Several years ago, I lived in Boston and attended the Cambridge 2nd Ward. Our weekly services were held in an unusual building: a renovated factory that once housed the Kendall Boiler and Tank Company. I remember looking up during sacrament meetings and seeing old mechanical equipment still hanging from the rafters. Not only was it an unusual place to meet, the Cambridge 2nd Ward was an unusual ward.
Most of the ward members were students at Harvard, MIT, or other area universities. Many were busy balancing the demands of intense educational programs with the challenges of raising a young family. As the ward choir director, I found it difficult to organize a ward choir.
For many members, it took 20-30 minutes to travel to the building and few were eager to arrive early with clamoring kids in tow or to stay late when lunch and naps were the priority. I learned quickly that I needed to customize our music efforts to match our ward situation.
I found success in scheduling rehearsals at a time well before church that allowed members to attend and return home before having to go to church. In addition, we met for rehearsals in a different location more central to the majority of members. I kept the musical selections simple to reduce the need for frequent and extensive rehearsals. These simple modifications made the ward choir experience much more appealing for members and helped us to provide a meaningful musical contribution to our ward's worship.
Your ward may be similar. I encourage you to consider ways in which you might need to customize your approach to fit an appropriate music program to your ward.
Photo Reference: "Kendall Boiler and Tank Company building" by Tim Pierce - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
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