Dear Naomi: Many denominations do make the distinction between "offering" and "performing" and this poses many challenges for church musicians (organist-choirmasters, choir directors, organists, paid and volunteer soloists)! I've always felt that the "offering" never can truly happen without "performance"! Most church musicians are pretty liberal on the subject of paid soloist-section leaders, but many congregations, sadly, are back in the dark ages when it comes to this. Very tricky! I have seen musicians who have permanently lost their paid positions thru the selection/employment of the wrong soloist or soloists. I took a position a number of years and the church was a "church of ill repute". Their reputation preceded them. They had mistreated so many musicians that few people of quality wanted anything to do with them. The section leaders were never "good enough" in that place! I spent many hours each week dealing with these four people and replacing the ones who dropped out! (A volunteer who paid their salary and half of mine ran them off as quickly as I could recruit them and thought she had a trained soprano voice! The former Dean of the American Guild of Organists informed the entire chapter of this once I left the position!) Ed
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