Comments on: Pay On Stage Or Free To See?

By: Matt Parsons

Matt Parsons — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 02:56:27 +0000

I think that getting paid/not getting paid shouldn’t be a deciding factor in whether or not a person would serve in ministry. A servant is a slave as Paul would say…and slave to Christ. He owes us nothing for our talent or our time…no matter how good we are. Do I think that paying musicians is wrong…absolutely not! I just think that people (unless you are a full time worship leader/pastor) that REQUIRE a paycheck for their “services” are not motivated by worship, but by their wallet. Worship in itself is a sacrifice…an offering…one where we give back to God and honor him. We are deserving of nothing (including a paycheck)…it is a privilege and an honor to serve in a ministry. Getting paid to play is merely a BENEFIT of a financially blessed church…not an ENTITLEMENT to talented musicians and singers.

By: jhoke

jhoke — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 07:57:47 +0000

if you are a good enough worship leader or musician and if you are patient and also wise about the direction g-d is leading you, you will one day get paid.

By: Dan Bailey

Dan Bailey — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 04:41:05 +0000

I play professionally, full time. I play for several artists, and occasionally play church services.

I play at the church I attend. We have 6 services a weekend, and a tuesday night rehearsal. I live 45 minutes away. The total time commitment to play there, is somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 hours a week including drive time. The services are broadcast, so music has to be very high quality. There’s a lot of sight-reading, as well as play off the top of your head – follow the leader type stuff. Its not really a situation that people who aren’t highly skilled can thrive in.

I completely understand the issue though. There are many weeks, I’ll be home, but not playing, and my wife and I still attend the church.

If the church needed a plumber, they hire a plumber. If the church needs an landscaper, it hires one. If the church has a high-demand musical situation, then its perfectly legitimate to employ someone who’s put in the time and hours honing their craft the way anyone with a 9 to 5 does.

That said, over all of this, there’s a moral obligation and seriousness that needs to be taken just as anyone who would get on a stage in a religious institution. It says in scripture that people in a position in front of people in a body should take it very seriously. Its an honor to work with my friends to edify my congregation through music. I don’t take it lightly, and it hurts my heart when people don’t give it its proper weight.

All that said, even in old testament times, the “church” employed musicians. Its not a new phenomena.

There are times where a professional is the right fit for a job. As a full time player, I have to black out days on my schedule to serve, and like Carlos said, I’ve got a wife, a kid and a mortgage.

In some small cases, in southern california, I see guys who only play church services. No job, no gig with an artist, just churches. That’s strangely troubling to me. Its easy to get burnt out, and not give it its just due, if you’re there all the time. Time away makes you appriciate worship with your home congregation.

Dan

By: Stooplover

Stooplover — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 08:32:11 +0000

I like both sides. But where is the line drawn I think is the tough question that has to be asked. Do we pay the guy on stage but not the sound tech? Do we ask for volunteers to set up and take down church, the transient type churches, but pay a youth leader to chat with kids who are milling around not helping clean up? Do we just pay the lead guy/gal? So the children’s director is paid but not her volunteers. The youth pastor is paid but not the sunday school leader? If all these are true I guess an Assistant Pastor isn’t paid either. Or maybe if you have to ask how expensive something is, you should be asking, and thus leave it up to each church and what they feel is needed.

Los, I do have a slight issue with an artist being paid to worship at church. Not like the special music of Shaun Groves or another visiting talent but those who do it day in and day out as a part of the church band. My problem comes with this scenario only when that talent is making good money in the music field outside the church, for I think we are told to take care of each other. There are times, my payment to you is moving your furniture from your house to storage so you can move to the new home in ATL. Sometimes its a regular paycheck from my tithe.

By: Brandi

Brandi — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 03:28:52 +0000

I must be missing something because after reading the comments above it sounds like some church use people to lead worship who aren’t even saved. I always thought worship leaders were supposed to usher in the presence of God and praise Him for who He is. How would you do that if you don’t believe in Him?

By: Some Things To Think About

Some Things To Think About — Mon, 31 May 2010 12:56:50 +0000

[...] Pay On Stage Or Free To See – Ragamuffin Soul: Some questions about whether worship team musicians should be paid or not. [...]

By: JuliaKate

JuliaKate — Fri, 28 May 2010 05:00:52 +0000

i say the pastor should sell his jag, get a prius, and pay some of his most creative volunteers.
That is all;)

By: JuliaKate

JuliaKate — Fri, 28 May 2010 04:47:27 +0000

so… do you believe in paying pastors? just curious, since all of your questions could be asked in that scenario also.

By: JuliaKate

JuliaKate — Fri, 28 May 2010 04:38:11 +0000

i grew up being taught that musicians who had their heart “in the right place” didn’t need to be paid to play in church… but then i dated a contracted sound tech/recording engineer and this secret underworld of paid church musicians was suddenly smack dab in my face. all of a sudden it made sense. then again, i was the worship leader for the young adults/alternative service… i did it as a volunteer & so did my pool of musicians & singers. i’d say that i put about 10+ hours a week overseeing the team (practices, scheduling, set-lists, discipleship, follow-up, leader meetings, etc.). i didn’t have an issue with doing it for free, because we all did it for free. but i also sang for the “main” service (team of 5 per week type of thing)and here’s where i began to see the light. we worked hard as singers, very hard. constant new material, regular accompaniment with monthly guests BeBe Winans & Israel Houghton, and pressure to be tip top at all times. there was a tv show, regular recordings, & pastoral critique… all that to say, it was A LOT of work. All of the musicians were paid, none of the singers were (except the worship leader). there in lies the conflict.
tit for tat… granted every situation is different, but in this one, i just didn’t get it. i have a good job, so i was fine financially, but i still didn’t get it.
that’s all;)

By: rodge

rodge — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:14:28 +0000

I’ve been thinking more on this. …

The Church is not great at worship. Period. The preaching is for us (we pay the preacher), the building is for us (we pay the builders) , the food and coffee is for us (we pay for food and coffee), the conferences and books are for us (we pay for them). The worship is for God (so we don’t pay). The Church really don’t spend big in this area.

Coincidentally, tithing is an act of worship (it’s not for us) and the vast majority Church gives nothing at all, statistically.

If you want to know what a man values, see where he spends his money. We worship with our money.