Liturgical Musician (Hamden, Connecticut)

Grace and St Peter’s/St John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in Centerville, Hamden is a vibrant parish committed to faithful worship of God, service to our neighbors and support for one another.  Please see our website (www.graceandstpeters.org) to get an idea of our relaxed, but inspiring, worship style and our many innovative ministries, including the Dinner for a Dollar Food Truck and the Swords To Plowshares project, transforming guns into garden tools and jewelry.  As well, we are blessed with an historic and beloved tracker organ, a Hornung and Moller baby grand piano and a Yamaha Clavinova.

The Grace and St Peter’s/St John the Evangelist Liturgical Musician will have two principal responsibilities:

1. Lead congregational singing by providing instrumental and/or vocal accompanimen

2. Select (or compose/improvise) and play ancillary service music such as preludes, postludes and processionals

Working under the supervision of the parish Rector, the Liturgical Musician will provide music and musical leadership for 46 Sunday morning liturgies per year (currently one service at 9AM). In addition, the Liturgical Musician will provide music for as many as 6 other worships services during the year (e.g. Christmas Eve, Maundy Thursday, etc.)

The Liturgical Musician may be called on to lead occasional choral singing or choral bell ringing.  Though, at the moment, we do not have established choirs of either type and there is far more interest in bell ringing than in formal group singing.

Hymns and other service music (except for preludes, postludes and processionals) will ultimately be chosen by the Rector.  However, the Liturgical Musician will be welcome to collaborate on these decisions.

The Liturgical Musician’s salary will be $8,000 per year.  

The ideal candidate for this position will:

• have excellent keyboard skills (organ and piano, sight reading, transposition, etc.), will have facility on another song leading instrument such as the guitar, and will have a clear and accurate singing voice.  

• be familiar with and enthusiastic about, working in a variety of musical styles

• have basic choir conducting skills

• be dependable, responsible and amicable.

• be familiar with Episcopal liturgical and musical traditions.

• be creative and eager to contribute to the spiritual life of an active Christian community.