How to Recruit Church Choir Members

If your church choir is dwindling, you may need to recruit new members. In small churches, this can present a challenge to the choir director because your base of quality singers may be smaller. The good news is that many people do have vocal abilities but simply do not know, have not been trained or lack confidence. As the choir director or member in charge of recruitment, your job is to instill confidence, create excitement for choir participation and market, market, market.

Get the word out through the church's communications materials and vehicles. That means writing an announcement of church choir openings, sending out an email to church members, announcing new openings at church events and even posting notices on social networking sites such as Facebook. You cannot recruit members if they don't know they are needed. So be clear, direct and motivating. Let potential members know the details for choir participation. Do they have to be trained vocalists? Probably not. Do they have to try out? Maybe. The more flexible you are with choir participation rules, the more comfortable potential members may feel.

Recruit members personally. One basic rule for recruitment in any field is to recruit those you know well. Do you know members who have great voices but simply are afraid to perform? Go to those people and encourage them. Let them know that your church would benefit from their voices. Ease fears and remind your friends that they will be singing in a group--not solo. According to the CP Layman website, "You need to ask members of your congregation if they know of someone who sits close to them in church and seems to have a good voice. If so, approach that person and explain that her talents could really be used in your music program. Ask her give it a try for a few weeks, and if it doesn't work, you will understand."

Recruit outside of your church. Consider branching out and asking friends who do not attend your church. Make sure that choir members do not also have to be members at your church by asking your pastors. This is a great outreach opportunity to engage neighbors or friends who have beautiful voices.