How to start a small choir

START A CHOIR

Before You Start Singing

**Updated March, 2006**

There are dozens of things that need to be done in the process of organizing a new church choir.

Here are some of those tasks in a logical order.

(Don't worry if you've done some things in a different order.)

IF YOU REALLY WANT A CHURCH CHOIR, not just a group of people who sing occasionally (a sing-along), the very first things to do are:

PRAY ABOUT IT. Pray about your own commitment, especially if you are going to be the choir director. Your time commitment will be major.

CLEAR IT WITH YOUR CHURCH. **BE SURE YOUR CHURCH BOARD AND MEMBERS UNDERSTAND THAT THE REHEARSAL SCHEDULE MUST BE ADHERED TO. Yes, you DO have to wait for a board meeting. No one can run a church choir alone.

**FIND A CORE GROUP OF SINGERS WHO WILL MAKE A LONG-TERM COMMITMENT (by the semester or year) TO ATTEND ALL REHEARSALS. All your choices will need to be made based on these singers.

AFTER ALL THE ABOVE IS DONE, you need an accompanist, singers, rehearsal place and time, and music to learn.

YOU MUST COMMUNICATE WITH:

God. Pray often and listen for His guidance.
The Pastor. Find out what he wants and attempt to provide it. Coordinate with sermon if possible.
***The Church Board. Clear all $$ and scheduling decisions. ***Be sure they understand that scheduling conflicts and near-conflicts will sabotage the viability of the choir.
The Congregation. Let them know when the Choir will sing. Tell them how wonderful the Choir is. The people are always wonderful, even if they don't sound professional yet.

Use every available kind of communication.

Global satellite communication

Email does fast group announcements.

!!Communicate!!!

Communicate!

If God does nothing without telling His servants, the prophets, shouldn't we communicate with our fellow servants?

YOU MUST ALSO COMMUNICATE WITH:

Your Accompanist. Practice with him or her before rehearsals.
Your Choir Members. Praise them for all work. Give them the schedule.
Potential Choir Members. Give them all the promotion information. Invite them to planning meetings (Potlucks work!).
DON'T FORGET GOD. If you pray a lot, you'll find answers to every problem that comes. After all, God made music. The choir will find the answers they need in their lives, too.

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