The“STP” Treatment

Ever wonder why church choirs, or any kind of ensemble seem non-committal? Is it that they “are” non-committal, or we, as conductors, have forgotten the “STP” treatment – Share the Plan, as I like to call it.

Think back to our college days when we received a syllabus from the professor stating “when, where and how” for the entire semester. Additionally, major concerts and away events, for two semesters, were supplied at the start of each new academic year. With this in mind, could church choirs benefit from the “STP” treatment?

There are approximately 119 definitions for the acronym “STP.” Now there are 120. Whether in full-time or part-time church positions, everyone needs to Share the Plan. At the least, give our church choirs a schedule of the major music presentations and rehearsals involved for the year; this will increase their commitment level.

Around twenty years ago, I started to Share the Plan, and have never had an instance where a choir member has come to me and said – “I am sorry, but I can’t be there. I wish I had known sooner that we were going to present the Rutter Requiem in two weeks.” Obviously, this is really reaching…nonetheless, it does happen if we do not Share the Plan.

Think about it. Do people really say “yes,” if they do not know why they are saying yes – no, not by any stretch of the imagination. So, why would we expect our church choirs to be any different. Give them the “STP” treatment; you will be glad you did!

This is the first page of schedule sketch. This should give a pretty good start to “STP."