Music Director

Pres House (www.preshouse.org) seeks to be a spiritual home at the heart of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. In keeping with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Christian tradition of hospitality, Pres House is dedicated to providing a religious center and purposeful student housing to promote the spiritual, emotional, and intellectual growth of residents and members of the campus community. Pres House is a ministry of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. and welcomes individuals of every perspective and background.

Pres House has three primary departments:

1. Pres House Campus Church – a worshiping community primarily serving undergraduate and graduate students at UW-Madison. Founded in 1907, with the current iteration established in 2004.
2. Pres House Apartments – an apartment community serving students and other residents with purposeful living in the heart of the UW Madison campus. Established in 2007.
3. Candid – a wellness program serving students at UW Madison that fosters connections, activities, and conversations that are relevant, relatable, and raw. Established in 2020.

A central component of the Pres House Campus Church is Sunday Worship gatherings (4:30 pm) and other special worship services. These worship experiences include music, preaching, weekly communion, prayer, and other creative religious elements. In our worship, we strive to welcome people who would not normally attend church and provide a warm space in which people will feel free to “bring all of who they are.” We avoid assuming people know what to do in worship and carefully seek to create a worship culture that does not demand conformity before people feel welcome. We seek to be creative in worship, incorporating ancient traditions as well as trying new ways of worshiping including participatory elements and other spiritual practices. We seek to engage the community in active participation in all elements of worship.

We incorporate a wide variety of music (contemporary, hymns, world, student-written, choral, etc.) into worship. The worshiping community at Pres House appreciates both “traditional” and “contemporary” worship and we hope to include all kinds of music into worship while understanding that one type may take precedence over another depending on the background and experience of those who are leading. There is a lot of opportunity to experiment and be creative in worship while also maintaining a high level of quality.

The Music Director is an integral leader in the success of the worshiping community. The person in this role reports to, is supervised by, and works closely with the Associate Pastor for Campus Ministry. This position is located in Madison, Wisconsin and requires 10-15 hours/week during the school year (mid-August to mid-May), on-site, work presence at Pres House.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Music Director will provide leadership and coordination in the following areas under the direction of the Associate Pastor for Campus Ministry.

Music & Worship Leadership

• Lead and coordinate musical activities during Sunday Worship, special worship services (e.g. Holy Week), and special events as planned including set-up, rehearsal, and clean-up
• Music Team: Recruit, train, build relationships with, and support volunteer musicians and encourage them to exercise musical leadership and share their gifts
• Prepare for and lead regular weekly music rehearsals with students and other volunteer musicians and vocalists
• Continually recruit, develop, and maintain Music Team so there is a rotation of volunteer musicians to lead musical worship for services
• Suggest new songs for worship
• Coordinate team of people to run AV and record sermons during worship services
• Coordinate worship space, elements, and set up for all worship services (banners, liturgical materials, sacraments, etc.)
• Prepare worship bulletins for Sunday and special services
• Prepare slides for worship and ensure accuracy of song lyrics, scripture, announcements
• Miscellaneous music/worship-related support including managing Pres House music library; ensuring Pres House is complying with copyright laws, maintaining music-related resources, supplies, and equipment, coordinating the tuning and maintenance of organ, pianos and other instruments, recommending the purchasing of new music, equipment or supplies as needed, etc.

Other Responsibilities

• Participate in weekly staff meetings
• Weekly supervision meetings with Associate Pastor for Campus Ministry
• Engage in practices that will help expand and grow self and students in worship ministry

CORE COMPETENCIES
All Pres House staff are expected to demonstrate the following core competencies:

• MISSION OWNERSHIP: Demonstrates understanding and full support of the mission, vision, and values of Pres House. Actively works to support the direction set by Pres House Board and leadership.
• INTERPERSONAL SKILLS: Demonstrates skills of active listening and openly accepts feedback. Productively engages and resolves interpersonal conflict. Holds others accountable in a spirit of love and maintains healthy boundaries. Engages people positively, with a demeanor of optimism and abundance.
• COOPERATION/TEAMWORK: Works harmoniously with others to get a job done; responds positively to instructions and procedures; able to work well with staff and volunteers; shares critical information with everyone involved in a project; works effectively on projects that cross functional lines; helps to set a tone of cooperation between others; coordinates own work with others; seeks opinions; when appropriate facilitates discussion before decision-making process is complete.
• COMMUNICATION WITH INTEGRITY: Communicates directly and appropriately with staff, volunteers, and community members; refrains from participating in gossip or inappropriate conversations about other staff, volunteers, and community members. Able to handle sensitive information appropriately whether concerning community members or the organization. Retains confidentiality and facilitates safe handling of information with others.
• RELIABILITY: Acts in a personally responsible manner; completes work in a timely, consistent manner; works hours necessary to complete assigned work; is regularly present and timely; arrives prepared for work; is committed to doing the best job possible; keeps commitments.
• FLEXIBILITY: Remains open-minded and changes opinions on the basis of new information; performs a wide variety of tasks and changes focus quickly as demands change; manages transitions from task to task effectively; adapts to varying organizational needs.
• QUANTITY OF WORK: Produces an appropriate quantity of work; does not get bogged down in unnecessary detail; able to manage multiple projects; able to determine project urgency and prioritize in a meaningful and practical way; organizes and schedules people and tasks.
• QUALITY OF WORK: Produces excellent and high quality work, seeking to provide the best possible outcome for the ministry at Pres House
• PROBLEM SOLVING: Anticipates problems; sees how a problem and its solution will affect the ministry and organization of Pres House; gathers information before making decisions; weighs alternatives against objectives and arrives at reasonable decisions; adapts well to changing priorities, deadlines and directions; works to eliminate all processes which do not add value; is willing to take action, even under pressure, criticism or tight deadlines; takes informed risks; recognizes and accurately evaluates the signs of a problem; analyzes current procedures for possible improvements; notifies supervisor of problems in a timely manner.

QUALITIES, SKILLS, & EXPERIENCE

Pres House is a dynamic organization with a highly functioning staff team. The ideal candidate will:

• Have a vibrant Christian faith
• Have a high level of musical proficiency, including reading music, the ability to incorporate a variety of instrumentation, and ensemble experience
• Be musically gifted and conversant with a variety of musical styles in worship
• Be a friendly person who loves to spend time with university students and provides a welcoming and compassionate presence in the community
• Have strong facilitation skills with teams of musicians, especially students
• Have creative vision and leadership in worship

COMPENSATION

• $28-32/hour, commensurate with experience
• Continuing education time off and $1000 of continuing education funds every two years
• Paid downtown parking while working