Organist at Varde Church - 30 hours

Organist at Varde Church

30 hours per week · starting 1 January 2027

The organs

St. Jacobi Church has two organs, and they are very different.

The main organ was built by Marcussen & Søn in 1952. It has 34 stops distributed over three manuals and pedal. The organ belongs to the organ movement and has the Danish and North German organs from the 1600s as models, and it is regarded as one of Marcussen's most successful instruments. The façade was designed by architect Rolf Graae. Many organists from home and abroad have visited the church over the years to play it. In 2027 we can celebrate the organ's 75th anniversary.

The Ohrt organ stands on the pulpit in the northern transept. It was built for the church in 1857, but moved to Guldager Church in 1905 and later to Esbjerg Museum. After a restoration at Marcussen & Søn, it was reinstalled in St. Jacobi in 2008. The organ has nine stops, one manual and an accessory pedal, and is the only fully preserved organ from Johann Andreas Ohrts workshop in Gram.

Also the chapels have Marcussen organs. The organ in Østerlund Kirke Sal is from 1981 and has four stops and an auxiliary pedal, and the organ in Arnbjerg Chapel is from 1978 and has five stops and pedal.

We hope to find an organist who will bring the organs to their rightful use and enjoy playing them.

The position

You will share the service with the parish's full-time organist. You play for the high mass and services on average every other weekend. Funerals, burials, other services and church ceremonies are divided between you. In addition, you play for baby song, adult song day and music services and for church services at nursing homes in the parish. You are joint hosts at the church's concerts, and time is set aside for you to give organ concerts during the year.

You will work independently and have good opportunities to influence the music in the church. We hold a calendar meeting in the Church House once a week, and your immediate supervisor is the day-to-day manager.

Monday is as a rule a fixed day off. The second weekly day off is agreed every quarter.

The Parish

Varde Parish has one church, the medieval St. Jacobi Church by the square, and two chapels, Østerlund Kirke Sal and Arnbjerg Chapel. Services and events are held at all three places. In the church tower hangs a carillon with 42 bells.

We are a staff group that helps each other and gladly lends a hand across professional groups. The most important thing for us is that people who come to the church are welcomed warmly, whether they come for a service, baptism, concert or funeral.

Your role We are seeking an organist who will manage the church's music with professional quality at all church events.

You play at Sunday morning mass, for church year holidays and for baptisms, weddings and funerals. You know that music has a special significance at church ceremonies and must be adapted to the individual occasion. This is especially true for funerals and burials.

You have a good and approachable contact with both parishioners and relatives.

If you also have competencies within rhythmic music, for example chord arrangement and accompaniment, that would be an advantage.

You work independently and with a sense of responsibility and are happy to collaborate with the priest, church singer and the church's other employees.

Salary and employment terms

Employment of a church musician will be covered by the Collective Agreement between the Ministry of Finance and CO10 and the framework agreement between the City, the National and the Church Ministry and CO10 – Central Organization of 2010 for church functionaries with core tasks such as parish clerk, church and cultural worker or church musician and the corresponding protocol for church musicians.

The employment of a organist with a degree as “Church musician with Organ and Choir Direction” or an organist with PO-exam is covered by the Agreement between the City, the National and the Church Ministry and CO10 – Central Organization of 2010.

Organists with a church music master's or bachelor's degree are covered by the protocol to the academic collective agreement regarding the contractual employment of DOKS organists and fixed teachers at church music schools entered into between the Academics and the City, the National and the Church Ministry.

The agreements can be viewed on the Danish Church Intranet

Current civil servant organists have the right to retain their civil servant status when employed with a direct transition. In that case, the job must be classified.

The annual salary for a church musician is negotiated within the range of 333,748 DKK – 475,590 DKK (current Danish kroner). There is a availability obligation to the position. The on-call allowance amounts to 27,641 DKK (current Danish kroner) per year.

OK allowance of 1,082 DKK (current Danish kroner).

An agreement on placement in the salary range is concluded between the parish council and the Danish Church Musician Association before employment.

The annual salary for applicants with a church music master's degree (DOKS) is negotiated according to the new pay AC scale. That is a gross salary between 363,169 DKK – 442,529 DKK per year (current Danish kroner).

There is an availability obligation to the position. The on-call allowance amounts to 46,727 DKK – 72,573 DKK per year (current Danish kroner). Placement and on-call allowance are given according to seniority. In addition, a qualification and function allowance may be given after local negotiation.

The annual salary for applicants with a church musician with education in organ and choral direction (formerly PO-organists) is negotiated according to the agreed basic pay scale. Basic pay scale step 1 is 350,435 DKK per year (current Danish kroner) and basic pay scale step 2 is 368,189 DKK per year (current Danish kroner). Placement is based on seniority.

There is an availability obligation to the position. The on-call allowance amounts to 29,666 DKK (current Danish kroner) per year for service at 1 church.

Salaries, OK allowances and on-call allowances are quotaed according to the position's employment fraction (30/37).

• We will request references.
• Probation 3 months
• In accordance with applicable law, a child protection assessment will be obtained.

About the application

A audition and interviews will be held by appointment on Monday and Tuesday in week 44

If you have questions about the position, you are welcome to call the day-to-day manager Kristian Nøhr at tel. 24 47 15 73 or organist Anders Sørensen Uth at tel. 25 21 47 23.

Send your application with relevant attachments to [email protected], so that we have it no later than Monday 19 October at 13.00.

Important dates

Created: 1 Oct 2026

Application deadline: 19 Oct 2026

Contact person

Kristian Nøhr

Main number: 24471573

Email: [email protected]

Employer

Varde Church c/o Varde Parish Council

Vestervold 2F

6800 Varde