Here’s a grim truth: what you so happily or painfully learned in music school may have little or nothing in common with the repertoire of the community you now serve. If you simply impose your own taste and ignore theirs, that’s arrogance, not musicianship.

Especially if you’re new to the community, sit down soon with a few old-timers—choir members and members of the community—and go through the main resource (hymnal, missal, whatever) song by song. What do they know solidly? What do they love? What do they hate? What are their “Greatest Hits”? Write it all down. A computer spreadsheet is handy, but an old-fashioned card file works, too. Look over the list, sort the titles out into areas of liturgical use. You should start to see similarities of genre and style. Chant titles may be rare or missing because these people don’t like chant. Hymns may be beloved standards—or perceived as old-fashioned and out of touch. 

Once you know what their repertoire is, you will also start spotting gaps. Don’t rush to fill them; take your time and slowly introduce music that’s new to the community—not more than one new song per month. Maybe every other month. Choose something similar in structure and style to what they already know, so that they will feel comfortable; and repeat it often enough that it sinks in. Always, always, take a little time before Mass to go over a new hymn or piece of service music. Introduce it with one or two voices in unison, not the full choir—not until the people are comfortable with their part.

You may also have spotted a lot of deadwood in the repertoire list—silly theology, poor text, dippy melodies, that sort of thing. You may have to smile and bear it for a while until you have something decent to replace it with. The new one must be something that the people like, or they won’t participate. And if you don’t facilitate their full, conscious, active participation, you’re not being pastoral.