Wow...been a LONG time since anything has been added to this thread. We got a new priest 3 years ago. Prior to his coming, the previous priest had increased my pay rate to $75 / service, so I'd say that happened approximately 5-6 years ago by now. Perhaps longer. I lost the paper on which I recorded all the incremental increases over the years - some of which are mentioned during this thread. I think the final jump went from $65 to $75. Took me 24 years to get there (from the original $30 as mentioned when I started this thread). All that said, it's no secret that we've had significant inflation here in the US following the pandemic. The $75 has not changed. I don't think the new priest has much interest in changing it, although I've never brought it up. He's somewhat less approachable in some ways. Generally, most emails I send with concerns go completely unaddressed, but then the same is generally true for those that I send my choir director and his wife - who are both rather poor excuses for directors. No musical talent or training whatsoever, and yet the husband is the "parish music director" despite paying no attention whatsoever to any other musical group in the parish except the very small adult choir that he and his wife are directly responsible for. They sing at the 10:45 Sunday service, which is the one I've always played for. The other, earlier service, is done by a guitar group that has their own director. The directors of both groups don't like each other much, so there's never any collaboration of any kind. I direct the children's choir - which sings for Easter and Christmas - and the parish director has no real interest in that group either. So we're a bit of a dysfunctional music ministry.
This new priest, however, has said he "wants a bigger choir" and to accomplish it indicated that he wanted to hire a full-time organist / director (I only play for the adults - otherwise have nothing to do with them). This latter inclination was because the husband / wife team indicated - to him - that they were going to step down. YEA! In some ways I was really ready for that. That was 2 years ago already, and nothing has happened with regards to pursuing a new person except for some guy interviewing and our priest having told me that he "wanted too much money". I have my own thoughts on that one. I have no doubt what was offered was laughable.
So, long story short (well, not really, sorry!), the $75 still remains. No change at all the past 3 years AND the usual thank you note in an envelope with some money (for Easter) has apparently been eliminated also! For all the time I spend with the children's choir preparing 30 minutes of prelude music, I think it's pretty poor to not show greater appreciation beyond the verbal. The previous priest was quite generous in that regard. This guy's sort of a penny-pincher it would seem, and doesn't need to be. We're rolling in money, although I see about $4k of it per year. We get more than that for the average Sunday collection!
I must admit that at this point, as much as I love to play still, in many ways I'm just ready to move beyond all this. It's so much emotional baggage although most times I can simply push it aside. What makes it tough is that it's my home parish and so even if I wouldn't be playing, my wife and I would attend Mass anyway.
One final....I was approached by the new priest last year or so as to MY interest in taking over the whole shebang, but I really wasn't interested, and truthfully still aren't. Foregone conclusion that the husband / wife team would have little joy in singing under my direction anyway, since we don't fully agree on lots of issues. I feel like the majority of my observations and suggestions have been ignored basically the entire 24 years I've been playing. That's the worst part over the years, feeling like I have no voice or say in what goes on. Time to pack it in? I really don't want a full-time contract where I'm locked into playing all but a few Sundays a year. That's what has kept me going here. My wife and I have traveled frequently, and so I can come and go as I please. They usually have been able to find someone to cover, or else of late I'm being asked to record the music on the organ's flash drive system.
Guess that's enough for now. You get the picture.
