Paying musicians in church

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Permalink Reply by Chris Wong on November 26, 2007 at 9:54pm

Derrick, that's an interesting point of debate you bring up. I've been involved in worship at various churches both in paid and non-paid musicians. I see that you have also been involved in worship leading, but I don't know the rest of your musical background. It might be worth mentioning that I actually do music as a profession and I earn my living from musical performance and composition...I won't go into that side of the issue right now, but it might be worth thinking about that there are various calibers of musician involved in worship at different churches. One worship leader I've known played guitar and sang in his spare time as a hobby. Another worship leader I met earned part of his living playing keyboards for Stevie Wonder. So, it's worth thinking about whether that kind of issue affects what should be done at a particular church.

But aside from that, I don't really know if there is a "right" or "wrong" in this...I think it might be possible that in some situations the musicians should be paid and in others its fine for them not to be paid. I find it interesting also that part of your reasoning has to do with the fact that there are many areas in your church that need financial attention. So another way of articulating that issue might be about deciding which roles in church are significant enough that they warrant payment and which ones should be on volunteer basis. For example, maybe one church would decide to pay the pastor and the associate pastors, but not pay the person in charge of homeless ministries. It's interesting also to note that most of us would find it ridiculous to not pay the pastor, but in the earlier parts of the 20th century there were many American churches where it was reasonable to expect the pastor to be serving the church as a volunteer...many of them had other jobs to pay the bills.

I know none of that is really an answer to your question, but I just thought I'd point out some different angles to consider and flush the conversation out a bit. Let me know what you think.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Wong on November 27, 2007 at 4:08pm

Brandon, I am involved in a music ministry at a church in West LA in which the worship director has a paid position because he does the things you mention...coordinate, lead, arrange...it usually takes about 15-20 hrs of his time per week. The rest of the musicians are all volunteers except for me. I am responsible to play piano for one or both services each Sunday, depending on the week, as well as wednesday night rehearsals for the choir...it takes up about 6 hours of my time per week. I am also responsible to play services during the holidays, times at which many people elect to plan vacations to be with their families.

I do music as a profession and am not famous by any means...many of my friends my age are making more money than I am because they went into fields that were less risky. Cost of living is high in LA and I have occasionally had to rely on credit cards this year, although thankfully I don't have credit card debt right now. I have a wife who is in graduate school and does not make very much money, and as a responsible husband I feel the need to provide for her well. I also have tithed very faithfully, giving at least 10% to church over the past several years, sometimes a little more. Part of the reason I am able to do this is because of my salary as a church pianist.

Do you feel it is ridiculous for me to get paid? I am not saying that all church musicians should be paid, but I am trying to give you a different point of view that maybe in some situations it is appropriate for a musician to be paid while in other situations it may be appropriate for a musician to be a volunteer.

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Permalink Reply by Ana Rebeca Castillo on December 3, 2007 at 11:16pm

I agree with Chris, its not such a black and white situation, maybe its just about priorities and special circumstances for each church environment and resources, and for the things also Chris said. I live in a country where its not used to pay the musicians, probably because of the lack of income of the church that its barely enough for its bills and ministries. But I admit some of the leaders and musicians, spend a lot of their time either serving at church or personal practice, or preparing, leading, creating, that they could need support from church, because they can't have it from anywhere else, I believe God will give wisdom to who may ask Him, so... He knows hearts and true situations, so...

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