The Starving Church Musician

It’s challenging for professional musicians. Very few of us are able to make a decent living in Gospel music. Very few churches are willing to pay the kind of salary that allows you to be focused on that one ministry. As a result, you have to take on multiple responsibilities – often you end up playing for more than one church as well as in the band for a few groups, choirs or artists. This way, you can make the ends meet.

It is always interesting how many people say, “you should just give your gift to God as an offering – and not do it for the money.” My response is this… the next time your automobile needs repair, take it to a Christian auto mechanic that attends your church and ask him/her to repair your car with his/her tools and not do it for the money… just use their gift to bless you. What do you think they’d say?

Does everyone that picks up an instrument to play at church need to be paid? I don’t believe that they do. But the people that do more than come to a rehearsal and play in one or two services on the weekend… the people that put lots of time and effort in planning the music for the services… the people that develop the music ministry… the people that train and mentor the younger musicians in the church and cultivate their gifts and talents… the musicians that invest 2-3 hours per week in preparation, 6-10 hours per week in rehearsals, and 5-8 hours per week playing in church services… those kind of musicians should be compensated. That’s what I believe. Those are more hours than most of the other volunteers who serve in ministry at the church. These persons who take their gifts and use them to bless the people that congregate at a church for worship shouldn’t be ignored.

Besides… doesn’t scripture teach that you shouldn’t muzzle the ox that treads the corn? Trust me when I say… the music ministry does a lot of treading – every Sunday.

Enough for now… more to come next week.