First Congregational Church of Darien
Salary: $50,000 – $60,000 per year, depending on experience
Education: Bachelor’s degree (graduate degree and certifications, such as AGO, preferred)
Type: Exempt, part-time (30 hours per week)
Who we are: Warm. Relaxed. Open to new ideas. Growing. Theologically progressive. Not “praise music” people, but not puritanical traditionalists either. MUSIC LOVERS.
Who you are: Creative. Self-starting. Collaborative. Passionate. Pastoral. A believer in the power of deep, beautiful worship to heal, free, challenge, and change us.
We are beating the odds: Our congregation is “back” after COVID—and then some, with weekly attendance often two-to-three times what it was in years past. The winds of the Spirit are at our backs! This is a season of life, hopefulness, and joy in our church, and we want to be good, wise stewards of this momentum. That’s where you come in!
We’re seeking a Music Director who will take our already strong program to the next level. Move us. Teach us. Play our magnificent 2-manual, 29-track Walker tracker pipe organ so it shakes the building. Support parents in inspiring a love for music and for hymnody in our youngest parishioners. Draw out gifts and talents we don’t even know we have. Imagine new ways our congregation can be in partnership with school choirs and youth string ensembles—a number of which already practice and perform at the church. Attract best-of-the-best vocalists and guest instrumentalists to make music with us. With our appreciative, generous community, the sky is the limit!
You’ll be joining a dynamic staff team, headed by a new young and vibrant senior minister, who enthusiastically champions the church’s music program (and who LOVES hymns). Our staff members share a drive for excellence. They work hard and work smart, planning worship collaboratively and far in advance. By being thoughtful and imaginative, they develop worship themes outside of Sunday services, extending these to programming for our children, for social action, and for education.
Among our existing resources is a gifted, virtuosic concert pianist who came to us some years ago to learn the organ. Which he has! Moving forward, we envision him spending more time at our extraordinary Bosendorfer piano. Think outside the box and help us imagine how to make fuller use of his significant—and underutilized—talents.
Additionally, we employ a young guitarist and songwriter, whocurrently works on an extremely part-time basis with our children during the Sunday School hour, but we hope to draw him more deeply into the worship life of the church. He’s an immensely talented, versatile musician, and the congregation believes his gifts are underutilized. What kind of ensemble might he be a part of? Guitar with mandolin? Flute? Violin? We’re excited to sing old hymns in new ways.
Responsibilities include:
- Provide energetic, creative musical direction for all Sunday and special services, deepening the congregation’s experience of music as a vehicle for spiritual transformation. There are two services on Sunday, at 8:30 and 10:00 a.m., during the program year (September-June) and one 9:00 a.m. service during the summer. The choir sings at the 10 a.m. service.
- Provide strong administrative leadership to the music program: recruit and supervise all music program staff, volunteers, and guest musicians; manage the department budget; arrange for substitute musicians as needed; oversee the music library; ensure appropriate licenses are obtained and copyright laws followed; and assist with audio equipment.
- Support clergy in choosing hymns, striving for a repertoire that balances familiarity and variety.
- Lead the church’s choir and ensembles, providing the necessary tools, teaching, and inspiration to ensure that members are prepared to provide a polished performance.
- Grow a youth music program with community-wide reach in partnership with the Director of Children and Family Ministries and building upon the church’s existing network of relationships.
- Inspire participation in the church’s music program by building rapport within the congregation and through other creative, recruitment-type events.
- Oversee maintenance of church instruments.
- Provide music for weddings and funerals (with additional compensation), or arrange such provision by hiring outside musicians.
In accordance with federal and state laws, and as an expression of our Christian commitment to inclusivity, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or age. We encourage candidates from historically underrepresented groups to apply.
To Apply:
Please send a cover letter and resume to musicsearch@uccdarien.org, along with video recordings of yourself:
- Playing a piece of organ repertoire appropriate for a church prelude or postlude
- Accompanying one congregational hymn
- Conducting one choral anthem