Two schools of thought on paying musicians
By Jeff May
In a recent ministry blog, a pastor wrote, “One thing that really
bothers me is having to pay musicians to play in worship. My worship
leader insists that since they are professional musicians we have to pay
them. We have professional teachers teaching Bible fellowship classes
and leading small groups, and none of them ask me to pay them for
teaching.”
This is an argument that has been discussed for many years between
church leaders. Before you read any further, just know that I cannot
give you a definite answer to this age-old question. I can, however,
offer some thoughts based on personal experience and observation.
To pay or not to pay
There are two schools of thought on this issue. The first is the
all-or-nothing philosophy, which says that either every musician is paid
or none are.
One of the churches in my hometown pays every choir member, musician
and technical operator. No volunteers. Everyone takes home a paycheck.
This is a lucrative set-up for many people. The churches that pay
everyone on their team tend to have extremely high quality music
programs. The downside is that their passion for the vision of the
church can potentially get lost in the “gig” mentality.
Most churches, however, operate on the other side of this coin, where
no one gets paid. This is good for the budget and church unity, but
quality often suffers.
It is also important to note that just because people volunteer
doesn’t mean that their motives for being involved are pure. Musicians
often want the spotlight to fill their own needs and insecurities. This
need transcends a payroll. The second school of thought is the
pay-some-but-not-all philosophy.
This has its own set of advantages and challenges. The success of
this approach hinges on clearly defining what positions get paid and
what their responsibilities are.
Additional responsibilities
If you only pay some of your musicians, I would suggest giving them
additional responsibilities for which they are being paid. Those
responsibilities can go beyond just playing: things like organizing
music, leading a sectional rehearsal or transcribing music. This can
minimize the tendency for the volunteer musicians to wonder why they
aren’t getting paid too.
If the church decides to pay the musicians, it is important to have a
consistent scale that is clearly defined prior to hiring a musician.
Each scale is different based on the community where the church is
located.
In a time where churches are looking for ways to trim their budgets,
it is important to be creative with alternatives to paying musicians.
For instance, if space is available, consider opening up a church
classroom during the week for your musicians to give private lessons, or
give them priority when recommending musicians for outside paying
events, such as weddings.
Using volunteers
My experience has taught me that the best results are achieved with a
volunteer team of musicians who are led well. It is the job of the
music director to challenge, inspire and motivate their team of
musicians.
Everyone wants to be part of something great! If the music director
is doing his or her job, they are constantly raising the bar of
excellence and pushing the creativity to a point where people are lining
up to be part of the team. As a music director, I intentionally build
in frequent opportunities for our music team to surprise themselves with
their ability to execute seemingly impossible music. This success
creates an energy that cannot be replaced by a paycheck.
The final answer in the debate over paying musicians really lies
within each team and its core values. Serving is not a core value of
some churches. In those churches, paying all of the musicians is
probably a better option.
In a church that promotes everyone serving and utilizing their gifts
to better the local church, a volunteer team is usually the best option.
There may be a few key positions within those teams that are paid, but
the core is made up of volunteers.
People receive great fulfillment in knowing that they are a part of
something that is contributing to a greater cause — the cause of Christ.
It sounds very cliché but there is value in building treasures in
Heaven that last. Teams that serve their church with passion and
excellence are storing away treasure for eternity.
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