St Paul's Cathedral: Precentor Job Description FINAL October 2018
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St Paul’s Cathedral: Precentor Job Description FINAL October 2018 The Crown and the Bishop of London are looking to appoint a Precentor for St Paul’s Cathedral. Chapter is seeking a Precentor with vision and enthusiasm, who will help us to keep the very high standard of worship and welcome we have at St Paul’s while developing more diversity in worship; who will become an integral part of the team here; who will bring new insights and encouragements to us as we seek to share the love of God in Christ with the diverse people of the Diocese of London and beyond. ‘Subject to the overall responsibility of the Dean, the Precentor shall exercise on behalf of Chapter a general responsibility for the liturgical and musical life of the Cathedral.’ (St Paul’s Cathedral Statutes) We are prayerfully looking for a colleague who will have a key role in enabling St Paul’s to engage with the spiritual and evangelistic part it has to play as a centre of worship, including the mission which flows from that, discerning how the Gospel of Jesus Christ impacts on London and beyond, and helping to deliver change for cathedral and city. This includes the ways in which the Cathedral relates to its diocese; being a resource to the Diocese of London in worship, music and prayer is part of the work which the Precentor needs to foster. St Paul’s is a vibrant, exciting, complex and demanding place. Sometimes it feels amazing, and sometimes it feels overwhelming – and it’s a place of opportunity for a Precentor with imagination and flair. We want our Precentor to help us to express our living faith in Jesus Christ in prayer and worship, so it will inspire, challenge and enliven us – Chapter, staff, volunteers, worshippers and visitors – in the Cathedral and beyond, allowing God’s presence to touch and transform us as individuals, as a community and into the city and world around us. Our worship should relate to our social justice agenda, and the Precentor will need a vision for this. We need someone who can hold others’ anxieties as well as their own; someone who will bring creative thinking, not only for liturgy but for all the issues we face; someone who can work with colleagues to relate our worship to the lives and concerns of diverse people in this city and from across the globe. You’ll know what it is to work in a team, and enjoy it, engaging with colleagues across and beyond the Cathedral and with many different stakeholders. You will be here to enrich others, not to do your own thing, and will work with prayer and patience, with humour and love. And you will work with able clergy colleagues and senior lay leaders, with 200 staff and 400 volunteers, growing and leading the Cathedral’s worship and its ability to be a safe and welcoming space for all. There are 1500 regular services and over 100 special services a year at the Cathedral, as well as services and events which mark the natural rhythm of the Christian year, and a busy schedule of concerts and recitals, which all have to be held together with many other calls on the Cathedral’s diary. The Precentor leads the planning and delivery of these in partnership with the Succentor, the Sacrist, the Dean’s Virger and the Music Department. The Precentor’s oversight on behalf of Chapter for liturgy and music in the Cathedral entails working closely with the Dean, Residentiary Canons, Succentor, Sacrist, Director of Music, organists and virgers. There are 12 Vicars Choral and over 200 deputy singers, together with about 26 choristers and 6 probationers. The Precentor is the point of reference on Chapter for cathedral staff in all matters that relate to liturgy and worship. 1 In 2015, the way in which the Liturgical Office operated was changed to make the Precentor the lead liturgist in a team of three liturgists. Although the Dean is ultimately the guardian of the liturgy, this stewardship is deputed on a day to day basis to the Precentor who is effectively the Head of Department of the Liturgical Office and the Succentor and Sacrist report to him or her. The Precentor also line manages the two liturgical administrators although this line management is deputed on a day to day basis to the Sacrist and Succentor respectively. The Precentor convenes a weekly team meeting of the Liturgical Office, the chairing of which rotates around the five members of the team. The Precentor takes a third share of the devising and executing of all liturgy, especially in relation to the special services. As such, the Precentor is a practitioner of the liturgy and also provides a benchmark for the Sacrist and Succentor who may come to the Cathedral with different levels of experience in the liturgical field. Significant national services will usually fall to the Precentor although, on these, he or she will work closely with his or her two colleagues. The Precentor chairs all planning meetings for special services, but may depute this to Succentor or Sacrist (usually the one who is also the liturgist for that particular service). The Precentor also chairs the monthly Worship, Welcome and Events meeting (WWE) which, amongst other liturgical and musical matters, considers all requests which have come into the Cathedral during the preceding month for use of the Cathedral and makes recommendations for acceptance or otherwise to the Chapter. The Precentor chairs annual planning meetings for Advent and Christmas and for Lent, Holy Week and Easter, and also ensures that wash up meetings for both periods are held with WWE and with the monthly gathering of all clergy. The Sacrist, Succentor and the current Chaplain officiate (sing) at most services of Choral Evensong although the Precentor also officiates from time to time, not least when singing colleagues are on leave. The Precentor also takes a share of Saturday weddings and baptisms. Bearing this in mind, the Precentor has four particular areas of responsibility: 1. Head of the Liturgy Department This entails managing the Liturgical Office, including the work of the Succentor and Sacrist who report to the Precentor, the two Liturgical Administrators (one of whom also acts as the Precentor’s PA), and the print room assistant. This will include arranging liturgists for special services, making sure that there is proper management and oversight (pastoral as well as managerial) of volunteer groups engaged in worship and events: servers, Wandsmen, bellringers, flower arrangers and broderers – and good liaison with the Chaplain regarding daily duty priests, and her role in participating in liturgical delivery including weddings and baptisms (the Chaplain reports overall to the Pastor). The Precentor also manages external relationships with the BBC and other broadcasters and media which interface with liturgy and music, and with Buckingham Palace and the Central Chancery, and other external partners, together with colleagues as appropriate. The Precentor manages the department’s budget, and like other Heads of Department reports to the Registrar who provides management support and co-ordinates budgets with the Chief Financial Officer. 2. Oversight of the Music Department The Director of Music manages the Music Department, reporting to the Registrar, and the Precentor leads music and liturgy jointly with him and has oversight of these areas on behalf of Chapter. This includes working with the Director of Music to ensure that programmes for worship, concerts and events are consistent with the mission, values and policies of the Cathedral. 2 3. Oversight of the Cathedral floor and diary Because of the complexity of what happens inside St Paul’s, there is a strong diary management function. The Precentor chairs the Worship, Welcome and Events group that meets generally monthly and brings together requests for events of all kinds, making recommendations through Chapter about whether to accept them and when, in line with Chapter’s current policies. The Precentor exercises oversight of the Virgers’ Department and its work, which is managed by the Dean’s Virger who reports to the Registrar, and meets once a fortnight with the Sacrist and the Dean's Virger to maintain a consistent and collaborative approach between the creation of Liturgy and its delivery on the Floor. The Precentor also supports the integration of welcome and work on the Cathedral floor in partnership with the Director of Visitor Services and relevant volunteer groups. 4. Safeguarding Lead With responsibility for oversight of choristers, which is shared with the Succentor and Director of Music, the Precentor’s role includes being both Safeguarding Lead for Chapter, and Vice-Chair of the devolved School Governing Body and its Safeguarding Lead. In the Cathedral, the Registrar is the Safeguarding Officer, and Chapter has both an Independent Chair of its Safeguarding Advisory Group and a part-time Safeguarding Officer; in the School the Deputy Head is the Designated Safeguarding Officer. The Precentor is expected to maintain a close working relationship with the Headmaster, Deputy Head and Bursar, and to keep in touch with any issues around choristers and boarding. The Chaplain has day to day pastoral care for the school community under the supervision of the Pastor. In undertaking these responsibilities you will need to have regard to the requirement to act in different roles, in particular: 1. As an ordained or lay Residentiary Canon The full-time residentiaries meet together regularly and with the full-time associate clergy, as well as with Chapter and other colleagues. Commitment to daily worship together is essential, as it is the heart of the life of the Cathedral and its Chapter; we support one another when having agreed time off, or when external work commitments require being elsewhere.