Well, I did it! I got through my first Holy Week and Easter in my new organist-choir director position!

Feel free to share this badge of honor with any church musicians, clergy, altar guild members, church office workers, etc., that you know!

I had taken a sabbatical from church music when McDoc and I got married. The idea of having weekends uncommitted as a newlywed was appealing. 🙂 So appealing, in fact, that I swore I wouldn’t take another regular church job again. My plan was to be a substitute organist, living the free and easy life most of the time, and riding the to rescue when organists desperate to get out of town needed someone to fill in. Being indispensable has its advantages!

Slowly but surely, though, I got sucked back into the regular church gig scene. So I was really happy when the opportunity came my way to work at a church that McDoc and I liked and had already decided to join. McDoc is now a member of my choir!

I started right at the beginning of Lent, which is a slightly stressful time to step into the job; it’s kind of like climbing into the roller coaster car as it slowly creaks up to the top of the hill, right before it begins its rushing, unstoppable descent. Nothing to do now but go with it!

Holy Week consists of a service with every night from Thursday to Saturday, and then the big show on Sunday morning. My choir is small but mighty, and did an admirable job. We had a fine young trumpet player, a first-year Boston Conservatory student, join us on Easter Sunday morning, too.

By noon yesterday, when all was said and done, I was more than ready for a nice brunch, complete with mimosa! Here I am afterwards, with Tiny Dancer, our official choir mascot:

…And then it was time for some of this:

Now that I’ve gotten through all that, I can tackle the backlog of stories I need to post, and then turn my attention to some exciting upcoming adventures. Stay tuned! 🙂