,” from August 18.
May the work of this year lead to the flourishing of our music ministry and our church a whole.
