Sowing Seeds, Bearing Fruit: A Five-Year Process for Growing a Singing Congregation - Tapa blanda

Just like a garden, a singing congregation--the fullest flower of a thriving parish music program--comes into being and is sustained through careful planning and ongoing attentiveness. Jennifer Kerr Breedlove, working from her own experiences as a home gardener and a pastoral musician, offers her guidance for building a successful singing congregation from the roots up. Innovative ideas and common sense guide parish musicians through the process:

Year One: Gathering information about the parish and its people

Year Two: Building on existing strengths, forming the assembly and its ministers

Year Three: Various approaches to building a parish repertoire, annual repertoire summaries

Year Four: Maintaining the repertoire, dealing with the occasional "dry spell"

Year Five: Maintaining stability and doing recruitment, ensuring future success