Music Newsletter: Music Director Selection Process

What an exciting last two weekends we’ve had! Thank you all for being a part of welcoming and greeting and singing with our two music director candidates, Benjamin and Emily. We’ve waited a long time to have a non-interim music director, and it really hit me during these visits what a huge moment this hire represents for our community.  
 
We are so lucky that we had such strong candidates that this decision will not be an easy one. The search team and I will be weighing a number of factors as we move towards our selection and employment offer, which we intend to make by the end of the week. Because you may be curious, I wanted to let you know how we will be moving through this discernment process. 
 
To start, we will be returning to the job description and the visioning process that the congregation participated in over the fall. This is important because we want to ground ourselves in the specific needs and dreams we hold together. This decision is ultimately about finding the right fit for Foothills and our needs now and into the future.  
 
As we consider the question of fit, we will be reviewing the feedback we received from the choir, from the staff, from many of you, and from our own interactions and reflections about each candidate. We will consider our interviews and the references and our sense of how each person will fit in our overall staff team, volunteers, the wider Fort Collins music community, and our congregation as a whole. 
 
As soon as our candidate accepts our offer, we will share the news with our congregation! We are currently planning for the new music director to start in August with plenty of time to be ready for a full return to two services and a choir schedule by September.  
 
Please let me know if you have any questions, and thank you again for your support in making this wonderful moment possible for Foothills!
 
In partnership, 
 
Rev. Gretchen Haley