This kind of sounds like a "church" problem more than a music ministry problem.  What is the average attendance?

Get the congregation singing. Don't worry about pre-concieved ideas of what a church choir is. Check out Music That Makes Community for some good ideas on getting groups of hesitant people to sing. Once you have a singing congregation, a choir will emerge. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioiX8YDKPOY&feature=player_embedded

There are 80 in attendance (a)my church & I have around 20 in my choir, from 9th grade to 70-somethings. I do not audition; I don't believe in it, and therefore have a mixed bag.  But.....It keeps growing & growing & I am fortunate to have balanced numbers in each section (4-pt).  I start off with easy songs at the beginning of the season -- first song was "I Believe" in unison.  I taught them about measures, dynamics, endings, how to sing vowels & consonants, blend, listening etc.: things we would learn singing more difficult music.  

 

As the season progresses, we sing mostly 4-part music, with some easier 2- and 3-pt thrown in. 

 

Here's the key for me & this is what REALLY works in my situation:  we rehearse TWICE a month, on the 2nd and 3rd Sunday, from 9:30 (promptly) to 10:40 before church starts (a)11, and they "perform" on that 3rd Sunday.  In essence, I have a little over 2 hours/month to teach them the music.  I don't waste their time & don't mess around too much & we get A LOT done.  Our repertoire is built up enough now that they probably COULD sing on both Sundays, but then my husband would be out of a job!  (He sings the 2 solos on that 2nd Sunday) 

 

So here's what works:  Twice-a-month, self-contained rehearsals on Sunday morning so that they don't have to come an extra day during the week/ choir "season" same as a school season, from Sept to June.  Their schedules are hectic enough as it is, and many of them would probably not come if we met every Sunday & most definitely not if we had rehearsal mid-week.  I'd say most, if not all, of them miss at least once or twice during the season.  I don't get upset: I instead honor their absence (which they usually tell me about before Sunday), tell them I miss them & know that they'll be back.

 

Did I mention that we work really, really hard but we also have lots of fun?  They love it, love me, and I in turn love them back.  Our music ministry is every bit as important as the other ministries that go on in this church.

 

 

Hope this helps.

Mary Lou, my heart goes out to you because you could be describing my position three years ago.  I have since left that church, but it was a constant struggle to get quality music for the services.  A few things that made it more bearable:

I gave up on weeknight rehearsals for choir.  No one was coming, and I was driving an hour to get to the church and direct no one, so it was a waste of time.  We instead had a weekly half-hour rehearsal before the service.  Honestly, it was easier for me to have music ready that could either be done in several parts or just two part/unison, and then figure out who was doing what the morning of, based on who I had.

 

When I wanted a children's choir, I coordinated with the Sunday School teachers and just taught a song during their Sunday School opening for a few weeks.  This worked particularly well for our Palm Sunday processional.

 

I tried getting youth interested in a praise team, but none of them wanted to commit to coming to the service, even when I told them that they didn't have to show up every week.  At my current church, I have about 3 kids who sing with me, off and on, and 1 who is a consistent presence.  All of the rest of my team members are adults.  None of them do instrumental, so we're stuck with just piano and canned drums from the keyboard.

 

Good luck!  It sounds like you're trying to do all the right things, and please know you are FAR from being alone.

 

Are there some local confident singers who read well...college students...high school seniors....well-schooled community choir members...who might "Adopt " your choir for a Sunday..or a time-period....?  I did this when I had a very small, unconfident,  group (in addition to giving mini-lessons for each member).  I emphasized that these "guest" singers (we never called them "ringers", for obvious reasons) were not there to supplement the skills of the regular members, but to show them how confidently they could sing with continued effort.  It worked!  It wasn't a night-to-day difference, but the regular members did sing much more confidently after the others left.  We used the ["ringer"-led] same piece for Homecoming [without the ringers] ..Kirby Shaw's "Plenty Good Room" (.."for all in the choir...church..") and it was effective.

Mary Lou:  I think that one of the biggest factors that contributes to choir growth is if new folks are invited to join by current choir members.  Actually I think an invitation from a current choir member may even be more effective than an invitation from the director.  it must be a direct invitation, not a notice on the wall or in the newsletter.  I have 2 groups that do music weekly in worship at my church: a contemporary choir that includes instrumentalists, and a traditional choir.  I have noticed that the members of the contemporary choir are much more aggressive about inviting new folks to join us, and as such we have gained several new singers in the past year.  The new members I have gained in my traditional choir have mostly come from my own personal invitations to folks, but I definately see that my traditional choir members are more passive about invitations, and a few of them are a little more leery of newcomers.

 

Hope that helps!!!  Julie.  

This is a similar situation to my suburban Episcopal parish.  We had one really good year, and then a few members moved away so we now have 1-4 individuals participating in the "choir."  I use the quotes, because I made the decision to suspend choir rehearsals until attendance/interest improves.  I have an extra unlucky position in that in addition to being organist and choir director, I am also treasurer so usually when I speak few listen.  LOL  I simply realize that in small churches these things happen in cycles, and when the time is right the interest will increase again and we will work back into a routine with choir.  The important thing is not to stress over what you cannot control.  Once you realize that, the weekly disappointments over who did or did not show up will end, and you will enjoy your position much more.  And if it so happens that interest in the choir does not improve, I redirect my efforts to improving congregational singing as a whole, and life is good anyway.  Good luck!

Jason

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Essex

I was curious as to the demonimation. My other curiosity is the loaction, what state and it is city, suburban or rural?