Last year, I wrote on paying your church musicians. Recently, I came across Greg Jones writing on this topic from a different angle. He wrote on what to look for when your church is hiring a worship pastor, the full-time staff who heads the worship ministry. He calls that position 'worship leader', probably because in some churches the worship leader not only leads worship, but also gives pastoral care and training to the rest of the musicians and singers as well. And is, of course, a member of the paid staff.
Read his article here
As I said, his angle is different. It's about what to look for in someone you are going to engage as paid staff, while mine is about whether to pay the people you already have and are serving. But it is interesting to see where we converge:
All in all, Greg gives a good perspective on the issue. He has his own experience as a worship leader and musician. He also thinks through his points and has useful insights to share. Let me know what you think of his article, OK?
Be blessed!
Read his article here
As I said, his angle is different. It's about what to look for in someone you are going to engage as paid staff, while mine is about whether to pay the people you already have and are serving. But it is interesting to see where we converge:
- Teaching - I believe that if your church believes in mobilizing the people for the ministry, especially for the worship ministry, then you will want to pay the musicians who lead and teach the other musicians. Greg Jones talked about how a worship leader/pastor who cannot teach may be able to tell the worship team that they are at level A and need to go to level B, but does not have the ability to equip the team as to how to get there. And this can lead to lots of frustration.
- Possible conflicts – In my post, I wrote that if you decide to pay only the head musician and not the rest of the band, that could give problems if one of the musicians thinks the guy in charge is less deserving of it than he/she was. Greg brought up another possibility I did not consider: if the worship leader/pastor is unable to anchor the music and has to depend on a layperson (volunteer) to do it, then the layperson may feel taken advantage of. That can lead to dissension, conflict and resentment.
All in all, Greg gives a good perspective on the issue. He has his own experience as a worship leader and musician. He also thinks through his points and has useful insights to share. Let me know what you think of his article, OK?
Be blessed!
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