Director of Music Ministries

About Wicker Park Lutheran Church Wicker Park Lutheran Church (WPLC) is a vibrant, highly liturgical Lutheran (ELCA) congregation located in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Our worship is centered in Word and Sacrament, shaped deeply by the seasons and festivals of the church year, and grounded in strong congregational song. Our primary instruments are a historic 1906 M. P. Möller two-manual, 25-rank pipe organ with pneumatic action, Deagan Liberty Chimes, and Zimbelstern along with a Baldwin concert grand piano. Music at WPLC is centered primarily in hymnody, organ, piano, choir, cantors, and small vocal ensembles, with regular use of global and ecumenical songs. Advent and Lent invite reflective and restrained musical leadership, while Christmas, Easter, and major festivals invite expansive joy and celebration. WPLC music ministry supports a high-liturgical worship community and does not use a praise-band model of worship. Traditional church music as well as new music that grows from those traditions are favorites of the worshipping community. Music is a central part of WPLC’s worshiping identity and community life, helping connect Scripture, liturgy, congregational participation, and the seasons of the church year. We value musical excellence alongside broad participation and seek to create welcoming opportunities for singers and instrumentalists of varied musical experience. WPLC is a Reconciling in Christ and Immigrant Welcoming congregation. We are committed to LGBTQIA+ inclusion, racial equity, immigrant welcome, disability inclusion, and the full participation of people of varied identities, backgrounds, and abilities. Applicants from non-Lutheran backgrounds are encouraged to apply! Position Summary The Director of Music Ministries supports WPLC’s highly liturgical worship and expansive mission by providing excellent organ and piano leadership, directing and accompanying seasonal choirs and vocal ensembles, leading confident congregational song, collaborating in liturgical planning, and helping singers, cantors, instrumentalists, and other volunteers participate successfully and grow musically. The Director combines strong musicianship with clear preparation, supportive leadership, and an ability to work with volunteers of varied musical experience. Schedule and Workload This is a primarily Sunday-centered position with limited required weekday presence. The Director of Music exercises substantial professional discretion in selecting service music within WPLC’s liturgical framework and works collaboratively with the pastor, staff, and volunteer musicians. The Director of Music reports to the pastor. Worship Leadership The Director of Music will: Lead congregational song through skilled organ and piano, and, when appropriate, vocal leadership. Play for weekly Sunday worship and required seasonal, festival, and special services (see below). Select preludes, postludes, offertories, Communion music, and other service music appropriate to the Scripture readings, liturgical season, and congregation’s worship life. Collaborate with the pastor in selecting hymns (generally three each Sunday), liturgical settings, musical styles, tempos, and leadership appropriate to each service. Exercise professional discretion in selecting non-prescribed service music within the congregation’s established liturgical framework. Introduce and teach new hymns, liturgical settings, global song, and other congregational music using methods appropriate to the assembly. Adapt calmly and professionally to occasional changes in worship plans, musician availability, and pastoral needs. Serve as cantor when appropriate or when another cantor is unavailable. Regular additional services ordinarily include: Two Christmas Eve services at 4:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Ash Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Two Thursday evening Lenten services at 7:30 p.m. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil at 7:30 p.m. A single, early-December Saturday evening Lessons & Carols service Potentially two Easter Sunday services (currently a single 10 a.m. service) Christmas Day only when December 25 falls on a Sunday Occasional significant congregational events on Sundays, such as the Annual Meeting, a dedication, groundbreaking, or ribbon cutting Cantors, Choir, Instrumentalists, and Other Musicians For most Sunday services, the Director of Music recruits, schedules, rehearses, accompanies, and supports a congregation-based, volunteer cantor. When additional singers are available, the Director may form an ad hoc small vocal ensemble that rehearses before worship. Offertory and Communion music ordinarily involve sung leadership by a cantor, small group, or the congregation but may be instrumental. Instrumentalists from within the congregation are utilized during Holy Week (Palm/Passion Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday) and on feast days generally including Feast of St. Francis, Feast of Mary Magdalene, and Feast of Mary, Mother of Our Lord. Major festivals tend to incorporate volunteer and paid supply musicians generally including Epiphany Sunday, Easter Sunday, Pentecost, Easter Vigil, and Reformation Sunday. Paid musicians and select volunteers available are used for Christmas Eve services. The Director of Music also: Recruits, rehearses, directs, and accompanies WPLC’s seasonal choir. Provides music, schedules, rehearsal expectations, and other preparation materials sufficiently in advance to allow volunteer musicians to prepare successfully. Works with the pastor and staff to maintain clear, welcoming, and regularly communicated pathways for members to participate as singers, cantors, and instrumentalists. Combines high musical standards with efficient preparation, clear expectations, patience, constructive feedback, encouragement, and pastoral sensitivity. Selects repertoire that is liturgically appropriate, musically substantive, suited to the participating musicians, and achievable within the available rehearsal time. Coordinates and supports volunteer and professional instrumentalists and singers. Encourages and develops the musical gifts of congregational members with varied levels of experience. Recruits, hires, and supervises supplemental musicians professionally and courteously. Choir rehearsals are held on Sundays, generally either 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. or after worship 12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. The choir’s principal rehearsal periods have been: Advent/ Lessons & Carols/ Epiphany music: Beginning in mid-October, with rehearsals on most Sundays in November, one rehearsal in early December, and a final rehearsal on the day of the service. Holy Week and Easter music: Approximately five Sunday rehearsals during Lent in preparation for Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday. The choir also sings for Pentecost, Reformation Sunday, and occasional other services, generally #J-18808-Ljbffr Wicker Park Lutheran Church