I'm Having Doubts About the Gospel (Choir)

My Gospel Choir gig was so fun over the spring and summer. We sang every month in May, June, and July, culminating in the Raise the Roof Gospel Service on August 7, which was attended by over 200 people. We sang for 20 minutes and it went really well. We had the rest of August off and it was my understanding that we were going to start up in September with rehearsals to sing on the 4th Sunday as previously agreed upon.

Now I'm on the mailing list for their newsletter, which is how I found out they were planning to sing on the 3rd Sunday (their homecoming Sunday) in September ("featuring special music," etc.). Now this would have been fine with me if someone had let me know, but I was already committed that day at my own church. I got the feeling that no one there had any idea that my Sundays are full of other jobs and commitments, and I can't just be "on call" and flexible.

It's hard because their minister is on a 3-month sabbatical that doesn't end until November, so it seems like no one is in charge there. Andrew, the choir director, is talented and passionate but has real problems being organized, following through, and remembering agreements from one week to the next. So I wrote him a letter letting him know about my other Sunday jobs and reviewing the agreement for my availability for rehearsals and services. So no problem, Dorothea would play for their service on Sept. 18, then they would sing again on the 25th with me playing.

So I learned the 2 new songs, got there at 9:30 am as agreed on the 25th for rehearsal. Only one person showed up and Andrew himself was 30 minutes late! I was understandably irritated, especially when no one else ever showed up and we ended up not even singing after all that. I said I was going home and would see them not the next week, but the week after, as per our schedule agreement.

Last Sunday (Oct 9) was the day. Luckily it occured to me to check my cell phone for messages before trekking all the way there. There was a message from Andrew saying he was sick and rehearsal was cancelled. I called him back and said this was no problem, as I was sick too, see ya next week, etc.

So today I checked my phone--no messages--and drove all the way there, only to see no one in the sanctuary. I went downstairs to the fellowship hall, and there was Andrew along with 2 of the choir members. Everyone else had evidently left already. So once again, no rehearsal. I couldn't help feeling annoyed. I said maybe we should just sing for special occasions, two or three times a year maybe, because I was getting tired of putting energy into preparation only to have rehearsals fall through again and again.

Andrew was upset because every time he sees me I'm irritated, he doesn't like being bitched at, and if he had known I had so many other Sunday commitments in the first place, he wouldn't have hired me because, as he puts it, in his church tradition down South, a Gospel choir is a full-time commitment and his goal was to have it singing every Sunday! The other choir members were trying to calm him down, trying to explain to him that that isn't our agreement, apologizing to me for their fellow choristers' flakiness and thanking me for coming.

I guess we're not singing next Sunday, as we haven't had a rehearsal for too many weeks. I agreed to give them another chance for November, but really, I just don't need this aggravation. It doesn't help that David (the minister) isn't available, especially since he was the one to actually "hire" me. I know Andrew was just upset and venting, but that remark really bugs me. I feel like saying, "Well, good luck finding someone else who is both 1) able to learn your songs from a CD as well as I can and willing to do it for the small amount you're paying me and 2) available every Sunday to be at your beck and call. These 2 requirements tend to be mutually exclusive!" Grrrr.