MARELLIAN CHORAL GUILD

BY-LAWS
Revised 8/21/2014

Purpose
1. The name of this choral guild is Marellian Choral Guild.
2. The names of the choral groups under this Guild are as follows:
2a. St. Anthony of Padua Marellian Choir (St. Anthony of Padua Parish)
2b. With Love And Faith Marellian Choir (Sto. Nino de Praga Parish)
2c. To Love And Serve Marellian Choir (St. John Mary Vianney Parish)
3. The purpose of these bylaws is to help the choral groups succeed in its mission
to sing Gods praises and to lead the parishs members in singing at Mass.
4. These by-laws are public information and are available to anyone in the parish
who may wish to have access to them.
5. This choral guild consists of members, section leaders, choir officers, librarians,
and musical adviser, spiritual and character adviser whose roles and
responsibilities are described in these by-laws.

Musical Adviser
1. The musical adviser is the leader of the choral guild and helps in the decisions
regarding the music performed by the choral groups.
2. Depending on the number of the choral groups (if the choral guild has more
than 3 choral groups), the musical adviser may be assisted by an associate
musical adviser, appointed by the musical adviser.
3. The musical adviser selects the music to be sung by the choir, conducts
rehearsals and directs performances.
4. The musical adviser auditions candidates and instrumentalists and assigns
them to choral groups or sections.
5. The musical adviser appoints the Spiritual & Character Adviser, librarian and
their associates, if any.
6. The musical adviser leads the choir in the mission of singing Gods praises and
cares for each member as Christ cares for his flock.
7. The musical adviser prepares the list of songs for each Mass based on either of
the following guidelines:
7a. Line-Up suggested by the Diocese of Antipolo
7b. Line-Up suggested by the Head of the Music Ministry of the Parish
7c. Scripture Readings of the Mass
and communicates them to the rest of the choir one month in advance, if
possible.
8. If the musical adviser, after praying for spiritual guidance, determines that he or
she is not a good fit for the choral guild, he or she will resign his or her position,
to make room for someone else, for the good of the choral guild.

Spiritual & Character Adviser

9. The Spiritual & Character Adviser supports the musical adviser by exercising
leadership over matters not directly related to music.
10. The Spiritual & Character Adviser is appointed by and takes direction from the
musical adviser.
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 11. The Spiritual & Character Adviser coordinates the decision making process on
matters other than the music performed by the choir.
12. Depending on the number of the choral groups (if the choral guild has more
than 3 choral groups), the Spiritual & Character Adviser may be assisted by an
associate Spiritual and Character Adviser.
13. The Spiritual & Character Adviser may or may not be a singing member of the
choir.
14. If the Spiritual & Character Adviser, after praying for spiritual guidance,
determines that he or she is not a good fit for the choral guild, he or she will
resign his or her position, to make room for someone else, for the good of the
choral guild.

Librarian
15. The librarian manages the musical scores, song books and recording library of
the choral guild.
16. The librarian (if the choral guild has more than 3 choral groups), may be
assisted by an associate librarian.
17. The librarian, and associate librarian, if there is one, is appointed by and takes
direction from the musical and spiritual adviser.
18. The librarian maintains a list of musical scores and other properties of the choir.
19. The librarian keeps the choir directory, containing the list of members and their
contact information.
20. The librarian keeps the official copy of these bylaws.
21. If the librarian, after praying for spiritual guidance, determines that he or she is
not a good fit for the choral guild, he or she will resign his or her position, to
make room for someone else, for the good of the choral guild.

Choir Officers
1. Each Choral Group has a designated Choir President, VP-Internal, VP-External,
Secretary, Treasurer, Auditor, Custodians, and other essential Committees.
2. The members of the choral group elect the Choir President, VP-Internal, VP-
External, Secretary, Treasurer, Auditor, Custodians, and other essential
Committees every two (2) years.
3. The Duties and Responsibilities of the Officers and Committees shall be directed
by the Music and Spiritual Advisers.
4. Members of a Choral Group notify their Choir President or any Officer if they will
be late or absent from a rehearsal or performance.
5. The musical or spiritual adviser communicates decisions or information to the
Officers, who in turn communicate the decisions or information to the members.
6. The Officers work hand in hand in keeping the contact information of the choir
members up-to-date, including telephone number, email address and mailing
address. This information is forwarded to the librarian, who maintains a choir
directory, available to all members of the choral groups.
7. If an officer, after praying for spiritual guidance, determines that he or she is not
a good fit for the choir at the parish, he or she will resign his or her position, to
make room for someone else, for the good of the choir.

Section Leaders
8. Each section of the choir group has a designated section leader.

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 9. The members of the section annually elect the section leader and associate
section leader, if there is one.
10. A section leader must not be an officer of the choir.
11. Depending on the size of a section (if a section has more than 8 members), the
section leader may be assisted by an associate section leader.
12. Members of a section notify their section leader if they will be late or absent from
a rehearsal or performance.
13. The Advisers or President communicates decisions or information to the section
leaders, who in turn communicate the decisions or information to the section
members.
14. Each section leader keeps the contact information of section members up-to-
date, including telephone number, email address and mailing address. This
information is forwarded to the librarian, who maintains a choir directory,
available to all members.
15. If a section leader, after praying for spiritual guidance, determines that he or she
is not a good fit for the choir at this parish, he or she will resign his or her
position to make room for someone else, for the good of the choir.

Members
16. Choir members are baptized Catholics, at twelve (12) years of age, willing to
serve the Lord in the music ministry of the Parish.
17. Before a candidate joins the choir, he or she auditions with the music director,
who decides whether to admit the candidate to the choir and who assigns the
successful candidate to a section of the choir.
18. It is a good idea for the choir to go on a picnic or other team-building activity
once every six months.
19. Once a year, it is a good idea for the choir to have a spiritual retreat, for at least
one day, with a Mass and homily and spiritual talks and discussions, and the
opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Penance.
20. Married persons are welcome in the choir.

Rehearsals
21. It is a good idea to begin and end each rehearsal with a short prayer, giving
thanks to the Lord for the gift of music, offering the choirs singing to the Lord
and asking for blessings on the choirs efforts. The opening prayer is also a good
time to mention any choir members who may be sick or in need of special
prayers.
22. The choir rehearses at least once a week, in preparation for next Sundays Mass
and also to learn new music for future Masses.
23. Rehearsals begin on time when everybody arrives at least five minutes before the
scheduled time, and the seats and the sheet music are prepared in advance.
24. Sections take turns preparing the venue before rehearsal and cleaning up after
rehearsal. This arrangement shares the burden among everybody, so no one in
particular is overburdened.
25. Rehearsals must end on the scheduled time to respect the time commitments
made by the members.
26. Every member is responsible for helping keep his or her seat clean and in order
at the end of rehearsal.

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 27. Every member is responsible for making sure his or her sheet music is put away
in the proper place at the end of rehearsal.
28. During rehearsal, to avoid wasting the groups time, everybody pays attention to
the musical adviser and avoids engaging in conversation with others.
29. If a member has a question, he or she raises a hand before speaking. Once the
director asks the member to speak, everybody listens to the member with
respect.
30. As soon as the introduction to a song is begun to be played by the instruments,
everybody should become silent and listen to the introduction.
31. When the musical adviser or anybody else is speaking, no music instruments
should be played, so that everybody can listen to whoever is speaking with
respect.

Performances and Services

32. It is a good idea to say a short prayer before the choir sings at Mass or at a
concert to remind the members that they sing for the Lord.
33. During Mass, choir members talk to each other only as necessary, regarding the
music for the Mass. No other conversation is conducted.
34. During Mass, choir members maintain a prayerful behavior, giving a good
example to others.
35. A member does not sing at Mass or a concert unless she or he attended the last
rehearsal or has been at least an hour earlier to prepare for that Mass or
concert.
36. A member is required to attend the Saturday rehearsal if the service is
scheduled on the First Mass in the morning.
37. If a member cannot participate in a Mass or concert, for whatever reason, he or
she shows support for the choir by being in the audience during the
performance, if possible.
38. Members come to Mass or a concert in the previously agreed-upon attire for the
performance.
39. Members come to a performance at least one hour before the scheduled time for
performance, to allow for warming up. First Mass Services in an exception.

Changes
40. The purpose of these by-laws is to help the choral guild and the choir groups
succeed in its mission to sing Gods praises and to lead the parishs members in
singing at Mass. If these by-laws are not helping achieve this mission and are an
obstacle to that mission, they should be changed.
41. Any choir member can propose changes to these by-laws by writing down the
proposed change and addressing the proposed change to all the members for
consideration, asking for co-sponsorships.
42. Members who agree with the proposal shall inform the proposal author saying
they wish to be co-sponsors.
43. If a proposal is co-sponsored by at least ten per cent of the total choir
membership, the music director brings up the proposal for discussion and a vote
within the next choir rehearsal.
44. The librarian keeps a record of proposals, including the names of the author and
co-sponsors, and the final status of the proposals.

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45. The librarian updates the by-laws, if there are changes, and emails a copy to
every member.

MARELLIAN CHORAL GUILD

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